Road Runnners (Asphalticus Burnicum)

Down in the Bayou

2007-12-08T17:17:00.000-05:00

What is a Bayou?

"A Bayou is a slowly moving body of water, usually attached to a river." That's what we learned on the Swamp Tour, at least. We also learned that this particular bayou is home to a myriad of plants and animals, including an enormous alligator, a slew of smaller ones, snakes, birds, and people.

The swamp tour was a third-day diversion from the buzz of New Orleans. After umpteen "be careful in New Orleans" warnings, Linds and I were so preoccupied with watching our back, we barely saw a thing in front of us the first couple of days in the Big Easy.

A little nature was just what we needed, because frankly, we were doing everything else all wrong. We got to the French Quarter around 5 o'clock the first night with every intention of easing into a raucous evening. After nearly 2 pounds of boiled shrimp (we ordered 1 pound, but the waiter "brought extra"), a dozen Oysters on the half shell (we ordered 1/2 dozen), salad, beer and dessert (the latter bought for us by, you guessed it, our waiter) we were too spent to do much else, so we went home around 9pm after a relaxing smoke at the Hookah Bar.

The second evening out, we prepped ourselves again and again succumbed to the food coma.

By our third day we were prepared both mentally and physically, and realized that perhaps all of our guardian angels were probably being a little tiny bit over dramatic about crime in the Big-Easy.

Before the swamp tour we stopped for beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde and went house shopping in the Garden District under a picturesque November sky (t-shirts in November = 2 happy yankees). After the swamp, we went home and STAYED THERE until around 8:30 pm - we figured that by going out later than we had even stayed out the previous nights, we were bound to find some fun.

It's been brought to my attention that this blog is all about food. Dick & Jenny's was the restaurant that topped them all. We ate crawfish cheesecake as an appetizer. We ate fried oysters as an appetizer before that. Lindsay's lamb was the best plate of food we've been served anywhere in the country - and dessert (bought for us by our waiter - again) was beyond belief bread pudding. All of this in blue jeans and a relaxed atmosphere, with a wonderful waiter whose band we later learned we missed by just minutes that first night at the Hookah Bar.

We finished our night with a stroll around the quarter sipping a Hurricane, stopping to chat for nearly an hour with an artist painting in her open studio. We winced at the strip clubs on Bourbon street (Lindsay because she winces at strip clubs, me because Lindsay was there). Marveled at the antiques and the architecture. Wound our way to Frenchmen St. into Snug Harbor for Jazz that turned our untrained ears into Jazz-loving sponges (while sipping a Monsoon). Then wove our way back to the car by popping into club after club to soak up some more music.

The next morning we hit the highway through the Bayou, smiling about what a great time we had had - and how nice it is that there are no mosquitos in the swamp during the day (betcha didn't know that!).

Lovely (warm) Austin

2007-12-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

We headed into Austin extremely excited to see my Uncle Tom and Kati and my friend Erica whom I have known since she was born. We pulled into the Pecan Grove RV park in south Austin and later learned what a cool place it was. The park was aptly named, all day and night pecans plunked down onto our roof. We collected a bunch and ate as many as we could. We noticed all of the locals doing the same thing. There were many people who lived in the park year round, the few we spoke to chuckled as they told us that the rent was the cheapest for miles and they were literally living on prime real estate. The owners and renters had created a funky, artistic, neighborhood, right in the heart of downtown Austin. The city had once put pressure on the owners to sell so they could fill up the empty land with more condos but NO, the owners and the people living there would not budge. There is great camaraderie within the park and everyone was cheerful and welcoming.

The first night in Austin we met up with my Uncle Tom and Kati at their beautiful house, got the tour and then went out to an amazing Chinese/Japanese restaurant. It was such a treat! We caught up and laughed for hours. We left them to meet up with Erica and her buddies for a drink and got a taste of what Austin had to offer. After a bit we headed back to Erica's house for another tour and more laughing.

The next day we headed over to my Uncle's for a full day of catching up, sharing stories, Football (on TV), and eating (surprise surprise). Katie had been cooking away in the kitchen a dinner of corned beef and cabbage. It was amazing, we ate until we couldn't eat anymore and waddled off toward home.

We spent the next day with Erica, checking out the sights, sounds and tastes of Austin. Again we ate at all the cool local places and tried to get our fill of Texas BBQ and sweet tea. We were lucky enough to get a tour of an amazing house that my Uncle had built, and is continuously updating due to the owners beautiful sense of design and style. We were awed by the grand entryway, the intricate tile work and the meticulous craftsmanship.

The next two nights we spent exploring the fabled downtown Austin, we heard amazing live music, ate on a rooftop with an stunning view of the city skyline, and enjoyed the company of more friends we hadn't seen in a very long time. Those friends were Annette and John Markward. Nettie and my folks have gone back as far as anyone can remember and my sister and I grew up with Nettie's kids Evan and Katy. It was a wonderful blast from the past. Nettie and John had just bought a house and moved from Maine to Texas. A trip that my Uncle and Kati knew dearly because they had made the same move many years before.

To top it all off Josh and I went to see a play that Erica and been the Dramaturge for. The play was called Elephant Graveyard and was based on the one and only known public hanging of an elephant. It was a tough play to watch because of the subject matter but the acting was impeccable and the story captivating. As an added bonus Erica's mom Sue flew in for a visit. Sue and her husband Terry were the one's who gave us the wonderful gift certificate for our pre-nniversary stay at the B&B. It was so nice to see her, it gave me a little taste of home.

The Frontier

2007-11-28T13:05:00.000-05:00

Heading south from Fort Collins towards Austin, TX, we really didn't have anything on our itinerary. We discussed stopping in Boulder, but the weather wasn't holding up, so we loaded up on grease and headed for warmth again.

We ended up in Lamar, CO for one night, a charming if antiquated town. Our Campground was a large pebble parking lot in the middle if the prairie - a little disconcerting to have nothing surrounding you.

There in Lamar, the truck issues really came to a head. Instead of the usual inoperable gas pedal, the truck was now revving to red line all by itself. Charming! It turned out to be a fluke, but also turned out to be inspiration to really track down the problem. No one around really had the time (or wherewithal) to do a fuel filter change for us (one of the variables that needed to be eliminated) - but at one garage, a wonderful guy said he could get us in, and then literally let me use the shop as if it were my own to do the change. It was awesome. Turns out it's a really simple process on this truck, but having a shop floor instead of a dirt parking lot to work on made all the difference. It also made me a lot less concerned with spilling diesel all over the place!

This little update made a clear difference in truck performance, but did not fix the accelerator problem. So, back on the road to Post, TX, we dealt with it as usual. Post was a quick, overnight stop for us, and the rest of the much-longer-than-we-thought ride through Texas was dappled with the tiniest towns you can imagine and cotton fields as far as the eye can see. We, of course, stopped for authentic Texas BBQ at the first opportunity - damn it was good.

We grabbed a fluffy white cotton bud and it sits on our dashboard to this day.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-27T23:21:00.000-05:00

So we zigged and zagged a bit here in our itinerary. My good friend Katelyn had recently moved to Fort Collins with her boyfriend Nathan and we had promised her that we would come to visit. So North out of Pagosa Springs we headed. We planned on making the trip in two days but Lead Foot Lynn got behind the wheel and we got from Pagosa Springs to Fort Collins in one (long) day of driving.

On the way we stopped in the tiny town of South Fork CO at an organic market and restaurant. This restaurant was a diamond in the rough. We were in desperate need of good food after our amazing soak in the springs.

(Peace of Art Café - 14475 West Highway 160 - Del Norte, CO)

We wolfed down a chicken, red pepper, onion, mozzarella melty sandwich and learned of a better route through the mountains than we had been planning on taking. We chatted with the cook, the owner and her husband about our grease car, we even got a few tips on what might have been causing some recurring truck issues. Just as we were about to leave we were ushered into the fresh produce aisle and were personally introduced to the hand picked local tomatoes, the farm fresh organic eggs, and the local poultry, we also indulged in a few new teas. Almost $70.00, and a few new friends later we were out the door.

The drive over the hills, through the afternoon was beautiful, again, words hardly do the beauty of this amazing country justice but here are some samples.

We called Katelyn thirty minutes before our arrival with a request...Chinese food. It seemed that after our super healthy day of eating we needed the grease, and so did our truck! We arrived, hugged and chowed down.

We stayed with Katelyn and Nathan and their adopted dog Louis for a week. During that time we pimped out Josh's bike, made many amazing family dinners, raked leaves, carved pumpkins, handed out Halloween candy, took Louis on walks, rode our bikes a lot, talked a lot and laughed a lot. Oh yeah, and we got the watch the Red Sox sweep the Rockies. We went out to a bar for game three and felt horribly out numbered. But Katelyn wore her Sox hat bravely and quoted stats for anyone who dared to call her a fair weather fan.

We ended up being there during the work week so both Katelyn and Nathan were busy during the day, no problem. Nathan owns a bike shop so Josh and I took it upon ourselves to hang with Nathan at the shop almost every day and persuaded him to come out to lunch with us. Nathan also did some sweet custom work on Josh's bike. Nathan bought the bike shop a few weeks earlier and had made himself quite at home with new paint on the walls, new (vintage) cruisers, and a whole new way of doing things. While Josh and I hung out we watched him greet customers, make them feel like part of the crowd and then tend to whatever issue they might be having. We watched him fix flat tires, install new break lines and install new seats. It is always fun watching someone do what they are really good at.

On that note while we were there we got to watch Katelyn sketch a three canvas piece of artwork to hang over their couch in the living room. After what seemed like hours in the art store we happily left with the materials needed to make their living room look like a gallery. For hours Katelyn poured over what to draw, when the decision was made we watched her carefully, painstakingly measure then sketch a beautiful scene. We left before the color went on it but I am hoping for a picture of the final product (hint hint).

On Halloween we carved pumpkins in the living room and handed out candy to the witches and goblins who dared to knock on our door. Katelyn had originally thought Josh and I had gone overboard with the bags and bags of candy...but no, we had to send the last of the trick or treaters away without any candy. Even though they could have tricked us and smashed our pumpkins they didn't and our grinning orange friends were still there in the morning.

We parked in front of their house until the cops asked us to move, then we squeezed the RV into their tiny driveway. It was such beautiful fall weather in Fort Collins and it felt like we had just gotten settled when all of a sudden there was snow in the forecast and Austin TX was beckoning.

We could live here, and here and here...

2007-11-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

After we left Vegas we hit up three locations that we had heard we would love.

Our first stop was Flagstaff AZ. We got our first taste of cold the night we arrived. It hit the mid 20's for the first time. We had been averaging 40-50 degrees at night until we got to AZ. Brrr, we got the furnace going and were amazed at how cozy and warm our RV got. We spent the next day wandering the town, doing errands, and taking in the crisp fall weather.

We always seem to find that we really like staying in college towns. They tend to have the really interesting bars, and coffee shops. In the case of Flagstaff Josh and I found a great little combination of both...a coffee AND wine bar. We ordered two glasses of wine and proceeded to play a pretty amazing game of Backgammon. I totally thought I had it in the bag, Josh kept asking me the rules and I kept mercilessly sending his chips out, but he won by ONE chip. He was as surprised as I was. We headed out the next morning, to.....

Durango Co. We decided to spend only one night here because the next day we were headed to Pagosa Springs to see Mark Devoti, who toured with my parents when I was just a wee one. He was my body guard/baby tamer. But before we headed there, we hung out for most of the day in Durango, again, awesome little college town. We wandered in and out of galleries, and coffee shops. It (again) was a beautiful, clear, crisp day and we enjoyed being out in it.

Pagosa Springs was a mere hour away so we hit the road again. The drive was beautiful. When we got there we settled down on their front porch to catch up and take in the view which was breath taking. You can see our RV parked next to their horse barn in one of the shots.

Mark's wife Erica is an endurance rider and she has two race horses. We heard tales of 25-50 mile races completed in 12-24 hours. It was amazing to hear stories about just her and her horse, during a race, in the middle of the night when both of them had to keep awake and moving. Talk about a wonderful feeling.

We had a great lasagna dinner and opened the wine that Josh and I brought. Mark shared old pictures of the touring days complete with me as a bald, chunky, baby. Boy, does it look like they had some fun in those days. We chatted and caught up but before long we were all yawning. We headed up to bed with explicit instructions from Mark and Erica to go to the local hot springs the next day on our way out of town....

And boy are we glad we did. Pool after pool had been created from the natural hot sulfur springs that bubbled up from the ground. Your could choose which tub you wanted to soak in depending on the temp of the water to how much privacy you wanted. We soaked until we were pruney and relaxed. We got back on the road, this time headed to Fort Collins CO to see one of my partners in crime Ms. Katelyn Foster.

We had the Rockies looming on the horizon and the promise of a long slow haul over Wolf Creek pass. Luckily Mark had dropped off CD he had recorded of a few of his original songs, one of them being about the fabled pass. We ended up listening to the CD twice and burned 1/4 of a tank of gas by the time we finally boogied over the mountains.

Mini Turkey!

2007-11-22T18:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from Savannah, GA, everyone! We'll continue the narrative after this post, but we just wanted to take a moment and let our friends and family, wherever you all are, know that we're thinking of you.

We also know you're thinking of us and you're worried that we're missing out on the feast. Fear not! Our little "kitchen" and "dining room" can't cook a 20 pound bird or host 12 people, but it can certainly pack all the flavor.

We just finished our meal of Stuffed Cornish Game Hens with Gravy, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Cranberry/Orange Sauce and Green Beans with Toasted Almonds. We're taking a break to prepare our mini-pies (apple & pumpkin, of course) and we'll be sure to post a photo of the final product a little later.

This morning, we spent 3 hours doing prep work and serving food in a Savannah Mission Kitchen - what a gratifying and rewarding experience. We met a wonderful group of people and it really made the day special. A Happy and Thankful Thanksgiving, indeed.

The Much anticipated pie photos...

Boy they were good!!

Viva Lake Meade

2007-11-22T16:20:00.001-05:00

Vegas has it's allure, that's for sure, but after so much city time, we were overwhelmed with the idea of actually living in Vegas for the next few days.

We arrived at Lake Mead (40 minutes from Vegas) at night, and went to visit our good friends Jesse & Jon (and their new peanut Felicity). Jesse is Max's older sister, again she and I were raised practically as siblings.

Jesse assured us we would be awestruck by the morning's view, and boy were we ever. The photo above was our view from our front porch. Josh and I were both ready to unwind after so much city time so we set up camp, did laundry, made amazing meals and visited with Jesse, Jon and Felicity as much as we could.

We met a great couple (Jack and Allison) who were doing the same thing as us except they were really living in their RV with their very sweet dog Humphrey. They were also starting a new business in Vegas, they are setting up scooters so they tow mini billboards. I'm sure we've all seen those awful gas guzzling trucks that pull billboards. Such a waste, but the scooters use so much less fuel, can buzz down the strip where their fuel swilling counterparts can't go because they are stuck in traffic, and the people driving the scooters can stop and hand out information related to what they are advertising. Brilliant! Jack and Josh immediately fell into a business relationship.

Jesse and I got to catch up on all of the books we had been reading and take turns passing Felicity back and forth. Jesse used to babysit me when I was little and we reminisced about all of the hilarious stuff we used to do. I was a happy kid when Jesse came over toting her clothes, makeup and candy.

Josh and I also "did" Las Vegas, don't worry, we're still waiting to get married next summer. Even though the temptation to get married by Elvis was great. We headed to the strip for a late dinner and a tour of the casinos. Basically we found that Vegas is a lot like Burning Man. People everywhere in costumes, heels, boas, or cowboy boots and jeans. People wandered by completely drunk or open-mouthed by the spectacle. We tried to take it all in, we ate, drank and yes gambled. We were amazed by the extraordinary measures these casinos go through to make you feel like you are in Paris, or New York. We got to travel the globe that night. We had dinner in Paris, wandered down the Champs Elysees out in to he night, past the statue of Liberty and back into another magical world.

We did decided to spend some time in the Bellagio just because I was hoping to see Matt, George, or maybe Brad (Oceans 11,12,or 13 anyone?) All in all we lost $2.50 at the nickel slot machines. We headed home soon after that, after months in flip flops my feet just couldn't stand the high heels I had worn out.

On our way out of town we drove over the Hoover Dam (with the RV in tow) before we crossed we stopped to have Homeland Security check our truck and RV, no terrorists with us on our trip! Josh attempted to leave me behind while I was taking a video, he thinks this trick is hilarious and has repeated it many times since (oh I feel sorry for our kids already). Once I was safely back in the car we headed off to Flagstaff Arizona.

Stay Classy, San Diego

2007-11-20T18:30:00.000-05:00

Everything was sunny as we pulled into San Diego. We pulled up to Silver Strand Beach State Park (we had just left Dockweiler so things were looking up!) and were all set to go, then we found out they LOCK the gates at 8pm. No cars in or our. Uh... no late dinners, no evening time with family in San Diego. See Ya!

We ended up near Pacific Beach at Campland on the Bay, a very cute park. Happy and tired, we blew everyone off that first night - needing a quiet rest after driving from LA.

Soon, though, morning would come and we'd be on our way to the National Aerospace Museum to see Grandad Pepper. As a Docent there, he toured us around, sharing stories about this "Bird" and that, one "Flyboy" or another, this "mission", or that "encounter." It was the first time I've ever been at a museum and really learned something about the people. Usually, museums are all about the stuff, and as a visitor, you miss all the stories. For me, it was the difference between being bored and completely engaged.

Grandma met us there at the end of our tour (Grandad only went 1/2 hour over our intended tour time) where they treated us to an impeccable lunch at Prado. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon with them trying to find someone who could help with the truck - being San Diegoans, they had some connections. Along the way, we found out that the Pepper name is literally written in stone around the city. I also got to meet Dave Pepper, who looks just like Jim! Crazy.

Later that evening Lindsay and I drove to Jeff & Bridie's for dinner (we were late, there was traffic, but we had borrowed Grandad's Mercedes, so that was cool). We only got a minute or two with the amazingly cute little Jack. But Meg was raring to go, and performed the most fantastic SuperStar dance you can imagine, shared little secrets and reading time with Lindsay, and still had energy enough to educate Buffy and me on the fine art of coloring. She's so adorable.

We wrapped up the evening with just a little adult time and said our goodbyes, but not before we seduced Jeff and Bridie into joining us for Mexican the following evening. Everyone we talked to in San Diego said that Old Town doesn't have the charm it used to, but we still enjoyed walking and shopping. The main square, admittedly, was desolate.

Jeff and Bridie caught up with us midway through our first ginormous margarita, ordered up one of their own, and we proceeded into a lively, entertaining, incredibly filling adults only meal. It was great to have time without the kids, and San Diego's mexican food is killer.

One note: We managed to take ZERO photos in San Diego for some reason, so those are from Jeff.

Bee line to LA

2007-11-14T14:48:00.000-05:00

What is there between San Francisco and L.A. you ask, probably lots of stuff, that we did not stop to see. We were on a mission to get to the elusive Dockweiler Beach RV Park, where we were unable to make a reservation and no one could tell us if they thought there would in fact be a place for us to park. We took our chances, risking life and limb to get to the office before it closed at 9:30. White knuckled Josh drove our rig up the I-5 grapevine, all the while trying not to kill the brain dead L.A. drivers. Hasn't anyone told them what a turn signal is? Or when they see a turn signal, what idea it is actually trying to convey? We almost ran out of gas at 9:05 and had to stop. We literally had about four minutes to get off the highway, find diesel, pump it, and go. We maybe got about six gallons in before I screamed from the passenger seat "TIME'S UP!" We left the receipt for our sale fluttering in the breeze of our RV pealing back out into the night. Even after one (small) wrong turn we pulled up to the Park gate at 9:25, shaking, pale and heaving sighs of relief.

Our good friends Shiva and Nicole (remember the newly engaged from our Burning Man blog?) had gone to the park earlier in the day to try to secure a spot for us to no avail. To help us out, as we later found out, Shiva cleverly told us the park's office closed at 9:30 when in fact it closed at 10:00, tricky huh?

We spent the next few days in LA visiting with my good friend Beth and her husband Adam. Beth and Adam had moved from Holyoke to LA the previous spring and we hadn't seen them since. It was a wonderful visit. We hung out with her dog Oscar and her cat Lucy, ate really good food and caught up. We spent a night in their swanky new digs and headed out to dinner at Il Fornaio, where Adam is the manager. We visited the Container Store (I'm seriously considering registering there) and stocked up on, what else, containers. It was so nice to spend time with them and Josh and I both realized how much we have missed them, and their little dog too! As usual our visit was too short, Beth and Adam had to head (ironically enough) to the Northeast for a wedding.

After our visit with the Franzese's we headed to Nicole and Shiva's. The next few days were filled with surfing (Shiva and Josh), massages (Lindsay and Josh got AMAZING massages from Loni, more about that later), eating (what do you expect?), wedding planning (again, what do you expect?), dancing, laughing and more eating. Oh, and we waited FOREVER for UPS to figure out where and when to deliver a very important package containing a much anticipated part for the truck. UPS has yet to master efficiently and effectively delivering packages to the LA area.

Josh and Shiva, with Lindsay and the camera in tow, headed to the beach for an afternoon of surfing. Josh and I watched Shiva become one with the waves and the dolphins. Josh did really well after a year hiatus, and I soaked up the rays and tried to capture it all on the camera. We snacked and sunned then the boys headed back to the surf for another go. After about 45 minutes they hauled back out of the water with tired, rubbery arms and empty bellies. This is probably where more eating took place.

We headed north to Topenga Canyon to visit Loni, one of Josh's mom's best friends. She lives in an amazing community of houses that teeter on the steep canyon incline. The view from her porch is breath taking, especially if you are taking it all in from the bubbling hot water of the outdoor hot tub. On our first visit to the Canyon, Loni treated us to the most amazing cookies we have ever had. In the simplest terms the cookies were oatmeal raisin, but then they were Loni-fied! Some ingredients were doubled others were tweaked, the product we tasted could have been served for breakfast or dessert. We also visited Loni for our much anticipated massages. For months Josh and I had been griping back and forth about our various aches and pains and we kept talking about getting a massage. Finally, as we neared southern CA we decided to really treat ourselves and hold out for a Loni massage. For an hour and a half we were lulled and kneaded, rubbed and soothed by Loni's amazing hands. Josh took the first massage as I soaked in the hot tub and watched the sun play with the shadows and light on the canyon walls. Josh emerged, all mumbly and sleepy eyed. He sunk into the hot tub with a sigh and I was whisked into Loni's house. For an hour and a half she worked on me. I have had body work from many different therapists, and when someone works on me who knows dance and dancers bodies I always feel amazing after. Needless to say, Loni being a dancer, knows where certain bodies hold tension. I was a noodle when she was done with me.
With our massage after glow still aglow, we met up with Nicole, Shiva and Jorge (a good friend of Nicole and Shiva's) for sushi. Josh and I have a pretty serious reputation of going WAY OVERBOARD with ordering and eating sushi. Tonight we were hungry and our bodies were screaming out for good healthy food, as you might have expected, we went WAY OVERBOARD. But we weren't alone, everyone ate until we had to lean way back in our chairs.

I can't remember which night this next event occurred, but Josh and I got one of the coolest engagement gifts from Nicole and Shiva. They had a woman named Linda Solomon (www.solmoonrising.com), do our natal charts and record her reading them. I had never identified with the typical "Capricorn" readings and that was because I had never had my charts read. When your charts are read there are so many other components involved like where you were born, what time you were born, each of these and many more will paint an incredibly accurate picture of who you are. As Josh and I listened we kept opening our mouths in disbelief. How did this woman know ANY of this about me, we wondered. She was on the ball and not afraid to say unflattering things, not that she was offensive but when you hear certain things from a complete stranger you hear it differently than if you were told by a friend. We have listened to them many times since and we always seem to come away with a slightly deeper understanding of who we are and what we do.

Then there was Dance Church. At the end of the week Nicole, Josh and I headed off to do a little free dance. We walked into an huge room filled with moving bodies. Bodies of all shapes and sizes swayed, stomped, twirled and flew to a great dance beat. This was a place that you could do whatever you needed however you wanted to do it. Having not danced in quite a while I took a good long time stretching before I started to move. I stretched and watched. Some bodies moved with strict training and technique and some moved as thought they felt the earth quaking beneath them. All of the faces wore smiles, tears, sweat or elation. Some of their energy reached out to welcome everyone in, others felt like they demanded you pay attention to them. It was constantly changing and constantly evolving. As I began to move, I tried to watch and tried to get lost, it turned out I couldn't do them both at once. So I got lost for a while, in the beat and in my body. Sometimes I was pulled out and distracted by an odd sight but I tried to take what I saw and let it go again. Sadly, Shiva, our whirling dervish, was home in bed. Some of the sushi from the night before got it's revenge. We all danced healthy belly dances for Shiv.

It was sad to leave people we love, but that is a trend for our trip unfortunately. Imagine if we got to take everyone with us? We would have one PACKED RV. As LA disappeared into the yellow smog and traffic congestion we remembered all the fun we had while we were there. In fact we found that we did bring a little LA with us, a few weeks later while washing the RV we got to watch the last of the gray soot rinse off the white exterior.

Escape From the Vines, Part III

2007-11-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

Our last escape from the vines was to visit a very good old friend, Maxwell MacVeety (my brother from another mother) in Oakland, CA. After our meal and drinks with Brian, Josh and I headed toward Oakland to meet up with Max and his girlfriend Alli at their place. We shmoozed with them and their two adorable cats and then Max, Josh and I headed to a tiny club where Max would be playing later that night. Normally when we see Max behind his drum set he is playing with The Crown City Rockers (who ROCK I might add, more about them to come in future blogs), tonight he was sitting in with another band.

We boogied and whooped and met so many people who raved about Max's skills on the drums. When the band he was playing with started we were thoroughly entertained. Max had told us the lead was "a real showman". We debated who this man reminded us of, finally deciding he must be the love child of Bobby Brown and MC Hammer. He had all the right moves, whether it be walking through the audience handing out roses to the lovely ladies, to tossing handfuls of candy into the hands of his sighing fans.

After the music wound down we headed to a late night Thai place where we ordered HUGE orders of deliciousness. We chatted and munched until the wee hours and then we headed home to bed.

Escape From the Vines, Part II

2007-11-07T00:04:00.000-05:00

With so few days in Sonoma, it's hard to imagine that we would take time away, but as it turns out, Santa Rosa is nicely situated amidst people we love. One of those people is Bryan Stillman. Once my boss as a fledgling intern at TBWA/Chiat/Day - he remains to this day one of my favorite people to be around. He's smart, funny, obnoxiously loud and vulgar (only when completely inappropriate - he is otherwise mild and sweet) and totally easy to be around.

I won't say that he's the ONLY reason we visited San Francisco, it happens to be one of my favorite places in the country. However, instead of the usual role we play as tourists, we skipped most of the city, battled with a cracked-out urbanista weaving her BMW through traffic and made our way to Bryan's favorite establishment, Zuni. I would take the time to describe it, but he's already done it eloquently here.

We, sadly, did not have the chicken. But we did manage to scarf down the shoestring fries and Caesar salad along with a couple of our own additions to Bryan's standard repertoire: 12 Oysters from around the Pacific ("Yum", "Yuk and "Oh my!" were all well represented), and a delectable plate of the softest, most palatable gnocchi I've ever had (Tuscany included).

From Zuni we made our way to the wine bar next door (also in the link above). After our two days of wine tasting in the Sonoma Valley, we were experts and ready to give the bartenders a run for their money. The beauty of the place is that they sold "taste" size glasses of wine, so you could be non-committal. Lindsay wasn't having any of that, though, and ordered a full glass of the first thing she tasted. As it turns out, it was far and away the most interesting wine of our week in Sonoma - with undertones of leather, earthiness and still the tang of berry, it was something to speak of, if only we remembered the damn name.

The evening turned into the night, we hugged thoroughly and made clear to Bryan that it is now his turn to come East, and we set off for Oakland, where in a most stark contrast to the shi shi San Francisco nightlife, we met with the indelible Maxwell Macveety & Ali to accompany Max to a show in West Oakland...

That is To Be Continued in: Escape From the Vines, Part III

Escape From the Vines, Part I

2007-10-30T21:04:00.000-04:00

Difficult as it was to tear ourselves away from the beauty of Sonoma County, we were well rewarded by the people we visited.

It started with a day trip to Sacramento, for dinner and Belt Promotion with the Howes and Aunt Barbara. I think Meredith was a little worried that she was dragging us along to Elijah's Belt Promotion Ceremony, but she had nothing to worry about once we got there. The Karate instructor was warm and inviting, plus humorous, teaching the kids values rather than just butt-kicking. It was awesome. The kids were stellar. Elijah is a serious martial artist. I'm not saying I think he could take me out in a street fight, but he worked with determination and poise, and was clearly one of the more disciplined kids there. Elijah received his purple belt with pride.

As a bonus, we were all treated to a couple of martial arts exhibitions, one by a little guy named Scott Wu. Little? Yes. Meek? NO! Small in Sprit? His Chi was enough to give me chills. If you're interested, do a Google or YouTube search for his name, you will be blown away by what we saw up close and personal.

Upon returning to the house to catch up a bit, we got to experience the magic of non-martial-arts sword fighting between two brothers and a dad. When Jonah took a long enough break from running around in circles, he was a pretty good sword fighting partner for Elijah. Fred, clearly the master swordsman of the group, made quick work of dispatching Elijah of both arms and one eye. I fear his martial arts training will suffer, but he'll hang in there.

Bedtime came, we got to spend a little time catching up with the grownups (Meredith was extraordinarily angry with Fred about the bloodstains on the carpet - StainMaster is no match for Swordfighting.) All kidding aside, we got to catch up on years of missed time, and it seem Mer & Fred are doing great. Aunt Barbara LOVES being Mom Mom, and while we didn't get a chance to squeeze Tom, he was there in spirit.

On the ride home, we had a remarkable, notable moment at one of our favorite National Treasures: Our first In-n-Out Burger of the trip. Yum.

Wine Country

2007-10-25T20:38:00.003-04:00

At Burning Man, man named Dino said "Eh, skip Napa, it's like the Disneyland of wine country. Go to Sonoma." After exhaustive internet research we concluded that we would rather spend money on wine than money on a campground so we parked our rig at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, which was simply a giant gravel parking lot that smelled like horse manure. We decided that this didn't matter because we planned on either being gone all day everyday or so buzzed from the numerous wine tastings that we wouldn't care anyway.
The first night in town we headed to Healdsburg and dined at Cena Luna which was, without question one of the best restaurants we have ever eaten at. The waitress suggested a bottle of Zinfandel from a local vineyard. After the first sip we were hooked, and vowed to visit the vineyard as soon as we could.

The day after we arrived, we had planned to visit Josh's cousin Meredith, her husband Fred and their two (adorable) boys, Elijah, and Jonah. Josh's Aunt Barbara was visiting them for the evening so it was an added treat to see her too. We took the long way to Sacramento stopping at an amazing castle-like estate with vineyards that reached as far as we cold see. We were greeted warmly and set up at one of the many tasting bars. The architecture in the mansion was amazing. Huge gabled windows looked out on beautifully manicured rows of vines. We sipped six of seven wines from white, to blush to red and weren't that impressed. We thanked our bartender and headed on our way. (Our next post will tell all about the fun that we had with Josh's family).

A few days later we awoke to clear blue skies, warm breeze and a hankering to go wine tasting.
Remembering the amazing bottle of wine we had with dinner a few nights before, we decided to head to Healdsburg and to Ridge Vineyards. When we arrived we found a beautiful building nestled in acres and acres of old grizzled vines. The vineyard boasted 80% solar powered and when we entered we were welcomed by a beautiful tasting room. We told the bartender where we had enjoyed a bottle of the Three Valleys Zinfandel and she happily started our tasting. We enjoyed quite a few of their wines and left with a few bottles of our favorites.

The bartenders at Ridge suggested a few more vineyards we should visit while we were in Healdsburg. We headed down a beautiful dirt road passing vineyard after vineyard. We found the Quivera Vineyard and when we entered the tasting room we found it almost full. We waited for a space to open and enjoyed the ambiance. We enjoyed our tasting and we chatted with the bartender who knew the Pioneer Valley and told us that the vineyard was 100% solar powered. We left with two bottles that are supposed to lay down (fancy wine term for age) for a couple years. We liked to think that when we open that bottle we will be a married couple.
Awww.

After two tastings we were feeling nice and relaxed, we sat on the patio at Quivera and enjoyed the sparkling afternoon. Once our heads cleared a bit we headed back to the RV to put our feet up and get ready for dinner. Earlier that morning Josh had called Cafe St. Rose and made a reservation for two later that night. He spoke to the chef who told him what the fixed menu would be for the evening. All of the options sounded delicious, but the rib eye stood out in particular. Josh commented how tempting that selection sounded and the chef agreed that it was going to be amazing. When Josh got off the phone he was worried that by the time we sat down to dinner, the chef may have run out of the coveted rib eye. Josh called back and asked if he could reserve one so he wouldn't miss out on the deliciousness. The chef readily agreed to hold one for him and they both had a good laugh.

The night before we planned to leave wine country we decided that we hadn't spent enough money on wine. We both realized that we needed at least another case of the Three Valley Zin from Ridge Vineyards to share. We checked their hours of operation and planned on taking a quick run up there in the morning before we headed to L.A.

We were there when the doors opened and much to the amusement of the bartender who had served us the day before, we bought a case of our new favorite wine. Oh well, we got swept away I guess, but when in Rome...

The Oregon Coast

2007-10-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

Driving South from Seattle could have been a boring drive - we could have just stayed on big ole route 5 (The Five) and buzzed our way through the Western states. Lucky for us, we picked 101 instead.

Starting in Lincoln City, where Lindsay earned the honor of First Police Encounter (oh, she didn't mention that to you?), we had just finished winding our way through the coastal rainforest, and she left her brights on as we entered the little town. The officer that pulled us over was easily the nicest policeman either of us have ever met. He was just so darn curious about all of our silly Massachusetts Laws, our Drivers Licenses, our Registration, you name it. No tickets were issued. I laughed a lot afterwards. Lindsay well, not so much.

Back to the point, the Oregon coast easily boasts some of the most dazzling scenery in the country. Great rolling waves crashing against rocky cliffs for hundreds of miles. Redwood trees accenting the cliff-tops, sporadic sandy beaches dappled the waterline.

The pictures don't do justice (I'm getting tired of saying that, maybe I need a better camera) but here they are:

And this is a natural "geyser" that comes from a hollow rock formation that pressurizes when the waves smash against it. cool beans!

A tale of two cities....

2007-10-24T01:22:00.000-04:00

There were two stops that we took on the way to Sonoma California, one was in Lincoln City Oregon. We stayed right next to a river that was fully stocked....with fisherman. The campground was a bit soggy, being so close to a river and all, but the hosts were so nice and the area was beautiful! The town was really sweet, a sleepy tourist town with excellent beach views. It was a beautiful morning and there were happy families walking along the beach, dogs chasing the waves and seabirds racing around trying to find a snack. We could have watched the happy scene for hours, in fact I think we did.

On our way back we randomly found a great BBQ place that just happened to have a big ol' grease bin sitting smack dab in the sun just waiting for us. Josh got the o.k. from the manager and we got a few gallons of nice clean grease before we had to hurry back to the campground. We were late getting back and when we went to apologize to the host she told us she certainly didn't mind and that she wished we could stay longer.

The second stop we took was in Crescent City California. When we got to the campground we found a sweet spot nestled in amongst the sequoias. We thought we were in for a peaceful, relaxing two days. The trouble started when we went to pay for our spot. The woman who owned The Village Camper Inn was not the sweetest person I have ever met. She lectured us on how bad for her business our Passport America discount was. Josh asked politely why she bothered to offer it at all, suffice to say she has some issues to work out with her mother.

We had a bunch of errands to do, fill up with grease, do a Home Depot run to buy a part to fix our shower etc. We found a place to fill up on grease pretty easily that was where our luck ran out. The grease was too cold to pump, when we tried to wrap the hose around the outside of the pump to help warm it up the hose ripped where it connected to the pump. Cursing under our breath we headed to the local auto parts store and bought a length of black rubber hose that would wrap more easily. We headed back to the campground to reconnect the hoses and then back to the grease bin for round two. When trying again we realized that the pump was just not up to it in the cold shade. We left completely exasperated and completely crabby.

By this time we were starving and I (oddly enough) wanted pizza, luckily we found a surprisingly good pizza shop and chowed down. Afterwards we headed home and set our alarm early, we knew that wine country was on our horizon and we were ready for it!

If I were to travel that same route down 101 South again I would be sure to stop for the afternoon in Lincoln City OR to walk along the beach and marvel at the ocean vistas, and be sure to skip Crescent City California all together (even though the pizza was good)!

Ode to Seattle, WA

2007-10-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

Ode To Seattle

By Lindsay and Josh

Ugh Seattle, where it's rainy and windy,
Yay Seattle home to Cathy and Mindi.

Yikes Seattle, our neighbor is scary,
Phew Seattle Pike Place was quite merry.

Ah Seattle, with its really good shopping,
Oh Seattle why are we sopping?

Yum Seattle, Ethiopian grub
Oh no Seattle too long in the pub.

Brrr Seattle this place is darn cold,
Peace out Seattle we're hittin' the road!

We were there only for two nights but we got to catch up with our neighbors from Burning Man, Cathy and Mindi, as well as attempt to avoid our sketchy, overly friendly neighbor in the campground and enjoy a walk along Pike Place. It got cold and wet so we decided to head South...

"Living" In Portland, OR

2007-10-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

While Josh and I were planning our trip we always knew that we wanted to spend enough time in Portland OR to feel like we are living there. So we decided to block out three weeks starting the beginning of September to "move" to Portland. The first week we were there we stayed in the town of Gresham (I wouldn't recommend choosing Gresham as a vacation destination!) After a week we moved to Jantzen Beach, which was really nice. It was more centrally located to where we wanted to be (Aiyana's house) and was less weird than Gresham. So we set up our house there for the next two weeks.

The wonderful thing about staying so long in one place is actually getting comfortable running errands. I am a home body, I always have been. I like to know where I am going and what to expect. As you can imagine NOTHING about this trip has been that way so far, to hop in the car and run to the supermarket and actually know where to find something is really nice for me. That's how I felt in Portland.

Another thing that made Portland feel so much like home was the instant friends we acquired.
There were so many wonderful things that we did in Portland that I will try to mention them all but I fear I might miss a few. If anyone wants to add any feel free.

A few days after we arrived we caught an amazing sunset from the top of Mount Tabor with our friends Chuck, Aiyana, and Wyatt which was followed by great Italian at the Italian Place with Aiyana's awesome roommate Ariana (yeah, we commented on how amusing it was that those two names lived together, especially because they can both go by Ana), and Rick a friend from Keene State College. As we mentioned before went on that amazing camping trip with Josh and Katie, and had an awesome dinner with Rick and his girlfriend Lindsey (who was Josh's roommate in college). We spent a great night out to dinner with Ariana and her boyfriend Nick (who is in Everyday Prophets with Rick), and some of their friends and their friends friends. Ana was babysitting that night so we brought five month old Ari too. Ari's mom Alison was great too! Josh and I did some child care for her while she worked and went to class. We had so much fun with Ari!

We left Portland feeling like we were leaving a great party. I will say one thing about that group, someone is always coming up with some amazing activity for everyone. Whether it be a pumpkin carving contest in the park to helping Lindsey make Junk to Funk awards out of old Barbie dolls.

If anyone is planing on visiting Portland OR, give Josh or I a call and we will put you in touch with this amazing group of people! Love to them all.

Childhood Dreams!

2007-10-18T01:40:00.000-04:00

There's a legendary place for windsurfing near Portland, OR. It's called the Hood River Gorge. Something about the ocean air and land air creating a thermal flow, and the huge mountain ranges on either side of the river funneling it all upstream... it's windy every day. I used to watch "epic" windsurfing videos of nutcases thrashing around in the howling winds, jumping 3o feet in the air.

Windsurfing The Gorge is like a childhood dream, a mystical mountain to be conquered, a dragon to be slain. Being so close, I HAD to get out there. No excuses, no "maybe tomorrows."

Last time I was on the water, I was actually pretty good at windsurfing, and if I had kept it up, would probably have been one of those guys flying around. For me, getting back on a windsurfer is like riding a bike - you never really forget... how tiring it is, how much water you swallow, and how much it hurts! But MAN what a good time. Uncontrollable hoots of joy, and laughs (and screams for help) made more joyous by the gurgling mouthfuls of water.

All in all, the town of Hood River is now one of my favorite places in the country. It's quaint, picturesque, a lot of fun, friendly, great beer, great wine, and windsurfing every day. All this about 50 minutes from Portland. Works for me. Hey, let's all move there!

Please excuse the shaky video, I was probably just going so fast... you know!

Aiyana's Birthday!

2007-10-05T13:18:00.000-04:00

We jumped the gun a bit...before we camped on Mount Adams we celebrated the birthday of my best friend, Aiyana Rose Maye! Josh and I rolled into town and then rolled over to Aiyana's apartment where we squealed and hugged (Ana and I, not Josh). We snacked and sipped wine and began to meet the amazing group of people who were soon to become our best buds for the next three weeks. After a few hours of schmoozing we walked to the Good Foot to hear an awesome reggae band called Everyday Prophets. Our friend Rick, from Keene State College, plays bass in the band and we hadn't seen him in years. We boogied and laughed until we shut the place down. It was a great party, and a wonderful birthday!

Mount Adams

2007-10-04T01:25:00.000-04:00

Driving into Portland from Bend, we followed the Columbia river long enough to know there was some amazing scenery to behold. Little did we know that Ana's (Lindsays best friend) friends Katie & Josh were going to get us up close and personal.

I believe it was a Saturday. After a couple days of planning, we had the back of our truck and Josh's Civic stuffed to the brim in preparation for our sojourn to Mount Adams. It began with a drive right back out 84 along the river, passing waterfalls and fantastic views of Mount Hood. We took a left at the town of Hood River and crossed into Washington, did a quick food shop, and pointed the cars uphill.

Countless miles up a rocky, gravely, dirt road, we reached our first destination, Wind River Cellars, where, for 5 bucks, we were able to taste all of their wines (it had to be 18 or so) and enjoy a perfect view of Mount Hood from their deck. We even got to schmooze with their potbelly pig. Some of the wine was fantastic, some of it was just good, but who can keep track after the first few anyway? We bought 2 bottles (Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir).

All that wine and sun - Time to get behind the wheel again!!! Back on the dirt road, back on the bumps & curves. At 10 MPH it hardly seemed dangerous. We camped at a spot called Bird Lake. I don't know what the elevation was, but suffice to say we were freakin' high up. The lake water was crystalline and the sky was a perfect match. It was without a doubt the most scenic spot I've ever pitched a tent. Josh brought a bass, Chuck brought a banjo and I brought my guitar. Thankfully, our girlfriends all brought their patience.

Josh & Katie provided us with scrumptious, and in my case oversized, burritos for which they had clearly developed a recipe through exacting science. And those Nutella sandwiches knocked our socks off!!

We froze our little tooshies off that night, but awakened to a crisp morning and crispy bacon.

Bouncing a little further up the mountain, the gas pedal on the truck stopped responding. No one was concerned, though, because Josh, Chuck and I are Master Mechanics (we opened the hood, stuck our heads in, muttered to each other, poked a few things and then scratched our asses). Somehow or other, turning the truck off, then restarting it fixed the problem (we're MASTERS I tell you!!!)

After our conquest, we set off for a little hike on Mount Adams. I know you're tired of me saying this, but the view was indescribable. We spent a little time on a rock ledge overlooking the valley, some waterfalls and even a herd of Mountain Goat. For me, there was a little moment when I just chuckled at how lucky we were (and how big the mountains are out here).

Portland, OR

2007-10-04T01:10:00.000-04:00

The wonderful thing about Portland is that it's surrounded by places that make it better. That and the people. We were surrounded by such wonderful people, and like Portland, I believe that those people make us better people. It wasn't just our close friends, it was their close friends, even their friends were great! It seemed everyone we met was engaging and ready to connect.

Our time in Portland was different than anywhere else we've been. Partly because we stayed three weeks, partly because we hooked right into Ana's friend network.

In spite of our dismal choice of RV park the first week we were there, our time was filled with wonderful adventures. The only way for us to talk about Portland is to talk about the adventures we had. Starting with...

Another Home Away From Home

2007-09-27T02:04:00.000-04:00

We headed North, dreaming of green grass and fresh air. We stumbled into Bend OR into the waiting arms of three of our dearest friends after almost twelve hours of traveling. Mel and her husband Gabe and their two year old Leo greeted us warmly. After hot showers, a meal and being entertained by their son we gratefully spilled into their guest bed. We spent the next three days being fed amazing cuisine (scrumptious Thai) wonderful company and having lots of laughs. After leaving such an amazing community during Burning Man we could not imagine a better family to decompress with.

I of course got my first of many baby fixes and totally fell in love with Leo. I mean come on, with that smile, those curls, and that personality who wouldn't love him! Josh tried not to be too jealous as he and Gabe talked music shop, and Mel and I gushed about the upcoming nuptials of Josh and I. It was nice to see some of our chosen family again.

During one day in sunny Bend ("it never rains here" to quote Gabe, and this only hours before an torrential hail, rain and thunder storm) we pulled EVERYTHING out of the RV to do a super clean. We knew it was time when Leo (who is still mastering the art of speaking) declared "Dirty!" when I brought him into the RV for a tour. During the deep clean, Mel's sister Dara, who owns an awesome salon literally across the street, offered to give me a cut. I had mentioned to Mel the day before that I was in need of a trim and her sister happily obliged. Besides I was looking for an excuse to get my hands of of the now gray soapy water that I had been scrubbing the floor with. One needs to look HOT when covered in playa dust from head to toe.

After the deep clean and the trim, Gabe had to dash to a rehearsal, so Mel, Josh, Dara, her daughter Veda and I went to a happening Mexican Restaurant and ate WAY TOO MUCH! It was delicious and the pitcher of margarita's washed everything down perfectly. If anyone is ever looking for good eats, they should book a flight to Bend and look up Gabe and Mel who were a wealth of restaurant knowledge.

Josh and I managed to pull Gabe away from work one morning, we headed to an amazing little place for breakfast/lunch. we sat outside in the sun surrounded by beautiful blooms and a very sweet man made stream. Once we ate our fill we took a very scenic drive to the top of Pilot Butte and marvled at the amazing scenery. We certainly don't have mountains like THAT on the east coast!

It was sad to leave, Bend was as beautiful as we had imagined and we will always look forward to visiting our good friends there.

So, How Was It?

2007-09-25T13:27:00.000-04:00

How was burning man? This has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the question I've heard more than any over the last two weeks.

Burning Man Sucked! Burning Man was Incredible! It was happy & sad; stressful & relaxing; exciting & boring; old & new. This year, it was even hot & cold, rainy & sunny, windy & still.

I think that about sums up Burning Man for me. It's a year's worth of emotion, experience, love, hate, joy and sorrow wrapped into one hell of an intense week. Was it more "green" than usual? Not really.

This year couldn't have had a rougher emotional beginning. At the greeter gate, every year whether it's your first or hundredth, you are greeted with a warm "Welcome Home" which is generally followed by at least some hugs, and at most, some nude "dust angles" (never done it myself, but it's a snow angle with pizzaz). As Lindsay and I bumped our way down the entrance road, alongside thousands faces that were familiar not because we recognized the features, but because we recognized the look they were wearing, we had a long discussion about how much this year really did feel like coming home. After living everywhere and nowhere for 2 months, driving down a familiar dirt road surrounded by our old community was a warm and welcome feeling.

The shock of Lindsay's face and the cold stare of that nasty woman who was "just doing her job" who took our plants snapped that warm feeling clean in two. All of the sudden, home wasn't so homey. We had been robbed, not just of our lovely houseplants, but of the trusting, open feeling one gets when returning home.

Thankfully, and most necessarily, our actual "greeter" was warm, friendly to the point of tears in the corner of his smiling eyes, and so happy to share the excitement of the thousands of people he had probably greeted that day. It was enough to at least remind us why we were here.

Upon arriving, we spent a good 1/2 hour just putting around with our big ole' home, trying mostly to find a spot to park, but also taking advantage of this one opportunity we'd have to drive around the Playa and take it in.

We ended up pulling into a great spot, filling in a hole around a nice little common area some other people had made. We introduced ourselves, and through weary (they had been out until sunrise the night before) eyes they welcomed us to their neighborhood.

Lindsay and I spent most of the rest of the day building our mini-dome, a place that would provide us respite from the sun so we could leave the RV locked down during the days, and a place that would later become a wonderful little gathering spot. Through the coming days, most of our neighbors' shade structures we completely destroyed by the wind.

After a quick dinner, we indulged in a bike ride around the city, taking it all in, talking about where we'd like to come back to, what we'd like to do and experience. Seeing Center Camp again was magical. Consuming the beauty of all of these people in their Burning Man best filled me right up. But the surge I felt as we first pulled our bikes into the open Playa is beyond description. I believe Linds referred to it as the "hum" and I can't think of a better word. Though, it's not just the sound, it's the energy in the air... it just fills you up.

The next couple of days, we spent our time lounging around with Kathy and Raspberry Truffle, two Seattleites that had come for their first time. They were a godsend. Not only because they were wonderful people to share the time with, but because they had planned (as we had) on sharing their food with the people around them - and their food was fantastic. We were soon joined by another group of neighbors from Santa Rosa. These guys were fun - here to party, and generally added a great up-energy dynamic to our little group.

Our nights were spent drinking a cup of coffee around 7 or 8pm, then maniacally navigating the city: drinking champagne with a very gay male cheerleader, listening to 4 musicians who'd never met jam out with full sound equipment (ick), taking in the nighttime art, watching a (somewhat disappointing) aerial dance performance, listening to incredible original music at center camp, smiling at passersby, zig-zagging from here to there to see this and that, and then finally coming to a slow down around 12:30 or 1am and making our way back to (again) our warm and comfortable bed.

I think it's time for a very deserved pause from the narrative to pay homage to some of the art we saw:

Giant scrap-metal figures praying (in different prayer poses from around the globe) to a 90 foot tall wooden oil derrick that people could climb the stairs to stand at the top. The meaning behind it was powerful, the sculpture was just perfect.

Two Oil Tankers, in a yin-yang vertical dance, teetering, but balanced gracefully.

A "Merry Go Round" of flying monkeys, powered by people on bikes, complete with strobe lights so that in the dark of night, the merry-go-round would go away, and all you would see were animated monkeys, swinging from limb to limb, being fed a red apple by a green snake with a hand for its head (yes, it was beyond description!)

Mini-Golf on the playa.

A quiet dome way out in the playa - where tea was served at sundown each evening.

And then, there was the temple....

I could list on and on and on, but it's probably better if you just click here and check it out.

Back to our narrative...

The arrival of Shiva and Nicole brought enough excitement to live up to the anticipation we had been feeling during the couple of days we spent without them. We had so much we wanted to show them, things we wanted to do with them, things we were ready to share. All in all, those thoughts vanished during our first walk out to The Man. We had waited for Shiva and Nicole to arrive before heading out there, we thought it would be a nice thing for us to all do together, and because the man was to be "closed off" Friday Night, we couldn't wait for better weather to arrive, so we went for it in the rain. Lindsay has done these moments all the justice they need. Double Rainbow in the Desert + Art + Happy People + Love + Loved Ones + Coming Home + Spontaneous Engagement = HOLY-SHIT-WOW!

It was all we needed, more than we had hoped for and everything we expected of Burning Man.

The Man itself, usually a shining example of interactive creativity, was really quite a let down this year, consisting mostly of a green-living expo that was really WAY out there. I'm not sure, but a Rocket Stove that can heat your house on just a bundle of sticks each day sounds very interesting, but dude, this is Burning Man, lay off the sales pitch!

During the course of our remaining couple of days, the most I really remember doing is enjoying the time with friends, eating, drinking and being merry. I know we went dancing and explored center camp some more (a week spent just doing center camp would probably be a great week). We attended the burning of the Man on Saturday night with Kathy and Raspberry Truffle, who made the observation we've felt in the past "Wow, you can just FEEL the energy in the air, it's amazing.", then returned to the safe confines of our trailer while they shot a 1000-foot propane fireball out of the Oil Derrick. The fireworks were amazing, and the excitement level was through the roof. After all of that, what really left a scar on my brain was Sunday.

Nicole and I are the kind of people who get satisfaction out of putting ourselves out there. Shiva and Lindsay, not so much. But through a group effort we devised a simple plan that turned into one of my favorite memories. Sunday Morning, Shiva cut up a watermelon that had been given to us in exchange for a plate of fresh from the oven cookies (yeah, people liked those a lot, almost as much as the freezy pops we had been doling out. The RV was a good thing.) and refrigerated it in small chunks. Nicole filled up our water mister and we set out in the early afternoon, the hottest part of the day, to do some do-godding.

The effect was immediate. People had been out all night, probably without enough water, probably doing god knows what to their body. Many of them had probably awakened just an hour or two earlier because it was too hot to stay passed out any longer, and they were now trudging their way back home to their tent. That's where some of them bumped into our 4 smiling faces "Would you like a slice of fresh Watermelon and a cool mist?"

Needless to say, our smiles were returned with the most thankful faces I have ever seen. Some people's hands were too dusty to stick into the watermelon bowl, so we would just feed them. Some people were so sunburned that the cool mist from the water sprayer was almost too much. But let me tell you. Not only is the cliche "It is better to give than to receive" one of the truest statements on earth. The feeling of being called an Angel or Godsend tops it all.

Feeling wonderful, we returned to camp and began the altogether frustrating practice of waiting for the sun to set a little so it would be cool enough for us to break down our camp. I got bored and went for a bike ride. Didn't do much, but I did find a slice of Playa unused enough to put my road bike in its highest gear and pedal as fast as I could. Fun!

Our cleanup process was a snap. 3 years of dome-development proved useful and the heavy duty zip-ties we had used to build everything just clipped off in a second. We were asked by a couple of Burning Man Rangers to help clean up after a some people that had ducked out on Saturday Night and left behind their wind-thrashed Home Depot garden tents.

With the assistance of a good amount of rope and grunting, Shiva and I were able to wrestle the twisted metal into a manageable-enough bunch that one of our neighbors, who was only driving to Reno, was able to take them home for disposal. Toward the end of our struggle, a very warm and happy woman asked shiva to pose for a couple of pictures in the sunset, and in return presented he and I with a Cleu. A wonderful piece of neckwear representing "You, The Earth, Your Consciousness and The Universe." A touching gift that felt like an instant-karma reward for the work we had just done.

Exhausted, the four of us donned our white robes (courtesy, Burning Man 2005) and set off to joined the rest of the community for the procession to the temple burn. This year's Temple was an exquisitely detailed, Zen-inspired wooden tower that had become an emotional idol for so much of the community (for more on this, see Lindsay's blog). In contrast to our 2005 experience, we were surrounded by somber, respectful, and emotionally connected people who shared with us the power of the moment as someone sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (a tribute to Nicole & Shiva?) before the fire was lit, followed by "Redemption Song" as they lit the flames. The fire creeping at the feet of this magnificent temple, as people around us sobbed, smiled, held hands and swayed, some of us singing along quietly, was a more spiritual prayer experience than any I have ever been a part of.

As the flames crept further up the desert-dried wooden structure, cracking and popping, emotions swelled around the circle of what was probably 20-25,000 people at that point. Spontaneously, the wave began... but not the cheesy, arms in the air wave that you've seen at the ball game. This was a wave of sound. People screaming and yelling, releasing angst or sharing joy, I don't know. But the swell of sound and energy swirling around a circle of people all focusing on a fire more beautiful than can be described was something I'm proud to have been a part of.

The next morning, well before sunrise, we bid farewell to Shiva & Nicole as they joined the already long exodus processional. A couple of hours later, Lindsay and I drove our rig into the now teeming line of cars, to creep our way off the playa. The sun came up, and as we looked around at all of the familiar faces, we knew this would probably be our last burn. But what a good one it was!

The Burn!

2007-09-21T17:35:00.000-04:00

We left Winnemucca UT around noon and headed toward the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. As we drove we noticed more and more vehicles loaded with bikes, boxes of costumes, food and smiling faces. We knew who each other were and we knew we where we were heading. We got a good healthy dose of community before we even got to Burning Man.

We wound our way through the tiny towns of Empire and Gerlach, being joined all the time by more and more cars, vans, and RV's. We did feel a little sheepish this year for two reasons. The first two times we went to Burning Man, we were there there for the whole week and scoffed at the "weekenders", the folks who come out to the desert for the big end of the week celebration. This year we were joining them on Wednesday, a full three days after the festival had started. The second reason we felt guilty was because of the home that we were towing behind us. In previous years we roughed it with only tents for sleeping, and a shade dome that kept the sun at bay but never did much when the big dust storms came though. Oh well, we did Burning Man this year the cushy way.

We drove onto the playa listening to BMIR (Burning Man Independent Radio) laughing at the adds to remind you to drink water and watch your mouth around the youngsters that would be attending. Everything went smoothly, we got our tickets at will call and headed to the first of two gates that we had to pass through before we made our way "home". At the first gate we had the unpleasant experience of having Boris and Natasha, two of our three houseplants, taken away. The girl was rude and didn't care that she was searching our home, spreading dust on our bed as she rummaged through closets and under the couch. She told me that Boris and Natasha would be donated to the town (I hope she was right). Pip squeak (who was hanging in that bathroom) failed to draw her attention so he is our Burning Man survivor and now hangs happily in one of our windows.

Needless to say she did not get the Utah peach I had in my hand as a gift to her.
We went through the second gate where the real greeters were. We both gave them hugs and handed out peaches.

We found a patch of desert near 5:55 and Intertidal. After we parked, set up the dome, and made dinner we went around to meet our neighbors. All the them (with a few exceptions) were Burning Man virgins so we felt very proud to be giving advice.

We set our on our first night on our bikes (another Burning Man first for us) and met wonderful friends and found wonderful art. This metal man was a part of a much larger piece of work, but his pose and demeanor was one of my favorites.

For anyone who has never seen Burning Man at night, picture an amusement park, all lit up. Strobes, neon, strange glows coming from the horizon, then multiply it by one hundred. The lights and shapes are so vibrant they make your eyes water. Now imagine the sounds, music thumping from cars decked out to the max with fur, feathers, grinning people who have hopped on for the ride. Imagine distant sounds of cheers coming from the Thunderdome, imagine sweet swirls of acoustic sitar from a nearby, dimly lit dome, screams of delight, purrs of recognition, whispers between loved ones, all of this mixed and mashed up in one cacophony that is the HUM at Burning Man. The hum never disappears completely, it changes decibels but it is always there.

We rode around open-mouthed, loving every minute of it, and when we got tired, we rode home, unlocked the door to our home and crawled into our very own bed. Ahhh, the joys of having an RV on the playa.

For the next few days we followed a rigorous schedule of sitting in the shade with our new friends, drinking coffee, and laughing. Then as the sun slowly encroached on our cool shade we made plans for the day. Sometimes we would hop on our bikes and head out to the big art far out on the horizon, sometimes we would try to find an event at a nearby camp, sometimes it was simply nap time again. Your days at Burning Man tend to follow creature comforts. You take care of your body, because when you are in 100+ degrees with whipping wind and dust you need to make sure you don't get dehydrated, or hungry or tired.

On Friday our good friends Nicole and Shiva arrived. In past years they would be the contingent to drive all of our big supplies from L.A. while Josh and I had to fly in to Reno, rent a car and drive all of our supplies out to the playa to meet them. On this day however, they pulled right up, and joined us in the RV while a particularly nasty dust storm rolled through.
After the storm passed we all decked ourselves out in our Burning Man best and headed out to see the man.

We opened the door to the RV to a much cooler desert. The dust storm had brought through a front. The sky had been swept clear except for dark, menacing storm clouds the were hugging the tops of the mountains along the horizon. The four of us headed toward the man. As we got closer to the man a light rain began to fall. After three years going to Burning Man I had never felt rain. We ran and laughed as the cold pinpricks of rain left clean spots of skin through the coating of dust that you wear while on the playa. We had come into view of the man who stood majestically against the contrasting blues of the sky. The man was perfectly outlined by the two most perfect rainbows arching exactly over him. We could see exactly where they began and ended smack on the playa. We all began laughing and running toward the man. Others had noticed the multicolored spectacle and joined us in our reverie. It was such an amazing and powerful moment. Shiva grabbed Nicole's hand and with emotion in his throat asked her if she would marry him. She replied without a moments hesitation that she would. Josh and I looked at each other unsure if the beautiful moment had just happened. As they kissed and held each other we saw the love that they have for each other and we joined them in their engagement celebration.

The rest of the time we spent at Burning Man was wonderful. We made even more new friends, we saw even more art and we soaked up the wonderful vibe of community that we all enjoy being a part of.

The man burned, for the second time, on Saturday night. Unfortunately, on the Tuesday before someone decided to take it upon himself to commit a little arson and attempted to burn the man down early. The Burning Man community rallied and the man was repaired and in place ready for the burn on Saturday. We stayed for the Temple burn on Sunday which is a much more somber celebration. Earlier in the week Josh and I had gone out to the temple and found some of the most amazing energy. In the past the temple has stood as a place for people to mourn lost friends and family, forgive themselves or others, and be a safe place for people to reflect, celebrate and mourn. This year was no different.

For myself, the first year I went to Burning Man my Mom's father, my Popa, was having a biopsy of the Melonoma that had been found on the top of his head. The day that he went in for this procedure Josh and I spent some good time at the HeeBeeGeeBee Healers Camp where I spoke with an amazing man named Donovan who asked me for a wish. I told him that I wanted my grandfather to make it over the hurdle of cancer. Donovan told me that he hoped my wish would come true but he also advised me to make a a place in my head for the fact that he may not get better. I had never had anyone speak so frankly to me about something so personal. I spent the rest of the day trying to balance these two thoughts, the wish for my Popa's health, and the realization that his good health may never return. My Popa lost his battle with cancer two years ago on September 21st. This year at Burning Man I wrote his name on the temple and when it burned I felt all the sadness I had felt just after he had died but I also felt that he would have enjoyed the power that this one amazing structure burning had for so many people.

We left the desert on Monday morning (along with about 20,000 other people) and as we stopped and started with the rest of the traffic we reflected on what we had seen, heard and done. I for one, have had a pretty good dose of Burning Man. I have put in and taken out of the experience exactly what I wanted. I could go again, but if I don't I know that what I experienced on the playa is something that I will always remember and cherish.

So now you have heard what Lindsay thought and felt during the Burn....now it is Josh's turn.

Salt Lake City, UT

2007-09-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

We kept heading south with our most southern goal being Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. We made a two day pit stop in Salt Lake City UT where there was a plethora of health food stores, Home Depots, and Army surplus stores where we could stock up on supplies for Burning Man. Needless to say, we were very busy for two days getting our errands done.

The highlights of UT:
A basket of the BEST peaches ever (bought from a roadside fruit stand).
No bears running through our camp.
Filling up on really great grease.
Getting most of our Burning Man supplies in one VERY productive day.

The not so highlights of UT:
Campground right next to the railroad tracks (although this is a trend that has continued).
Locking our keys in the car (with the car running) in the parking lot of Home Depot (the least productive part of our very productive day).
Trying to go swimming (UT was having a serious drought so the water was slimy and muddy at best).

All in all we left UT happy, with almost everything crossed off our list. We spent one more night off the playa in a tiny casino town called Winnemucca in NV where we were able to do some much needed work on the truck. The truck had been chugging to terribly while running on grease that we had almost completely given up on it. Josh talked to Ethan at Greasecar and the two of them decided that Josh should switch around the pump hoses, while doing this, Josh found a pine needle in one of the hoses. It may sound like a small thing but we think that the one pine needle could have been the root of the problem.

With a happy truck, a full refrigerator and pantry, and much excitement we headed out to the desert!

Grand Indeed!

2007-09-16T14:46:00.000-04:00

Thoroughly jaded: Our thinking on anything regarding landscapes after being in Yellowstone.

Totally wrong. Our preconception of Grand Teton.

The two parks are connected by road and share a common border. You only have to buy one pass to visit both, so what could the big deal be? You pass through a little brown gate, and lo and behold... more pine trees!!!

So we continued driving south through the rolling hills, literally nonplussed by the landscape, but still reveling in the joy of our morning safari. We probably passed a deer or elk somewhere and slowed down just enough to point and smile. Then, around a bend somewhere, the towering majesty of the Teton range, spiking out of Jackson lake, came into view.

We pulled over.

It would be redundant of me to write an account of our reaction each time we saw the mountains, but it seemed that every time we drove past it, something was so magnificent that we would gasp or sigh and either pull over or swerve so badly that we should have. Whether it was perfect blue sky. Manicured clouds. Even the black-on-black of stone mountains breaking a night sky.

Early one afternoon enjoyed a picnic lunch in a secluded little spot on the bank of Jenny lake, where, from the rocky beach, we could see straight down to the bottom of the lake at least 30 or 40 feet out. It was that crystal clear. Generally, however, we were more distracted with the 9000 feet of rock rising out of the water. We were also thoroughly distracted by the MOST persistent little chipmunk I've ever seen. He was enough of a badger to turn any nature lover into a bloodthirsty murder.

Enduring the incredibly stressful drive down a 55 mph road literally teeming with elk and deer, we spent a little time in the city of Jackson Hole. We certainly enjoyed our respite at a wonderful little coffee shop, but we're over the tourist-hype at this point, so shopping for overpriced eccentricities wasn't high on our to-do list. We spent most of our time amongst the herds of Elk (dozens together) and Buffalo (we probably saw a hundred in one group, all crossing the street while we waited patiently) framed again by the mountain majesty.

Other close encounters with the animal kind included a bear being chased through our campsite by groundskeepers (Lindsay ran screaming - I would have done the same if I wasn't already in the truck), and a herd of deer plodding through another campground we stayed at.

The pictures clearly won't do this justice, but hey, worth a shot, right?

Water Water Everywhere

2007-09-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

We sadly left Bozeman, it could be an amazing place to live, we knew that our good friend Luke was going to love it, and with him living here we knew that we had even more of a reason to come and visit.
So onward to Yellowstone Park we went, finding our way into the park from the north. Just before the north entrance Josh had found a white water rafting place that promised hilarious guides, lots of white water and amazing sightseeing along the Yellowstone River. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. No, I was scared. I have never liked the feeling of being so out of control with the immensely strong force of nature that water is. Josh was so excited and I really didn't want to wimp out at the last minute so with a brave face I suited up in a wet suit, listened to the safety talk very carefully, and helped out guide, Carl, push our big yellow raft into the water ahead of the three other rafts that were joining us down the river.
The first rapids we hit felt HUGE, "All FORWARD!" yelled Carl and we dug our paddles in to the white swirling water. As soon as I felt our man power pull us through the first swells I realized that we weren't powerless to the water, we had control, and we had complete faith in our guide to tell us how to maintain that control. We bobbed through slow swells, got extremely soaked in larger white waves and whooped when the raft felt like a tiny toy in a huge whirlpool. I would do it again, I never thought I would feel that way.
The river wildlife was sparse, the fisherman were not. We saw a few Osprey, a Bald Eagle and an antelope rib cage bleached white by the sun. During a slower moment we chatted with the young couple sitting in front of us, we overheard them mention the hot springs they were going to visit later that day and through chattering teeth we invited ourselves along.
After a bumpy ride back to drop our rafts off we followed our new friends to the North entrance of Yellowstone and then to where the Boiling River meets the Gardiner river. The boiling river poured 130 degree water into a much cooler river, making pockets of hot water to soak in. We sat in the water until our teeth stopped chattering and our fingers were total prunes.
It was a nice way to end a very busy, exhausting day. We found a campground in Madison, a village inside of Yellowstone Park. We marveled at the amazing scenery the whole way to our campground and made a plan to get up with the sun to see the wildlife.
The next morning began with Buffalo munching breakfast in misty sage brush flats. We watched a massively antlered male Elk carefully calculate his path through the new growth of pines that had sprung up since the last forest fire, we admired the burps and plops of the mud paint pots and watched the crystal clear cascading of the many falls. It was a splendid morning. After we packed up we headed south to Grand Teton National park, we thought we'd be numb to amazing scenery but boy were we wrong. The Teton's took our breath away...

Our Home Away From Home

2007-08-25T10:38:00.000-04:00

Well, so, it's true, we freaked out! The town of Interior was nice and all, perfect for shooting a film about not much. We got to experience the simple life, the ranch life, the feeling of utter desloation and removal from a society that (now that we have a little perspective) really isn't that bad. But after a few days of such perspective, it was REALLY time to get the heck outta Dodge.

So we hit the road and spent the night in a town of 36 people: Beulah, MT. Next morning... On the road again!

Beulah? Buelah!

Onward to Yellowstone!

Nope, sorry, the East Entrance, which had re-opened the previous morning is now closed due to landslide (it had been closed the previous week for wildfire - someone tell Al Gore we've got a crisis on our hands!)

Oh well, we'd talked about checking out Bozeman, MT, just an hour or two from the north entrance, and since our buddy Luke is moving there this week, it'd be cool to see where he's headed!

As it turned out Luke was already out there, just for the weekend, apartment hunting. What a great bonus, getting to reconnect with a good friend from home while on the road. We now had all the motivation we needed to make the haul to Bozeman. Sadly, our alternator lacked said motivation and went toe-up about 2 hours before Billings, 4 hours from Bozeman. Not wanting to be so far from nowhere, we decided to push on to Billings so we could get the truck fixed.

Luke, being the true MAN that he is, drove the two hours out from Bozeman (leaving behind what I'm sure was the beginnings of his new Harem) to spend the night with us in Billings. I hope he found it as worth it as we did. We had such a great time! Billings is a surprisingly cool city with a fun downtown nightlife, and the Montana Brewing Company did not disappoint.

Sunday Morning, Truck Fixed, Errands run, Breakfast down the hatch. On to Bozeman for a couple of days.

Bozeman, as Jim put it, is kind of Montana's Northampton. A hip, artsy town chock full of restaurants, bars, fun boutiques and coffee shops. Bozeman's one-up on NoHo is that from just about anywhere you stand, there's a 360 degree panorama of a Rocky Mountain Landscape to behold.

I'm not sure whether we enjoyed the town or the nearby farm landscapes more, but suffice to say, we stayed an extra day or two in Bozeman just to soak it all up.

The Badlands

2007-08-20T10:59:00.000-04:00

The Badlands were anything but bad. They were beautiful, wild, foreign, and humbling. We stayed in the town of Interior, and our campground felt like it was right out of an old west movie. The owner would stand with his boots propped up on the bottom rung of the split rail fence, blast Johnny Cash and answer any question asked with as few syllables as possible. He was the real deal!

We took a trail ride the first morning we were there through some of the most amazing country I had ever seen. The horses were really good on the steep and rough terrain, and our trail guide, Candace, was wonderful with us as well as the horses.

We patrolled the Badlands National Park by car and by foot finding some of the most incredible views imaginable. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, keep in mind they are missing the amazing scale of everything. It was a really good reminder how small we are as human beings, and how huge and unclaimed parts of this country still is.

The afternoon after our Trail Ride (one of the hotter days) we drove to Wind Cave National Park with a short stop to tweak the nose of our first president. The cave promised 50-55 degree temps. We took an hour and fifteen minute tour and were awed by the vastness that can be found underground. This particular cave boasts 275 miles of explored passages. They believe that the 275 miles is only 5% of the actual caverns. Our guide Mary told us that the rest of the passages may be too small for a body to fit or they might be one giant room.

Josh and I also celebrated our minus one year wedding anniversary on August, 16. We stayed at the beautiful Black Forest Inn (courtesy of Terry and Sue Nagel) in Rapid City. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Fireside and then a hot tub and champagne (courtesy of Candace and Tim, our good friends from NH)

After leaving the Badlands and heading toward Montana we realized that even though the Badlands were amazing we needed green, and mountains. The first time we saw hills after we left we both sighed, and smiled each other. On this trip we have visited so many wonderful landscapes, sometimes it is nice to just know that we are leaving somewhere that we would love to visit again.

Madison, WI

2007-08-16T12:24:00.000-04:00

"My Heart Aches for Madison."
- Our friend Maggie Grum

The heat seemed to have followed us from Bloomington. The Madison Parks & Rec Dept recommended a nice new park, with camping! The only downfall was that the trees were new too, so we barely got shade. We tucked ourselves in on the edge of the park, and immediately, one of the most "interesting" families we've ever seen parked themselves, and enough stuff for a small town (kitchen sinks included), right between us and the next RV over (who we'd later meet: Terry & Larry). We had a great time the next couple of nights with Terry & Larry marveling at our shared neighbor.

Like a beacon in the night, Whole Foods drew us in. It was such a nice piece of "home," and they had real live hippies there! Horray!

We heard from Terry & Larry, amongst others, that the Madison Farmers Market at Capitol Square was definitely worth checking out (it's famed to be one of the top 5 in the country and did not disappoint). For those of you who have never been to Madison, the capitol building is simply majestic. It sits a top a hill in the center of the city. From any of the streets that lead to it, the building provides a stunning view in all directions.

We stocked up on fresh corn, tomatoes that you could eat like an apple and three plants for the RV. You know our love of plants, we're delighted to have some life in our home. Now our windows are home to Boris (Bolivian Wandering Jew), Natasha (Verigated Bridal Veil) and the third which hasen't been named is a Pilea.

The timing has blurred with the passing days, but in our remaining time in Madison, we took advantage of their plentiful (and beautiful) bike trails. Visited State Street on multiple occasions for a Comedy show and dinner out. We even managed to take a stroll to the Union Terrace and sit by the lake for a bit.

Bloomington, IL

2007-08-16T11:41:00.000-04:00

We spent a little less than a week in Bloomington IL. We were lucky (or unlucky) enough to be there during a heat wave. The days were 95+ and humid and the nights were just darker than the days. It was a beautiful little city with an unfortunate sprawl problem.

The first night we were there, after setting up at Kamp Komfort, we set our GPS to take us to dinner at a local smokehouse. When we arrived and found the restaurant closed, but happened upon an amazing sushi place right next door.

We spent the next few mornings and afternoons at the Coffee Hound, a really good coffee shop with AIR CONDITIONING! We also happened to be in town for the Shakespeare Festival that was performing in the park. We immediately bought tickets for Love's Labor's Lost and enjoyed an amazing picnic dinner on the lawn of an incredible estate. The play was brilliantly acted, the set beautiful and the occasional breezes that swept through the outdoor theater few and far between.

The second to last night we were there I had a hankering for pizza. We looked up the local pizza place and found Lucca Bar and Grill. After parking our truck in a somewhat dark and deserted part of town we found the back entrance of the restaurant. The smell of good food, and loud laughter engulfed us as we made our way toward two seats at the bar. What followed will be one of my favorite memories from our trip. The pizza was delicious, the drinks were expertly made and we met some great people sitting next to us who were amazed that we had found "the best pizza place in town" without really trying. At some point, someone started telling dirty jokes, of course we all tried to one up each other. The winner and champion was one of our new friends who shamelessly brought an innocent bystander into the mix with a really funny joke that you will just have to make me repeat to you in person.

We headed out the next morning in search of grease and of course immediately thought of Lucca's. When we stopped by, the owner remembered us, was impressed with our truck and was happy to let us fill up.

By the next day we were ready to move on from Bloomington. We packed up and headed almost due north to Madison WI hoping to escape the heat.

Family Fun, Dayton Ohio

2007-08-14T17:16:00.000-04:00

We have been having so much fun over that past few weeks that it has been hard to find time to sit and write it all down for you, so here it goes.

The first weekend of August Josh and I spent three days with my awesome family. We laughed a lot, swam a lot, ate a lot, sang a lot, played Ladder Ball a lot, and ate some more. It had been a really long time since some of us had seen each other so we spent a lot of time catching up. It was a really nice respite from the road and we enjoyed relaxing with everyone we love.

Josh was a huge hit with the kids, Anna and Craig, because he was the BEST at flipping them off the floats into the pool. I got to see my parents again after about a month, it was hard to say good-bye because the next time I see them there will be snow on the ground.

As usual, the time flew by much too fast but it was wonderful.

Return to Childhood

2007-08-10T10:03:00.000-04:00

It's like that every time I go back to the Lynn Homestead. The little pond makes me remember "don't go near the pond." The Root Cellar recalls naughty boys with cans of spray paint. My amusing father brings back memories of... my amusing father!

Our trip to bloomsburg was full of reaffirmations that I lived a somewhat normal childhood, and that I remember it as such.

We arrived with promises of:

"Blackberries the size of golf balls! So many of 'em the brambles are bent to the ground."

"The living room has been turned into a bit of a drum workshop!"

and...

"More Thai Grease than we could know what to do with."

You know what... every bit of it was true.

Lindsay said she wanted to really "do" Bloomsburg this time (because usually we just lounge around the farm.) What did that mean? We went to Berrigans for Subs. They are still the best I've ever had. We picked blackberries in the fields. We took a (last minute) tour of the barn, and we even took a stroll on main street. Tara cooked for us all one night. Amy and Dad provided endless amusement at the dinner table. We even ate steak.

We may have had even more fun, but I spent ALL of Thursday inside the engine bay of our truck. It seems I have overestimated my mechanic skills. While I did not render anything inoperable, I managed to work for 10 hours on a project that was supposed to take 2. And only got it half way done. The good news is that we've since hired a real mechanic to install the new water pump and the truck is happy.

And now, as I hear it... Dad is playing more drums than ever. The blackberries are still ripening. The Garden is now bearing fruit. The Barns haven't fallen down. My sisters are still growing beautifully. Bloomsburg has continued its slow and steady march towards not changing all that much.

Back to Burlington

2007-08-06T00:57:00.000-04:00

We have been BAD BLOGGERS!

Here we are in (near) Dayton, OH, at a campsite surrounded by cornfields, accented by a cute, little, mysteriously artificial blue pond. Ironically, some guy fishing told me he was catching Blue Gills. Blue indeed.

In any case, what's important here is for me to get you up to speed, I know Lindsay has already written a great post about Ithaca, and she's just waiting for a complement of pictures before she goes live. But before Ithaca, there was Burlington, VT.

Worst campground we've stayed at yet: Burlington, VT. Not that it was too bad, but boy was it stale. The monotony, however, was shattered momentarily by my attempts to blow off my own hand with a complex balance of propane, oxygen and spark. Lighting the gas H2O heater is supposed to be simple, and henceforth, I assume it will be. God bless the guy who came over to help and was nearly more successful than I... in blowing his hand off, that is. Long story short, we got it lit and it works fine.

On the contrary to our campsite, Burlington was wonderful. We ate well, enjoyed a little nightlife and the people were friendly. We loved the charm of a big town/small city right on the picturesque lake (tragically, no photos were taken, it was too hot out to carry a camera.)

On our second day there, we took a quick sojourn to Montreal, QB.

The drive up was magical, we bounced from island to island traveling north via Lake Champlain. South Hero, North Hero, just beautiful, green, alive and unspoiled. Tasteful architecture the whole way up and a lot of space for the sweet air to carry off the lake.

The arrival in Montreal would have been great if we had gotten where we were supposed to get to earlier in the day. We may very well have been the first Americans to see the parts of Montreal we saw. It was really like being in France except the people weren't as helpful (except for Leah, our Guardian Angel for the day). We did finally find the funky, lively Plateau after downing what was easily one of the best cappuccinos I've ever had (Thanks Leah!), enjoyed a really strong beer, and had a great time meandering. I can not even begin to describe how terrible our only Montreal meal was. Oh well, at least it was cheap.

Since returning to Burlington, we've been to Ithaca, Bloomsburg and now Dayton, tomorrow we leave for Bloomington, IL, and we promise to continue the updates over the next couple of days, because there are more stories to tell.

Ithica, NY

2007-07-30T12:09:00.000-04:00

We just had a wonderful two day visit with our good friends Maggie and Piero. On Friday we made our way through the winding steep hilled roads of Ithica NY to the sweet house that Maggie and Piero are renting. After an amazing dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant and Mojitos at a favorite bar we headed back to their house to pop open some bubbly to celebrate both of our engagements (their wedding will be next summer too, July 12 to be exact).

The next morning we headed out to explore Buttermilk Falls. A gorge-ous hike along equally beautiful pools and falls. Maggie was brave and creeped behind a waterfall while we all watched. After she came out all the kids that had seen her do it had to try for themselves.
We headed home for dinner and a fire on their back porch.

Sunday started off with a typical Sunday brunch and then home for some good old fashioned couch and more catch up time. Our visit felt much too short, we absolutely love Mags and P.

Yarmouth Clam Fest

2007-07-25T21:54:00.000-04:00

We both forgot to mention a fun day we had back near Brunswick, ME. The night we arrived, we went to the Yarmouth Clam Festival. It was basically a street fair combined with a carnival. We, of course, had to have the Shore Dinner: Lobster, Steamers & Corn for 20 Bucks (hey, when in Rome...)

A Much Anticipated Island

2007-07-23T14:19:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Josh and I took a 50 minute ferry ride to Long Island Maine. An island that I haven't visited in 19 years. My parents had brought me there during the summer from the time I was in diapers to the year I turned eight. I remember the general store where I could buy bubble gum on rainy days, a long rickety staircase to a tiny private beach and amazing sunsets. I also remember a mystical dirt road called Bunny Hop Road. If the old island car happened to be going slightly faster than the island's posted 20 mph speed limit, the car ,and its giggling occupants would bounce right out of their seats due to the many 'hops' along the bumpy road. At some point someone had hand painted and hidden in the surrounding woods a number of smiling bunnies. No matter how hard you tried to concentrate on counting them all, undoubtedly the hilarious hops you were making would skew your final answer.

Josh and I took a sweet bike ride around the island's main road and found adorable cottages hidden along the way. As we rode we tried to find a pump that would inflate Josh's slightly flat rear tire to no avail. However, we did find a tiny crescent beach that was dotted with bright blankets and families enjoying the sparkling day. After lunch and some quality Harry Potter time (Josh is on #5 and I am on #7) we dipped into the cold Maine water and skipped rocks until Harry called us back to the beach blanket. Needless to say we burned and read for the rest of the day.

Around four we headed back to "town". After stopping to recharge with some ice cream from the general store we headed for the ferry landing. When we got back to Portland we wandered aroung Old Port for the rest of the day. We stopped at the Sebago Brewery for a snack and for a sample of their home brews.

We headed home shortly after that for a fire and an encounter with a very sweet cat/kitten who was incredibly friendly and took turns on our laps in front of the fire. He would have been ours right now but he was so well taken care of, and sported a coller so we knew that he had a very lucky family somewhere. Oh well, we'll borrow kitty time until we are back home with ours!

-L

The Show!

2007-07-21T19:54:00.000-04:00

"Sometimes You Watch The Show,
Sometimes You Are The Show!"
-Bob & Nancy Lawson

To this day, this is one of my favorite pieces of zen wisdom. I first heard it in a harbor in the Bahamas. There, it was all about anchoring or mooring one's boat. Some evenings, you could sit with a bottle of Pinot, feet up, back against a padded rest and watch, while some poor couple was "publicly" humiliated for their sins - or at least for missing the mooring. Other evenings, suffice to say, you were poor couple, suffering beyond imagination.

Yesterday at around 5 pm. That was us. Only substitute the Sperry-sporting onlookers for mumbling Mainers who really wanted to help.

You see, lot #1 at Thomas Point Beach Campground has quite a few trees still on it, adding to the rustic charm, and also to the challenge of parking an 8x26 foot box in the middle of it.

"Why donchu-bumble-mumble-dumble there and thenble dumble see the viewble bumble mumble do?"

"Yeah, we were thinking that, but we're gonna just try this first...."

"Yumble dumble k-then bumble lots of space over thumble too."

"Ok, we're just going to try this and then we'll see how it goes."

So, we backed in, pulled forward, backed in, pulled forward, a little left, a little right, a little "Look out for that TREE!" Then right, left, DAMN!

"Hey, still not quite in thumble dumble mumble over to thumble?"

(please note: underneath all of our frustration with parking, we were dying with silent laughter because Tim had been deftly impersonating this exact Backwoods, ME accent for the last 3 days. You can imagine Lindsay and I trying to hold it together.)

"Yeah, we were thinking of just turning around."

"Yeah, or you could bumble thenble umble overumble trumble."

"Ok. We think we've got it now, thanks for the help."

So we pulled out, pulled back in, dodged a couple more trees and found a spot. Phew.

Yeah, not so much.

After 10 sweating, jerking, tugging minutes in front of the crowd, the 5th wheel hitch just wouldn't let go. Turned out the truck has to be parked straight in front of the trailer. What fun, the show ain't over 'til the fat lady sings! So, back we went. Straightened it all out, parked again, and voila!

Time for an "Anchor-beer!"

The miraculous thing about all this, is that the show we put on pales in comparison to the show we've got out our window right this minute (see photo). And as an added bonus we're greeted with knowing smiles by everyone who was there for our debut!
-j

candace & tim

2007-07-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

Well, that was wonderful on all accocunts. RV out was a whole lot easier that RV in. Dave's Spicy House turned out not to burn us too badly. Lindsay even scored a new laptop.

What a cute couple!

A (fantastic) day in Portsmouth, NH

2007-07-18T11:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Josh and I had the opportunity to wander around Portsmouth and take in the beautiful old buildings, the ornate blooming gardens and catching up with family.

We had lunch at a highly recommended haunt, The Friendly Toast, and then took off to walk off the delicious hamburgers.

My cousin Anna joined us for iced coffee and a stroll along the waterfront which included one of the most immaculately tended and labeled gardens I have ever seen. Did anyone else know that there is a little plant with yellow flowers that curry is made from? After squeezing the leaves between our fingers we smelled like an Indian restaurant for the rest of the day.
We strolled in and out of sweet little stores and spent almost an hour in The River Run Bookstore. We had to bone up on the latest Harry Potter before we see the next movie and before #7 comes out.

After meeting up with Candace and Tim we stopped by the Press Room for a beer and some really great music. A jazz quintet opened with piano, drums, stand up bass and two sax players. They did a few tunes and then one of the sax players (who was an instructor at a local jazz summer camp) introduced the next band 'Iced Coffee'. A group of kids ranging from ten to thirteen took the stage, and proceeded to knock our socks off. The group rotated through about four sax players, two piano players and various other instruments. The kids got their groove on for a howling audience. We were psyched, they were beaming and the parents in the audience could not take enough pictures! Rock on kiddos!

Overdue Connection

2007-07-18T11:30:00.000-04:00

Buffamsville Road
Somersworth, NH

We wedged, cajoled, shimmied and squeezed our 5th wheel down behind Candace and Tim's house this Sunday, but got ourselves quite the nice view from our "living room" window (see photos). It took us two more days than expected to get out of Conway, mostly because inertia (or maybe it was stagnation) - but hey, the extra time with Jon & Sam was wonderful. In any case, here we are. We had our first encounter with black and grey water at a camp ground on the way, in the pouring rain no less. I think next time we'll leave the clear piece out of the plumbing, 'cause we really don't need to be seeing that. Really.

On the flip side, literally, we've been doing more eating that I ever would have imagined, and after the schmorgasborg of N. Conway, our bellies are about as stretched as our fridge. Candace & Tim are foodies just like us. They worship Alton, they take cooking classes, they cook in courses (and let me tell you, these two can cook!), and they are SO ashamed when they take us somewhere that's not phenomenal - they revel in the good times, good beer and organic pleasures of a place like Pepperland (5-Stars from Josh).

Even better than the revelry has been the comraderie. Candace and I haven't seen each other more than a day or two in the last 7 years, and within minutes I was reminded why I liked her so much in the first place. Tim is amazing: funny, kind and light (he belies his rusty biker beard). I think the four of us are about the best foursome life can muster.

I'm off to make some more pancakes, lindsay will tell you all about how much we loved Portsmouth.

-j

Mission: Defined.

2007-07-18T11:25:00.000-04:00

We've made it from Conway to Portsmouth! And as I was going through our pictures getting ready to make the next blog entry, I found this one, and I realized it was not only the spot that lindsay landed on at least a dozen times during our game... it's the perfect 3 inch square mission for our trip. And as you'll see in my next entry, free parking doesn't always come easy!

Requests Granted!

2007-07-13T14:11:00.001-04:00

Some folks requested barn photos. Here's one that Jon took from outside looking in. That window is 2 stories high. The person in the shot is me.

Also, my mom told me how to create a signup form for the blog - so we did that... it's over there on the right. ----->

ciao
-josh

Ready to Roll

2007-07-13T13:40:00.000-04:00

It's been a great stay here in North Conway. Delicious coffee, fantastic Pilates classes, and a two-day game of Monopoly (the winner of which, you are currently reading the words of). Here are the highlights as I remember them:

Monday: Walking through the fields near Jon & Sam's. It's beautiful out here.

Tuesday: Sam's Pilates class first thing in the AM (coffee preceeded and also followed this class). Rest of the day, I don't remember off hand - Lindsay and sam kicked ass by also attending an afternoon "core strengthening" class.

Wednesday: Get up, work for a couple of hours. Early afternoon: trip to the river with Linds & Sam (see photo - was a good day for me :-) Late afternoon: a little more work. Evening: Grillin'n'chillin. Late evening, Monopoly, phase one, accompanied by tequilia shots and some fantastic conversation.

Thursday: Morning: get up for 2 amazing business phone calls. Afternoon: scored 60 gallons of grease from a Thai restaurant, also enjoyed their Pad Thai. Evening: attended "Arts Jubilee" at Cranmore, watched Sam perform with her dance company. Late evening: Monopoly, phase II sans-tequilia.

Friday (Today): Morning: got up for another one of Sam's pilates classes (great classes by the way, we were both sore afterward!), came back home to get some more work done and here we are. Looks like we're going camping this weekend, then to the Portsmouth/Portland area on Sunday to connect with Candace and Tim.

Beautiful Barn in North Conway, NH

2007-07-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

Right now I am sitting in front of an amazing picture window looking out on the blue and green of the white mountains in an old barn that our good friends Sam and Jon are living in right now. Josh and Jon are playing chess and I am sipping blueberry wine as I write this....

Jealous???

Just kidding.

The mountains are beautiful and the company is wonderful. Plus the wine ain't half bad. I think we'll hang her for a few days. Especially because the four of us are taking Sam's pilates class at 8:30 a.m. and then having the rest of the day to fill as we please.

Boy, a girl could get used to this.

Under-where?

2007-07-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

That's Right! We're finally underway!

Affter all of the packing, the shifting, the repacking, the stressing, the sad goodbyes (we miss you already), and the copius drinking (was it just me, or did we have a goodbye party every day last week?) we closed the apartment doors and opened our minds around 9:45 this morning.

We're heading northeast, going wherever the GPS tells us to go, I'm using mobile internet, our truck is powered by veggie oil controlled by a digital onboard "co-pilot", and we've got a mobile office/entertainment center in the Trailer... we're so very twenty-first century (I'm writing this as we careen down I-90).

For all you nail-biters out there, you can relax, we spent a few hours yesterday at the CDL Training School right down the street from our house. We are now proficient (if not efficient) backer-uppers and three-point-turners.

Here's the current status:

Who's Driving: Lindsay.
Fuel: SVO (Striaght Veggie Oil)
General Mood: Relaxed.
Truck Engine: Happy.
First Stop: Conway NH with Sam & Jon.
The Plan: none.

Well, given that we barely got a wink of sleep last night and I'm vocabularistically challenged right now (how PC!), I guess I'll just leave it at that.

ciao
-josh

p.s.
dan, we almost made it out on saturday.
jim, aren't you proud, I only made up one word!