after 11,000 miles, I'm home for now

We rolled into Portland on September 16th at 10:30pm. We got off 295 a few exits early to drive the length of Congress Street in order to see what had changed in the last three months. The only real change we noticed was a new place called Tonic. The next day I learned that it is a hair salon. Like we didn't already have enough salons in this town!

So, I have decided to stay in Portland another year. This decision has been made with mixed emotions. I fell in love with so many places and already long for the Rocky Mountains, deep blue sky and the warm desert sun! It has been great being home and surrounded by amazing friends and family, yet I long for the day when I will be packing up and leaving Maine to settle down elsewhere for a while . However, seeing my nieces, Mckenzi and Emily, the other day reminded me of why I am here. It's an absolute joy to see them grow and change. Each time I see them, I am invigorated by their pure joy for life and genuine kindness!

It's hard to describe how my perspective has changed - yet, I am a slightly different person. I feel more at peace with who I am and have a renewed faith and trust in the notion that each person is on their own schedule or path. My belief that I am exactly where and who I need to be has been strengthened. Rachael and I met so many wonderful people who opened their homes and hearts to us, putting their best face forward to aid us on our journey. We encountered strangers who genuinely took and interest in us as human beings -- in our stories -- and were willing to offer whatever they could so that we could achieve this cross-country road trip dream.

There is something to be learned about human nature by being a wanderer. Traveling and being around travelers, brings us out of our routines and those behavior patterns that drain us when we become self absorbed in our day to day lives. When we really listen to one another, and truly care about those around us, whether they are a life long friend or a new acquaintance, joy and light are created. It's in those situations, where the best qualities of our inner child are invoked and serendipitous occurrences remind us that we are right where we need to be. In each moment there is joy and peace, which is strengthened by community, if we are only open to the experience.

It’s taken a while to settle in, but I have met three amazing people to share a home with for the time being and am enjoying the feeling of stillness. It is also heart-warming to be an integral part of a community of artists, activists and cultural warriors. While I long for the road and a slew of ever changing adventures, I know Portland is the only place that will ever truly feel like home. Once you have seen a place grow and change, you become a part of it. In an ever-changing world, that connection, that sense of belonging, is priceless.

the eastward journey

After a quick visit to Seattle, we began making our journey east last Friday. We camped in Yellowstone for 2 nights. It hailed on us the second morning and it was so cold that our hands were freezing while we made breakfast and packed up! However, the day warmed and we enjoyed a nice hike to Fairy Falls and the Imperial geyser. Yellowstone is so different than anywhere I've been before and I was in awe most of the time. We then drove through the Grand Tetons, which was also amazing. Seeing and experiencing our national parks has really given me an appreciation of our parks system and what a great resource it provides.

We then spent 3 days in Colorado--1 night in Steamboat Springs and 2 in Denver. I fell in love with the state and didn't want to leave! The landscape is unforgettable and everyone we met was great. Some of the CO highlights were seeing Red Rocks Amphitheater, driving the road up Mt. Evans (the highest auto road in the Northern Hemisphere at 14,000+ft), driving through the Rocky Mountain National park and drinking some great micro brews in Boulder.

Last night we stayed with Rachael's cousin, Jonathan, in Lawrence, Kansas. It's a very cool college town! We attended an independent fund raising event for Barack Obama called DiscObama. It was a lot of fun! We also saw a decent band from Portland, OR perform.

Now we're in St. Louis for the night and will be making a mad dash toward New York City. We're trying to get there by Sunday afternoon and then to Cape Cod on Monday. It's going to be a long couple of days in the car!

from the desert to the sea

The last week and half has been a whirlwind of activity! After leaving Flagstaff, we explored Zion National Park in Utah, which was absolutely amazing! I was awestruck by the huge, red cliff faces and the crisp blue sky. We went for a short, 2 mile hike, which was enough in the 90+ degree temps of late morning.

From there, we drove north and camped on Antelope Island in the great Salt Lake. It was bizarre to be in such a peaceful natural place next to such a large city. That was compounded by the surreal-ness of the way the landscape around the lake resembled the ocean side. We heard lots of coyotes and saw an antelope, too.

After that, we were at Burning Man for 4 days and I have never had such a fun time anywhere. After being stuck in a 40mph sand storm for several hours at the gate, the next four days were a somewhat sleep deprived bliss. It's hard to describe what it feels like to be in a place where self expression is limitless and uncensored and where the gift economy is the only means of exchange. The energy there was so positive and creative and it was incredibly hard to leave before the end of the festival. But, I have some great memories, made some new friends and now know that people from all walks of life can come together and live in peace in one of the harshest places in the world (at least for 10 days). I can not wait to go back next year!!!

It was quite a drive from Black Rock City to Lincoln City, OR. We drove straight for 13 hours to reach the glorious Pacific Ocean and much cooler temperatures. I am still adjusting to being in 60 degree weather after a month of consistently sunny and hot days! The beach house was great and the company even better. We played games, hot tubbed and drank way too much. I did manage to catch up on sleep, though.

Now we're in Portland for another night before heading to Seattle. Portland is wonderful, though I'm apparently one of the last people to know this. I would definitely consider moving here! So far, I plan to apply to grad schools in Albuquerque, Flagstaff and Portland.

We begin our eastward trek on Friday morning. On the way home we will go through Yellowstone, visit two friends of mine in CO, visit some of Rachael's family in St. Louis, visit my family on the Cape then head home. Of course, the drive through Kansas will be the most exciting part of that journey!

loving the southwest

There is so much I wish to say, yet so little time! We have been having a great time since we left Santa Fe. We decided to stay in New Mexico for another week to WWOOF since we are both running out of money. It worked out really well. Despite making our arrangements very last minute, we found a great couple near Espanola who needed some help getting their place ready for sale. We did some painting, weed whacking, grounds cleaning and helped to improve a crumbling wood shed. Our hosts, Gloria and Liz, were so gracious and grateful for our help. We instantly fell in love with them, their land and their cats and dog!

After spending the week there, we had our first couchsurfing experience in Flagstaff. Once again, our hosts were gracious and incredibly open and welcoming. They fed us dinner upon our arrival and gave us awesome suggestions for bars, restaurants and sightseeing spots. I can not quite express how much I LOVE Flagstaff!! There is a great music and arts scene and everyone we encountered was really friendly and down to earth. I now plan to apply to Northern Arizona University's graduate program in sustainable communities. In addition to our hosts, we made some new friends, students at NAU from Saudi Arabia, who were really fun to hang out and experience downtown with. We also went on amazing hike yesterday in in Coconino National Forest.

Today, we went to the Grand Canyon. It was amazing, of course! We didn't have much time, so we just rode the shuttle around and checked out a few vistas, but hiking into the canyon is now on my list of life goals.

Now we are spending the night in a motel (with free wireless, yay!) in Utah, just south of Zion National Park. We'll be checking out the park tomorrow on our way to camp on Antelope Island near Salt Lake City for the night.

Burning Man starts Monday and I can hardly believe that Labor Day is just around the corner. Time sure flies when you are having fun! I should be back in Maine by the end of September for Common Ground Fair and a trip to hike Mt. Katahdin.

One of these days I'll post some pictures on here. We've gotten some great ones....

learning a lot in New Mexico

We had a good time in Nashville two weekends ago--the most eventful thing we did there was dance to 80's and 90's music at a club called Decades. Our drive through Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas was pretty long and uneventful. We camped out in Arkansas at a state park in which there was a lake in front of a nuclear power plant then in Texas at Lake Meredith National Rec. Area, which was pretty cool, albeit very buggy. Thankfully we missed the hurricanes!

Right now we are in Santa Fe, staying with Rachael's friend, Kalan, from Maine. I love New Mexico! It is my favorite state so far. The dramatic beauty of the mountains is incredible. We stayed at Solar Ark for a week and left yesterday. We drove to Taos on the way here and I fell in love with that town! We also saw the Earthship village just outside of Taos, which was amazing to see. I now have a new dream house!

We learned a lot at Solar Ark in one week (see my list below). I did things, like plaster a wall, that I never before pictured myself doing. The best day there was when we went into the mountains in Colorado and foraged for chantarelle, puffball and porcini mushrooms. We were in the San Luis valley area, just over the border of NM, and it was so lush and beautiful.

Last night we saw some free Latin music in the plaza. It's nice to be back in a city for a bit, but I am looking forward to our next 2 weeks of hiking and camping in Arizona and Utah :)

I'll be posting some pictures soon.

Things we have learned this week:

1. People from the area pronounce Nashville “Nah-yush-ful”.
2. How to plaster a wall and make a whole building out of wood, plaster and a parachute or sheet.
3. Lots about ravens: that ravens can not break flesh, which is why they would eat the eyes and lips of corpses and is why they crow when they find a dead animal so that the predators will come and tear the flesh for them; they are a song bird; they hide and stash their food for later; they have a vocabulary of 60+ words; they are not very good meal companions, for they try to take your food.
4. Bees swarm because of overpopulation or because the queen died (there’s one other reason I can’t recall).
5. Hens need 12-14 hours of sunlight per day for optimal egg production.
6. How to operate a methane digester.
7. How solar and wind energy work, how the power is stored in batteries and about the pros and cons of these types of energy. A wind turbine needs to be at least 500 ft. from another structure and much taller than the nearest building/structure.
8. About the three kinds of hybrid systems for automobiles: series, parallel and series parallel. The series parallel is the most efficient system. Rachael’s car has a parallel hybrid system.
9. Grapes you pick yourself are very tasty!
10. You get drunker at higher elevations: 1 drink equals 3 ( I read this, though experience has not yet proven it to be true) .
11. How to make no-knead bread and bake it in an outdoor clay oven.
12. About grey water collection.
13. Chickens will eat just about anything.
14. Worms will eat coffee grinds.
15. Laundry detergent builds up significantly in you clothes, so when using a super efficient washing machine you may not need to use soap. Conventional top loading washers leave the most soap residue.
16. What an Earthship is (look it up, really cool!)
17. How to catch crawdads.
18. Carp are not a predatory fish.
19. Bones add valuable phosphorous and other nutrients to soil. You can just put bones in your vegetable garden or pot and the nutrients will be released into the soil as organisms break down the bone.
20. How to make a hot air balloon out of tissue paper and birthday candles. Great for releasing at celebrations!
21. How to make kimchee.
22. About people and ourselves—tolerance, patience, respect and the kinds of personalities we have a hard time dealing with (such as overbearing and controlling).
23. It is easier to feel motivated to work when the work benefits an entire community or family, rather than just one person.
24. It’s fun to feed frogs crickets you catch for them.
25. There are two schools about when to water the garden: one says you should do it in the early morning so that molds and fungi will not be able to develop since the warmth and sun of day will prevent it; the other school thinks it best to water at night, so the water will not evaporate in the sun and the cool night will give a good chance for the water to soak in.
26. Don’t squat with your spurs on!

Nashville to New Mexico

We finished making our arrangements yesterday and will be staying in Nashville w/ Rachael's friends from Friday night until Monday morning. From there, we'll camp in Hot Springs National Park on Monday night. On Tuesday night, we're camping at Lake Meredith Nation Rec. area in Texas, before we go to our next WWOOF site on Wednesday.

Solar Ark is in the high desert (6000 ft., I believe!) near Santa Fe. Check out the website: www.solarark.org. We plan to stay there for a week and a half before going to Utah to camp and hike for a week or so before Burning Man. Looking forward to experiencing life in the desert and seeing terrain I've only seen in photographs!

Last week at Claymont

This is our third and final week at Claymont. I have really enjoyed my time here and coming back after the festival felt like coming home again. Some of the community members have become my friends and it's so great to know there are wonderful, like-minded people everywhere! I began my birthday feeling a bit bummed not to be celebrating with friends at home, but people here really helped to make my birthday special. We had a fancy dress party outside the garden and drank mojitos in the afternoon.

Garden party crew (l-r): Karl, Annie, Rachael, me, Jenna, Dan, Caitlin

I am already learning a lot about myself on this trip. For example, after going to Camp Bisco, I learned that I have entered a new phase in my life where going to a large, commercialized festival just isn't fun for me anymore. I could not handle how wasted people got, the negative energy coming from some of our neighbors and how quickly the festival grounds were trashed. I still love music and dancing, but in the future I plan to stick to events that operate within a leave no trace ethic and are likely to have many conscientious people in attendance. I am still really looking forward to Burning Man, though!

I am also learning a lot about the importance of letting go of expectations and being open to possibilities as they present themselves. Sometimes the best plan is having no plan at all. I have gained a sense of inner peace that I have not felt before, which I attribute to a lot of time spent outside with my hands in the soil and having so few distractions here. There iare many opportunities every day to just think, be still and meditate.

We will leave here Friday morning, then head to Nashville for a couple of days. On Thursday night, there is a community sauna, and I am really looking forward to that! There is a natural spring under the sauna that we take dip in when we want to cool off. I am convinced that a long sauna followed by a dip in a nice cold spring is a key ingredient to good health.

Outside the sauna building

The sauna benches

Oil can sauna stove