WEEKLY VOLCANO COVER STORY PREVIEW >>>

Whitney Rhodes is the woman.

And no, I don't mean THE WOMAN - that would be disparaging.

I mean she rules. She's awesome. And she will be writing a weekly Great Outdoors column for the Weekly Volcano, kicking off this week. On the cover.

After this week's cover slot, you'll find her waxing parks and picnics right here on Spew - every Thursday.

I have her first story in my hot hands. It smells like pine trees. It feels like a down parka. It's insightful, well written, and dare I say, inspirational.

To whet your appetite for Thursday's cover story, today I share a few lines from her story.

Braving the outdoors with your significant other can be risky business. Two of my friends decided their perfect honeymoon was camping out in the Olympics. The now infamous story of this trip involves an uphill both ways trail, freezing wind, aggressive sunbathing marmots, and the always lovely honey-I-brought-matches-but-not-a-way-to-strike-them moment. Needless to say, it's a good thing they have a long history and are married. They can laugh about it. Barely.

We live in one of the most beautiful places in the country with opportunities to experience nature all around us. Our corner of the country is where everyone drives a Subaru and has a closet (or garage) that looks like a mini-REI store. However, just because that cute girl at the Parkway last night was wearing a Patagonia jacket does not mean an outdoor misadventure for your first date will be forgiven. In order to offer you, dear reader, the best chances of success I've put together three simple rules. ...

Oh yes I did just cut it off. Pick up Thursday's rag and read her prose. Be sure to smell it too.