Wandering Dreamers

Texas Radio and the Big Bend

2010-04-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

This Blog is a long time coming. I recently rediscovered my pictures from the little point and shoot Canon and saw that plenty of them were post-worthy. We spent about 2 weeks in Texas before heading back north, but the first week or so was mostly spent in cities (Houston and Austin). Luckily we got some time off of the Interstates and into the countryside.
We found out about a Scenic Drive between Austin and Del Rio which takes Farm to Market routes off of the only slightly larger main road. Every few miles there were stream crossings with flood warning signs and water level indicators, but only once did we encounter a flooded road which was just barely wide enough to drive over. We decided to use the skills we learned playing all those hours of Oregon Trail and Ford the River! We made it across safely with all of our Oxen, Supplies and sense of adventure intact.

The road did have some great photo ops. I'd never been able to capture beams of light poking through clouds so well before. I've always found that to be particularly beautiful.

We stopped for lunch (Subway and Blueberries) at a picnic area along the road. It overlooked the Rio Frio, and further investigation found it overlooked many piles of bones too. This bonesy was nearest to the road and perfectly bleached by the sun.

The aforementioned Rio Frio. This was one of the nicest days we encountered all winter (~60) so I was ready to jump in.

We took another scenic drive on a whim when we got sick of the I-10 and took the nearest exit. We were heading towards "Attwater Prarie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge" but went through the back way which was locked. We never did get to see any Prarie Chickens but we did see some great scenery.

Part of the reason for this trip was to find a place where we belong and might want to settle down. A big part of that for us was meeting people we connected with. We met a few such people, always by chance and with a little bit of social skill.
These people pulled up next to us in their VW van while we were enjoying a meal from Taco Cabana. We have always admired these models and assumed that the owners must be cool too. So on the pretense of throwing out some trash, I ran into the owners and said "Oh, hey, is this your van? We were admiring it..." Turns out, they WERE cool and we ended up having an hour long conversation about travelling in vans and cool places we must visit in the country. They were very much in love, too and we could relate to them pretty well. I was glad I made the leap to say Hello as I would have missed out on a great experience if I had just kept walking past.

We also met some Dirty Kids in Austin. While they aren't quite on the same path as us, they are always great to get to know. I had a great conversation with the owner of this jacket and I hope to run into him at the Mystic Garden Party this year! (We missed each other last summer.)

Eventually we made our way to Big Bend National Park, which I'd heard about from my Aunt Pammy. We only got to stay one night because of family affairs making it necessary to drive back north, but we had a blast and now have a better idea of what to do next time.

While we were at the Panther Junction Station to buy a national parks pass and some hiking guides, a sounder of Javelinas crossed the parking lot. I leapt out of the van with the camera and chased them into some brush, where this guy and I shared a moment.

We spent one night at a campground at Chisos Basin, and when we woke up in the morning the campground, mountains and roads were dusted with snow. It was a brutal winter all over the country, but we were in the desert on the border with Mexico with 20 degree weather and snow. Quite a sight!

Later that day, things were clear enough for the road to reopen and we found that there was little snow on the ground and temperatures were a pleasant 40.

Jim shot this picture of me getting the above picture.

Outside of big bend, there were acres of farmland. Texas has way more species of deer than I ever knew existed.

This picture was technically taken in Arkansas, but I wanted to stick it in. The sky was incredible that night- the locals were as flabbergasted as us passers-through.

Discovering the Houston Zoo

2010-03-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted, so here's a few photos I like from our trip to Houston Zoo.

After dealing with many a chilly day, we were treated to a nice mild sunny day. We decided to take advantage of it and go to the zoo.

This is a silly monkey but I forgot to take a look at the plaque. If anyone can identify him, I would appreciate it.

A Pygmy Marmoset, ruminating over the big questions in life:

These guys were just hanging around, so I decided to take a shot:

The proudest meerkat I could find:

This giraffe has the right idea when it comes to nasal hygiene:

This cheetah had a powerful gaze:

A relaxing Anegada Island Iguana:

The captivating Cocodrilo Cubano:

The deadly King Cobra. He probably just wants to be left alone:

Rhinoceros Iguana. I don't see the resemblance.

Two affectionate Asian Climbing Toads. How sweet:

A tragic Mandrill contemplating his freedom:

An adorable orangutan. They can be so expressive:

Finally, a cute bunny rabbit. He actually snuck into the zoo.

I had a lot of fun taking these but I don't get the same amount of satisfaction as when I find an animal to photograph in the wild. It just seems too easy. Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop so stay tuned for more in the future!

New Orleans Part 3: Mardi Gras: Krewe d'Eris parade

2010-02-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

"The Krewe of Eris are not notably hygienic, dear reader; many of them are transient. Not all were dirty, not all were homeless, and not all of them would like to smash the church and state, but a fair number might be said to fit into those overlapping categories."

This is what we had waiting for us when we walked into the Parade starting area of the Krewe d'Eris. I didn't realise that we were going to actually walk in the parade until after we got dressed up in some of our Host's costumes and walked to the parade route. The Krewe d'Eris is, as Atillio calls it, a "Dirty Kid" parade. That just means all the cool and really creative kids in New Orleans put on extravagant costumes and make small bike-powered floats to entertain the town. We had a blast walking the twisting 4-mile route among the cacophonous bands and costumed freaks (I say that endearingly of course!)

Enjoy:

Jim's costume

The next day at the Ranch, a chicken gets a ride from a visiting dog...

...and we say goodbye to our gracious hosts as they head off to the Purple Party.

Thus ends our first Mardi Gras and New Orleans adventure. We headed out of town on Lundi Gras, the day before Mardi Gras proper. I feel like we got a good idea of the Mardi Gras spirit. Maybe next year we will stay until Mardi Gras day. We made it to the texas border and began our second leg of our southern tour.

New Orleans Part 2: Post-Katrina and the Lower 9

2010-02-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

Warning: Downer Alert!
Atillio wanted to take us on a driving tour of the Lower 9 while we were in New Orleans so we set out on the first nice day in a week to visit the place that got hit hardest by Katrina back in 2005. The destruction is still visible and ubiquitous.

This school still had its sign up from summer '05-I guess the kids never made it back to school.

This is one of the houses newly built by Brad Pitt's organization, Make It Right NOLA. They look kind of funky but they are up on stilts in case another hurricane comes through.

Common Ground Relief, a volunteer organization in the Lower 9 which helps to rebuild. Atillio worked here for a year or so.

Common Grounds' Mascot, Tchoupitoulas and his doghouse. Clever :D

Next we went into a house that was still standing but clearly dilapidated- our first Urban Exploration. It hadn't been stripped down, cleaned or occupied since the storm and was in fact still For Sale by Owner. This is the obligatory shot of a child's toy amidst the rubble.

The Kitchen of the house

Black Mold upstairs- we booked it pretty quickly once we saw this.

Mud caked on the top stair. The water level must have been at least a storey high.

The living room

And some kind of Teddy Bear torture device we found on the floor.

This is the Levy that was rebuilt after katrina. At some point during the storm, an unmoored barge crashed into the levy and caused a ton of damge in the lower 9. There is one remaining piece of Banksy art on it. At this vantage point, it looks just like a shadow.

New Orleans Part 1: Mardi Gras: Krewes d'Etat et de Morpheus, around New Orleans

2010-02-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

After a few days driving west through yet another unexpected cold spell for the south, we made it to New Orleans where we planned to meet up with a friend from New York who had moved down here a few years back. We got stuck in downtown traffic for an hour or two before we gave up trying to find parking and then went near our friend's Neighborhood. Once we got to his house, we met his housemates and immediately went off to our first Mardi Gras Parade. We walked down Decatur, which was filled with great jazz clubs, bars, and coffee houses, until we hit Canal Street and the parade route. The streets were filled with revelers, reveling in the lax open carry (of alcohol) laws and generally enjoying themselves. Our gracious hosts knew half of the people on the street so we stopped often to chat. We had a great time that night, as is evidenced in the following pictures:

Still early on in the night, my neck was still visible under the beads.

A bit later on, I was already starting to be choked by my lavalliere.

I hadn't seen Atillio in 3 or 4 years so we shared a nice re-acquaintance hug.

This was my final tally at the end of the night. I'm not sure quite how I ended up with so many, but I know that I had the most of anyone I saw! It might disappoint some of you to know that I saw exactly no bosoms that night.

The next morning we hung out in the yard with the dogs, Deidre and MacGyver. MacGyver is a 10 year old black lab, who reminds Jim and Me of my grandma's dog Skipper in every way, even age, except that Skipper is Yellow. He almost never plays but the gave in that day to play with a ball we caught during the parade. The other dog is Atillio's sweet Staffordshire Terrier.

During the day, one of the housemates Monkey showed us around town. We met up with his friend Kelly who owned this Art Car. This one used to be more extravagant but he is in the middle of redoing it. He used to have a hearse that was also decorated. Parked on Decatur Street.

One of the houses' chickens. She is currently laying eggs!

When we got back to the house, we all (about 8 of us) sat down to watch a movie (The Producers) in the living room. The dogs piled on as well...
and another picture of Deidre. She is a sweetheart and one of the friendliest dogs I know. She licked Jim's face for 5 minutes straight before he remembered his allergies.

Coming up: Krewe d'Eris, Lower 9, and Texas

Mexico Part 3: Tulum and Playa again

2010-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

For my last Blog post about Mexico, here are some assorted pictures from Tulum and Playa del Carmen. We spent the last week or so lounging on the beach, reading and frolicking in the waves. For two nights, we moved over to Cabanas Copal which is fancier than Papaya Playa and has a spa and, a couple nights a week, a Mayan Ritual called a Temazcal which is a 2+ hour long sweat lodge ceremony where we inhale and chant and generally meditate and sweat. That was a really great, spiritual experience despite the touristy intention of it.

On the beach, there were some really creative and talented people who made some cool sand scupltures:

Here is the view from our Cabana at Papaya Playa:

This tiny translucent crab waddled across the sand intimidatingly.

At Cabanas Copal, there were two beggar cats at every meal. The big one was blind and slow but sweet and the little one was wily and greedy.

A few days before in Playa, we ate at a mostly-vegetarian and all-healthy restaurant called 100% Natural. To show how health-conscious they were, they filled their fountain with fruit. The food was great. Instead of chips and salsa they served whole wheat bread with salsa and sour cream and chives.

The night before, I decided to bite the bullet and risk some street food. I was glad I did, because the tacos were awesome. Definitely the best mexican food I had down there!

A tiny scruffy kitten that lived near our hotel

And finally, a real live Mexican Mariachi Band roaming the streets of Playa.

Right now we are in New Orleans experiencing Mardi Gras first hand. We've already gone to a parade and toured the lower 9. More adventures to come!
Here is a taste:

Playa del Carmen and Diving in Cozumel (part one)

2010-01-20T09:42:00.001-08:00

After we flew into Cancun, we took a bus straight for Playa del Carmen which is another hub for travellers through the Riviera Maya. Like New York, it has its Avenida 5, but it is filled with souvenir shops and tour sellers, as well as a little shop selling pictures with tiny monkeys. We decided to take advantage of its prime location on the caribbean sea and its proximity to Cozumel to go SCUBA diving, which we hadn´t done since Belize a year ago. We dove with Geofish, run by a nice guy from Denver who decided to move down here and follow his dream of owning a dive shop. Turns out it´s not exactly profitable. I guess I´ll have to reevaluate my dream of doing the same thing! Anyway, last thursday we took the ferry across the bay to Cozumel where we were picked up by an texan who ran dive shop on the island, and were soon on a boat out to our first Dive Site.
We did two dives, and on both we saw turtles, sting rays, and of course the hundreds (mas o menos) of colorful fish one finds in the caribbean.
Here are some pictures from diving, but first, our first view of the Caribbean in Playa del Carmen:

A Blenny

These lionfish are not native to the caribbean (in fact I saw one on my dive in Australia), but an aquarium broke and a few got out and mated and the rest is modern history...

The second of the two turtles we saw on our dives. He was pretty nonchalantly swimming near us, and let us get pretty close.

This lovely painted lady is a Triggerfish

A very colorful Angelfish and its entourage

I had no idea my fins were this pink

A Very Large Hermit Crab indeed, who had apparently stolen a Conch Shell

After our first dive, we had a lovely lunch of Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and sandwiches and anchored near a beach. I dove in and Jim caught me mid-leap.

This Pelican was on the dock in Cozumel, and was very friendly, or at least tolerant. We got within a foot before the dock security told us to get away from the side.

Finally, the adorable dogs at the Hotel we stayed at in Playa (Barrio Latino).

We´re back in Playa now, and we finally got our PIN so we can get cash out at an ATM which saves us a hell of a lot of hassle. We are going back to Tulum tomorrow to finally relax on the beach for at least 5 nights. We´re having a good time, but it´s been kind of stressful with the money situation (and a bout of "Traveller´s Sickness") but I think now we´ll be able to really enjoy ourselves.

Tulum, Mexico: We found our Paradise. (days 4-7)

2010-01-18T10:19:00.000-08:00

After a hectic few days arriving in Cancun, getting enough cash to subsist for a few days, finding lodging in Playa del Carmen, and diving, we headed south on the ADO in search of a place where we felt at home. We were hoping to find somewhere to camp on the beach, but Tulum town, where the bus dropped us off, is quite far from the beach. We found an ad for a cheap hostel near the Tulum Ruins (which we haven´t seen yet) so we took a cab there and dumped our heavy backpack. We made a system where we keep the camping supplies and clothes in the big bag and then carry all of our valuables with us wherever we go, so we took all of our cameras, ereaders, DS-es chargers, et cetera on two free bikes from our hostel. We went in search of a rumoured Subway (Jim´s favorite fast food). We missed it on the first pass and instead rode past the ruins and down onto the beach road which is lined with hotels.
On the way we saw a few cool critters such as a lovely iguana basking in the sunbaked road:

We spent the night at Hostel Los Lobos and the next day headed towards the beach. We had scoped out a few place the day before, and chose Papaya Playa because they allowed camping on the beach, and because it was right next to Cabanas Copal which was our first choice but didn´t allow camping and was all booked up. It had a pretty nice vibe and we were very happy to get down to the beach. One of the big draws of Tulum for us was that it was supposedly a nude beach and, as we discovered over the summer, we love swimming naked! It´s very liberating and refreshing. So once we set up our tent, we dove right in.
While swimming was heavenly, it turns out camping on the sand is not very comfortable (and very sandy.) After a few hours of swimming and deliberating, we decided to rent a cabana for the night. It was definitely worth the extra $16 to have a comfy bed, complete with mosquito net, that we didn´t have to share with our luggage. The added peace of mind that comes with a lock on the door helped, too. At this point we are out of cash again so we are going back to Playa del Carmen to wait for our PIN so we can spend a carefree week or so on the beach in Tulum.
Enjoy some of these pictures from Papaya Playa!

A Florida Christmas

2009-12-31T11:04:00.001-08:00

Well, it's December 31st and an amazing year is coming to an end. We've been living in our van for 6 months and loving it. I finished my last semester of college with an almost 3.0 cumulative GPA. We left New York for a long-term trip across country and we're so happy to be back on the road and out of the cold. We found a few WWOOFs (http://www.wwoofusa.org/meet)that we want to spend time at, and we can't wait to experience the country and meet some new people. Right now we're at my Grandma's house in Tampa, FL and the days are flying by.
Here are some pictures from Christmas and around Florida.

My Grandma has a tiny yet beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

A beautiful Kurta from my mom's trip to India.

Christmas Night, we made and decorated a Gingerbread House

After a quick photosession...

it was promptly devoured

No one spared the destruction...

even Celeste joined in.

After the Gingerbread Disaster of Christmas '09, Jim and I went to my Aunt Debby's house and discovered that we want to be Pet Photographers.

Paji the African Grey who can duplicate Debby's voice exactly. I thought it was a bit strange when we were talking to her in the living room and heard her say from the bedroom "Wanna take a shower?"

Calypso, AKA Little Man who, of course, thinks he owns the place.

My Grandma's dog Skipper who gives Kuzya a run for his money in the race for World's Sweetest Dog.

The beautiful Husky Cherokee who loves nose kisses. That is, your nose.

And my aunt's newest addition, a Chinchilla named Pacino. He's so soft and sparkly after his dust bath.

Jim hasn't been having too many allergic reactions to these dogs, so he got in on the fun:

Later on, I went to the beach where there was a kite surfer riding the wind.

And finally, I got a new hairstyle for the new year and our new life.

Look out for our: Snowdrift Adventure and Photographin' the moon.

New Hampshire

2009-11-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we went up to New Hampshire where our friend Desmond has a house. It's right on the border of a state park which has great rock climbing, hiking trails and a beautiful lake. The leaves were just turning and it was just fantastic.

This is White Horse Ledge and Echo Lake

I thought this picture looked better rotated. It looks like a painting!

Tony and I decided to go for a swim. It was cold and I got numb but I loved it.

I can't wait to go back and climb mount washington next year!

New Camera, Rubin Museum, A Night in New York

2009-11-21T12:11:00.000-08:00

Before we left on our big trip, and partly for our two-year anniversary, Jim and I decided to buy a DSLR camera in order to become better photographers and take pictures we could possibly make a living off of in the future. We ended up getting the Canon Digital Rebel XSi along with the standard 18-55mm lens, a 50mm lens, and a 55-250mm telephoto lens.
This weekend we went into Manhattan to practice and learn more about our camera and its functions, while trying to take some nice pictures.
Here are some of our favorites:

We came across the Rubin Museum while in Manhattan, which is a whole museum of Himalayan Art.
These first three are taken by me, experimenting with depth of field and composition.

After that, we walked through the streets some more and came across a lovely puppy who looked like a dirty Snowy.

We made it to Union Square, which was already all set up for the Christmas market. Here, we experimented with long shutter speeds:

In this one, Jim was supposed to stay still for 2 seconds but a little kid ran in front of him and was posing for the camera. Jim cracked up and the camera caught him laughing.

I took this one of Jim on the subway platform. I love his expression and his crispness.

Back in Great Neck, we experimented with really long shutter speeds (30 seconds) and multiple exposure, leading to a ghost-like effect. It came out pretty well for our first try.

Now we're in love with our camera and can't wait to get more use out of it in the future.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

We decided to go all out for Halloween this year-we hadn't dressed up together yet, and Jim got a brilliant idea for this year. We love the Tintin comics and the animated series, and Snowy has been our faithful companion for a year and a half. We got most of our costumes from thrift stores or our own stockpiles, and it cost about $50 (mostly my shoes.) I think we pulled it off quite well!

Here are some pictures for reference:

We had a good time dressing up, but we didn't get to see too much of the parade. We ended up hanging out around astor place/union square from about 3pm to 3am. We met up with Olya (Jim's cousin) and then had an interesting conversation with an 18 year old kid in Union Square-rather intellectual. Then, because of Daylight Savings Time, we missed the 1:19 train about 3 times. I think they just cancelled it to avoid confusion. Penn Station was filled with costumed, tired, drunk people. It was very fun for people watching. Jim even ran into an old friend from College (dressed as Aladdin), and I got a hug from someone who used to love Tintin. It was a pretty good Halloween.

Two Woodstocks and Magic Meadow

2009-09-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back in New York. We're nearing the end of the 3rd week back to school and we're getting into the groove of things but desperately missing travel. So every weekend we've at least been leaving Long Island, and last weekend we decided on a whim to travel back to our past.
For me it was my childhood home of Woodstock, NY.
For Jim it was his summer home, in the bungalows of Bethel County, incidentally where the original Woodstock concert was held. We decided to visit the site of the concert, at the former Yasgur's Farm in White Lake, NY.

We were very happy to be there. You can see our van off in the corner.

This is the hill where the half-million people stood to watch the amazing performances.

This rocky area was where the stage stood.

The plaque with the iconic dove on the guitar, and a list of all the musicians.
Although it was a bit strange and sad to see it commercialized like this, we were very glad in the end that the site was preserved for people like us whose hearts are at that concert, even though we weren't.

After Bethel County, we drove into Ulster County, where the actual town of Woodstock lies. I lived here for a big part of my childhood, and came back often after I moved out of town. It was mostly as I remembered it, with a few different stores, but still with a lot of cool people and shops, and of course my favorite restaurant in the world, Gypsy Wolf.

Everything about it was the same, including the Burrito, so I was very happy. The insides has lots of wooden masks, wooden wolf scupltures, and paintings of wolves. It has a great atmosphere and it's how I learned to love Shirley Temples!

After Dinner, we walked around town and checked out the shops that were still open. We came across this tipi and hippie bus with some kind of tigger shrine.

This is another great restaurant in town, but it's more fast food mexican. The colors of the storefront are fantastic.

We found this signpost pointing to various stores in town, as well as the site of yasgur's farm.

I love it. Peace and Technology can go together!

We walked down to my favorite swimming hole, the Millstream. It was full because of the recent rains, and unfortunately too cold to swim.

Some kind of Art Instillation at the Town Square. Jim is the subject.

We spent the night in woodstock, and the next morning we drove to another of my favorite places up Mount Overlook, Magic Meadow. I used to go on walks with my mom and grandma and the dogs and had picnics and birthday parties. It's beautiful and I'm glad we found it. Somehow I managed to not get a shot of the meadow itself, but I got lots of the forest surrounding it.

This is the entrance to Magic Meadow from a little parking area on the side of the road. You have to cross a stream and climb a hill before you find the opening to the meadow.

We found a nice spot to lie down and watch the clouds, and discovered a spider trundling through. He was about two inches long and looked like a baby tarantula!

In the forest surrounding the meadow, we found a fire pit and remnants of last night's revelers. A nice wine shrine.

The meadow is near a Buddhist Monestary, and there were a lot of shrines to various Boddhisatvas in the woods.
Blue Shrine.

Red Shrine

White Shrine.

A nice big slimy slug crawling around the forest floor.

We had a fantastic time romping through the meadow and forest and watching the clouds and the bees. This is top of my list for our first Full Moon Festival!

Prarie Dog Town and Kansas Plains

2009-09-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hello, faithful readers. Here is a long-awaited post of our adventures through Kansas!
We saw signs along the highway for "World's Largest Prairie Dog! Prairie Dog Town! 6-Legged Cows! Pet Baby Pigs! 50 Miles Ahead!" and followed them to a wonderfully cheesy roadside attraction/zoo. They had animals not commonly found in zoos, like raccoons and badgers, as well as lots of stuffed (as in taxidermied) animals, farm animals, and prairie dogs running free.

They had a stuffed Jackelope. I haven't seen one in the wild yet, but this is my bigfoot.

A pile of piglets! They were too small to play with, unfortunately. There was also one that was slightly out of place, with deer-colored fur and stripes!

These adorable coyotes were fiends for dog biscuits. Go Figure!

The obligatory goat shot. We probably fed them the most. We're suckers for goats, especially floppy-eared goats.

Prairie Dogs were peeping up all over the place

A very shy bobcat who kept hissing at us.

Sleepy foxes

Sleepy Badgers

The softest Donkey Face ever. He kept following us around looking for more treats. He liked dog biscuits, too!

Kansas had wild sunflowers growing all over the place. This bee decided to take advantage.

Here is the World's Largest Prairie Dog. It wasn't real at all!

A very pointy steer.

The prize of the place, a six legged cow. It kind of looks like a baby stuck in there.

And its neighbor, the five legged cow.

Finally, a nice shot of the plains of Kansas. It was the first state back in the midwest, so it was quite a sight to see after so many weeks of cliffs, canyons, oceans and mountains.

We didn't get a chance to go to the Wizard of Oz museum, but after playing the slots in Vegas I sure had a hankering.

Las Vegas Lights and Big Utah Sky

2009-08-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to let you interpret these images for yourselves.

Las Vegas:

Utah:

This trip is nearing its end but we still have so much more adventure coming up.

From Big Sur Bluffs to Death Valley Dunes

2009-08-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

After the hustle and bustle of Santa Cruz, we headed south to that land of legends, Big Sur. So many of the writers and artists and visionaries of the last few decades found this place inspiring, wild, and beautiful. And it's no wonder. Highway 1 kisses the cliffs for dozens of miles along the coast, often hundreds of feet above the ocean. The forest and the ocean meet and create breathtaking views. We spent the night alongside a creek in Big Sur, then drove south along the coast the next morning.

The southern end of the Big Sur region houses an Elephant Seal Rookery, and we stopped to see them lounging in the sun. It was amazing to see them, after so many nights of hearing seals and sea lions barking in the distance.

Along the highway, we met a French couple and their baby who needed a ride. They were going to Morro Bay, CA, and when we got there they offered to let us stay at their campsite in exchange for the ride. We ended up getting along very well. I got to practice my French and we have new friends in Paris!
Morro Bay itself was also a great place. It is a surfing, fishing, and harbor town. Morro Rock dominates the shoreline, and sea lions come up to the docks to rest at night.

Finally, it was time to leave the Pacific. We waved goodbye and headed east again, this time tracing our path from our last trip Out West, through Sequoia National Park to Death Valley.

Now we are in Pahrump, NV on our way to Las Vegas for a rousing good time. We are seeing Penn and Teller and staying in the Rio, our first Hotel for this whole trip. We made it 6 days straight without paying for a RV park, and now we are ready to splurge. After Las Vegas, our trip is nearly over, with a mad dash for the East Coast in time for the new semester.
Au Revoir, California!

Starstruck by the Perseids in Santa Cruz

2009-08-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

We've been in Santa Cruz, CA for the past couple days and we were lucky enough to catch the Perseids zooming across the sky while lying on the beach. I managed to catch the tail end of one on the camera using a 15 second shutter. There were also sea lions barking offshore, and the boardwalk carnival going on behind us. It was quite hypnotic!

Adventure on Highway 1.

2009-08-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, we've been driving down the California Coast on Highway 1. It is an absolutely amazing drive, albeit at times nerve wracking because of its high cliffs, narrow roads, and sharp turns.

Free-range cows on an overlook next to the highway.

We spent the morning frolicking in our underpants on this beach. The water is much colder than the atlantic or caribbean at this time of year, but it is still that perfect green-blue.

Red rock beach, a ten minute walk downhill from our overnight spot on the cliff above, and just north of Stinson Beach, CA.We met a bunch of friendly people who were interested in our van and our story, and we found out from them that this was a clothing-optional beach. Naturally, the next day we ran down and jumped straight in the water (well, some of us needed a little coaxing.) There is nothing as liberating as swimming in icy pacific waters in nothing but your birthday suit. Not to mention the sea lion jumping just offshore. It was a perfect day.

To top it off, a perfect Pacific Sunset.

Rainbow Star

2009-08-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

Continuing our journey into sleep deprivation, we decided to head up Mt. Ashland and down Colestine Valley to my dad's old stomping grounds, his (clothing optional!) commune called Rainbow Star. The land has since been bought by a Buddhist monastery called Tashi Choling, but we were welcomed on the grounds. It was great to have more of an insight into my dad's life.

Temple crossroads

The entrance, with the boddhisatva of Compassion

Lee's Pyramid house- he built it by hand, with no power tools.

Llamas kept by the monastery. They were friendly enough not to spit, but not friendly enough to hug.

Down the valley was the main house where my dad, Lee, Walter, and Chris lived together until they built separate houses. The house is called "The Mouse House" by its current owners because of the state it was in when they first came to the property. The owners have done a lot of work and have changed a lot, but the heart of it is still there.

All of this land was Rainbow Star's

After we saw the monastery, we went up to visit Lee, who was one of the co-owners of the commune. He was a good friend of my dad's and the best man at his wedding. He filled in some more of the story and was an awesome host.

Jackson Wellsprings

2009-08-11T02:06:00.000-07:00

The Jackson Wellsprings, where the Mystic Garden Party was held, became something like our spiritual home in Oregon. We kept coming back, and it really did feel like we were coming home. It is an amazing property, the people are all spiritual, new agey, hippies, and we loved it. We spent the night in their campground, stayed up all night, and went on a shooting spree in the morning. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

After our photo shoot, we were famished and exhausted, so we went to have breakfast. It turned out to be the most delicious meal we'd ever had.

Ashland, Oregon

2009-08-11T01:40:00.000-07:00

We spent so much time in and around Ashland that I thought it was only fair to pay it some homage.
Ashland is divided between the yuppies, old hippies, young hippies, and grungy kids. We met just about all of them.

It turns out most people are as grateful for a nice chat as a few cents. These guys were pretty cool, even if they did only strum a few notes on their guitar.

Ashland once tried to develop an economy with their Lithia Water, which is highly mineralized. Their plan fell through when they discovered it didn't taste so good. Jim made a point to develop a taste for it, though!

This quote was pinned up on a bulletin board in town. It seems like this quote becomes more and more true every day.

Ashland was our home for a couple weeks and we loved it. Until we meet again!

From the Redwood forest...to the Gamepark

2009-08-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

We've covered a lot of ground since our last post. We made it to California, and the Pacific Ocean, saw fantastic scenery and unexpected animals. Once again, our posts are out of order but then so are our memories.

Once we left Oregon and arrived in California, we made a beeline for the Redwoods.

We made it our mission to hug the biggest one we could find. This one was certainly a fine candidate.

The redwood forest just looks prehistoric, what with the ferns and old trees and moss and...clovers?

Atop a downed Redwood. It was wider across than I am tall!

Our van amongst the redwoods.
I am so glad there were these little parks to stop in off the side of the road. It seems like the state or federal governments own most of the land in California, so there is quite a bit of public land and parks.

We also headed to a Game Park, since we were in dire need of animals to pet. Goats, Llamas, Deer, Ducks, Geese, Sheep, and Donkeys ran free through the park, and they had a bunch of exotic animals in cages. Apart from the goats, the highlight was hugging the baby Big Cats they had.

Bella the lion cub. She was as playful as a puppy and as cute as a kitty. And soft!

They also had a snow leopard cub named Bentley who had the bluest eyes this side of me.

Our one true love, goats. There were plenty of babies but this was the babiest, and he decided to have a tasty snack of shirt straps!

We finally got to hug a llama! These barely tolerated us, but at least they didn't run away like the ones at the monastery. Llamas are soft and delightful.

Later on in California, we finally came across some buffalo. Ah, America.

We are having the time of our lives!

From coast to coast

2009-08-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

We have reached a milestone on our adventure. The Pacific Ocean welcomes us.

Keep an eye on this space for more info. We're not updating in any particular order so you might see a few adventures that are out of sequence. We're doing our best but the internet is not as plentiful on the road.

Oregon calls to me

2009-08-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

We have fallen in love with Oregon. There's no better way to say it. The natural beauty, the kindness of the people, the sense of adventure. It's all there. And as a result, we decided to stay in Ashland a while longer (using the fact that we're waiting for a package as a flimsy excuse).

Look at this beautiful countryside!

Before we arrived in Oregon, we perused craigslist to find some likeminded people to spend time with. It turns out a couple of self proclaimed geeks were looking for another couple with whom to adventure. We decided the risk of running internet creeps was worth taking. So after the events of the Mystic Garden Party, we looked them up and arranged a meetup. Our rendezvous took place at a coffee shop called The Roasting Co. We quickly picked them out of the crowd by physical description and talked for a little while before heading the Senor Sams for some tasty burritos.

Afterwards we visited a gaming shop to pick up a fun travel game. One appealed to us so we plunked down the cash and were on our way to Lithia Park for a rowsing game of Space Munchkin. A dip in the river later, we visited our new friends' house and watched half of Team America. However, allergies to their adorable pets forced me to depart before the movie's conclusion. All in all it was a good night.

A scenic sunset drive later, we were back at Jumping Joe's in Hugo and we went to bed, content.
A couple of days later, we decided to meet our new friends again. This time, they invited us to Lake of the Wood, a beautiful lake in the mountains of Oregon.

That's Mt. McLoughlin in the background. It's beautiful peak is pretty much what I think of when I think of mountains.

The drive over there was something else. Plenty of winding roads and sharp turns running through an amazing forest of towering Ponderosa Pines. Our friends led the way in their truck.

On the way, we spied with our little eye, something brown!

A wild cow, just grazing by the side of the highway. We wanted to stop but we had to avoid the temptation lest we lose our guides in the process.

Before long, we arrived at the lake. Instantly, we decided that we wanted to camp there. It was a bit pricey, but it was so beautiful that we couldn't resist. We were crushed to find out that there weren't any RV spots left so we kept a stiff upper lip and went to the marina to rent a watercraft.

Initially, we rented a canoe and had a wild time racing with Kris and Ivory. There were a bunch of close calls and near collisions but we eventually got the hang of it. After about an hour, we returned to the dock to requisition something with a little more horsepower.

We rented a small powerboat with a 6 horsepower engine and zipped around the lake at a severely underwhelming speed. Regardless, we have to think of safety first. Behold! We are positively buoyant!

In our search for a prime swimming spot, we ran into some ducks having a girl's night out. Before long they were intruded upon by a flock of males on the prowl.

After a nice cruise, we docked at a floating dock. The ladies took a refreshing dip while Kris and I worked on our tans.

By this point it was starting to get late so we began to make our way back. Reluctantly, we left the Lake of the Woods in our rear view and prepared for a scenic drive back to Ashland, where we would spend the night.

Who should we see on the way back but our good friend A Cow! As he was still grazing away by the side of the road, we decided to pay him a visit.

Unfortunately, being the cautious cow he is, he did not appreciate our intrusion and beat a lazy escape into the wood.

He must have been a Holy Cow because something magical happened this day. Our animal related wishes began to come true. "Oh Dear!" Angelica exclaimed, and moments later we saw some deer! We were too surprised to take a photo so we decided to experiment. "Oh bunnies!" I shouted out. "Oh goats and donkeys" we called out.

Sure enough, one by one they began to appear:

Completely satisfied with our day we drove back to our favorite place in Ashland: The Jackson Wellsprings and rested our weary heads.

Jumpin' Joe!

2009-07-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

After the Mystic Garden Party, we set out to find a place to stay (with electricity!) for a few days. We headed a bit north to Grant's Pass, Oregon where we found a great RV park that has a creek running through it complete with swimming holes and waterfalls. It's surrounded by mountains, and has a general store chock full of food and antiques and movies.
We're just relaxing here for a few days while we collect ourselves and decide on our next destination!

Our campsite at Jumpin' Joe's. Nice and shady, but in 110 degree heat it doesn't help much.

Sunset over the RV park. If you squint you can see the crescent moon above those trees.

The general store at the RV park has, apart from tons of delicious food, all sorts of antiques from the area and quirky crafts, like this birdhouse made out of a cowboy boot. It just screams THE WEST!

A sunset over the mountains nearby. That morning there was a fire up north, so the sunset was particularly red and hazy. But beautiful! The smoke made me think of Jack Kerouac in "Dharma Bums" and how he was a fire lookout in Washington for the summer. I'd love to do that one day.

And finally, the view outside our van at the campsite here. A little bit beyond those trees is the creek which is full of fish and crayfish. We managed to catch a fish, but those crayfish are wily!

Ashland and Mystic Garden Party

2009-07-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Our first destination on the West Coast was Ashland, Oregon for a festival called "Mystic Garden Party" One of our favorite artists, Alex Grey, as well as dozens of bands and thousands of hippies were to be there. We got to Ashland a day early so we spent the day walking around town, which was one of the first hippie meccas.

There is art all over town in the streets, including this Totem Pole.

Ashland has a huge park called "Lithia Park", which has a creek running through it. Of course I couldn't resist jumping right in.

At a thrift store in Ashland, Jim went back to his pirate roots. I'd forgotten how good he looks with his long hair ;)

On the 23rd, we arrived at the Mystic Garden Party. The crowd was very eccentric and eclectic. There was a great vibe the whole time and we can't wait to go back next year. Here is Alex Grey on stage.

At the Mystic Dome, where lots of talks and workshops were held, there was a swing. Again, I couldn't resist.

My favorite, Lavender. And a pretty Butterfly! You can see the spa in the background. The spa which is clothing optional after dark!

The Mystic Garden Party was a great experience. I think we both learned more about ourselves and how great people could be. Hippies call people they don't know "Brother" or "Sister" so there was a vibe of togetherness and family and sharing the whole time. The grounds were beautiful, the music was great, and the talks were fascinating. Maybe we'll go to the one in Maui next spring too..!

What's Outside our Back Door?

2009-07-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

I present to you the first installment of our new series: "What's Outside our Back Door?", which will showcase the view outside of our van when we wake up in the morning.

This was the view outside of our van at the campsite in Lakeview, Oregon. It was the first stop for us in Oregon and we were excited to have reached our destination. The desert became forest filled with Ponderosa Pine.

This is the view from our van at the Mystic Garden Party. I've never seen so many VW vans (or hippies) in my life!

Cross Country

2009-07-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

Driving across the country, we found some absolutely beautiful scenery. Everytime we got to a new state, we said "Now this is the best state yet!" We are in Oregon now, and of course it's our favorite so far.

We also got to reconnect with some more family in Minnesota/Wisconsin. That's my mom's cousins and their husbands, and pets. I have always loved lakes but unfortunately there was some unseasonably cold weather so we didn't get to jump in!

Driving through Nevada, we came across this car. We stopped to give him a jump, but the car was empty, and there was a ticket on the window, dated 2 days before. It makes you wonder where a disabled person went off to in the middle of a desert.

We found a sand dune on the way through Nevada. Of course we stopped to roll down it!

I have always loved the image of the road stretching off into the distance. Nevada was great for scenery like this.

Our van in front of the mountian scenery of Nevada. We climbed up a hill to check out an abandoned cement building and to get a better look around us.

We just couldn't get enough of Nevada. After so much farmland, we welcomed the desert and the mountains. Needless to say, we got out of the van dozens of times to take pictures and take in the view. Once at nighttime, we even stopped the van and climbed on top to look at the amazing stars.

We finally made it to Oregon last night, just in time to see the sunset. The terrain changed from desert with low-lying brush to desert with tall pine trees, and then farmland with mountains all around. So far we love the Northwest!

Later this week, we are going to find the place where my dad and his friends had a commune. It turns out that it is located in Ashland, where we will be, and that Ashland was one of his favorite places. How serendipitous!

A Quick Correction

2009-07-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Penn and Teller ARE the best comedian/magicians out there. And we're going to see them again next time we're in Vegas.

Wisconsin

2009-07-21T21:55:00.001-07:00

Wisconsin was the first state we went to without any backup from friends or family, and it was a completely unknown state to both of us. We crossed the border from Illinois to Wisconsin filled with excitement and anticipation. Our first destination was House on the Rock, but we didn't end up getting there until a couple days later.

House on the Rock was built by an eccentric rich person and is a series of rooms filled with different collections, from dolls to guns to huge music machines.

A room that extended to infinity. Aptly named the infinity room. The point extends out from the house, unsupported, 400 feet from the ground.

Multi-barrelled guns in the gun collection. I wonder if they were ever useful.

Spectacles in the Apothecary, on the Streets of Yesterday. Maybe I should get some like this. It will be very Benjamin Franklin of me.

The apothecary was filled with hundreds of bottles touting ridiculous cures...

...such as tapeworms making you thin. Although I guess technically it would work.

The Highlight was the Carousel. It has 269 animals and animal-human hybrids, and none of them are horses. (But some of them are centaurs.)

The next day, we unexpectedly came upon the Rock in the House. So named because 15 years ago, a boulder fell on the house. The owners decided to leave it there and make it into a small attraction. No one else was there, and everything was left as it had been. It was a very 70s style house. Perhaps where the kids from that 70s show lived?

In the Wisconsin Dells, which was once a beautiful natural place, and is now a cheesy tourist trap, we went to see the comedian Gallagher. If you don't know, he's famous for smashing watermelons at his shows. Turns out he also smashes cottage cheese, pumpkin, soda, corn, lettuce, and jello. We were in the splash zone, so we were covered in bits of food at the end. If Penn and Teller had this act, they would truly be the best comedian/magicians out there!

Technical Difficulties

2009-07-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Internet access has been spotty so we've had a few issues in uploading the photos. We sorted all this out so the pictures from the last post all appear. In addition, clicking them will bring you to my flickr page where you can view them in various sizes.

It may be a while before we can post the next chapter, but here is a sneak peek:

Our Wisconson Woyage: Wherein we get eaten by a whale!??!? Stay tuned!

Here We Go!

2009-07-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

A week ago today, we left Ohio and started our adventure. We had a photo session and said goodbye to everyone, but mostly the dogs.

A group shot of Me and Jim, with his dad and his dad's wife, and their two dogs, Kuzya and Ricky.

Jim got to reconnect with his dad during the 3 weeks or so we were in Ohio.

Jim and I loved this dog!

Jim has sadder puppy dog eyes than Kuzya

The Three best dogs in the world: Kuzya, Ricky, and Snowy

We fixed up the interior of the van so it's ready for travelling. We got two sets of drawers for storage, a cooler, and a storage bin for our generator and stove. We also added a door for the middle storage area on the ceiling, where you can see the picture Jim drew of our future adventures.

A side view of our storage setup. It's all bungied for traveling.

After we left Ohio, we went to Canada for a couple days to visit my mom and sister. We had a graduation barbecue for my sister, and then we had a really fun jam session in the van.
We left Canada with Celeste and headed to Chicago to pick up our friend David. Along the way, we hit 60,000 miles. When we got the van it had about 58,500 miles on it.

After about an hour in Chicago (well, New Lenox, IL), we turned around and went back to Ohio to go to Cedar Point. Along the way, there was a huge traffic jam. We heard from a truck driver that a semi had run over a small car and if someone had died, traffic would be stopped for at least a few hours.

Traffic was backed up for miles, and it was mostly trucks. Instead of waiting for hours, we decided to drive over the grass divider and head to Ohio via the back roads of Indiana.

Some people used the traffic jam as an opportunity to do some maintainence and cleaning. It was really nice out, and it was pretty countryside, so everyone got out of their rigs or cars and chatted.

Cedar Point had its own RV park, so we got 2 day passes and stayed there for two nights. Everyone had their laptop except me, since mine was still in the shop then, and they all hooked up to the internet through our G1 phone. Ah the joys of primitive camping.

Back in New Lenox, we decided to go to a Hippie Shop. I got a nice skirt and dress, Jim got a tie-dye shirt, and we got a blacklight poster and a covering for the couch.

Our blacklight poster, hanging on the ceiling. Trippy, no? We also bought a blacklight to really make it pop, and it just so happened that they only had 12V blacklights in stock. How serendipitous! Now that we're imbued with the hippy vibe, we can boldly blaze a trail to our next big destination.

We left Chicago today around 2. In fact, I am posting from the Van as we are driving north to Wisconsin. We told the GPS to avoid highways, so we could see America instead of the same old highway across the whole country. Right now we are driving through Elmhurst, IL. Today feels like the first day of our real adventure. We are heading out for an unknown state, and it will be the first time we aren't hooked up to someone's power in someone's driveway. For the first time, we will meet new people and test our van's ability to boondock. Our first destination is "House on the Rock" in Spring Green, Wisconsin, which is a huge house, on a rock, with dozens of rooms with different themes and an indoor merry-go-round. We read about it in Neil Gaimain's book, "American Gods". We've used the website "Roadsideamerica.com" to plan our route out west, following weird roadside attractions across the country. However, our goal is Oregon, where in 10 days there will be a concert/gathering of hippies, artists, and musicians, including Alex Grey, of whom we are big fans. There will be yoga, dance, and music workshops It is called "The Mystic Garden Party". It is in Ashland, Oregon, and there is a hot spring on the premesis. Ashland is supposed to be a haven for hippies, old and young, and we look forward to that experience. After Oregon, we have no plans, so we will see where the road takes us!

Take A Hike

2009-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went on our first outdoorsy adventure. We went to a state park in Ohio called Burr Oak. They have a backpacking trail that goes aroung a lake, and we heard that the view of the stars was amazing, so we decided to give it a go. It is about a 4 hour drive from Cleveland, and an hour of that is on this amazing windy hilly road. The speed limit was 55 but we would have flown off the road many times if we had gone 55 the whole way.

The hike was about 4 miles to the campsite and 4 miles back. It went through mostly forest, and circled around Burr Oak Lake. It was vigorous enough for us on our first hike out!

Some pictures from during the hike:

...and once we got to our campsite:

We went out at night and looked at the stars. We saw more satellites than shooting stars, but it was beautiful. I've always loved the night sky, but having lived in the city for most of my life, I haven't gotten to stargaze as often as I'd like.

We spent the night in our tent, cooking over a little gasoline-powered camp stove, and then hiked the 4 miles back to our van the next morning.

In the next couple days, we:

Had some delicious salad:

Hung out with family:

Met some fat puppies:

And then got ~~ear~~haircuts from Jim's dad's wife, Lena, who owns a beauty salon.

I'm very pleased with it!

That's our last few days in pictures!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-06-22T18:32:00.001-07:00

A little late, but Friday was my birthday. Jim and I took our van out on its first trip, about 200 miles up to Windsor, Ontario to see my mom and sister. We stayed for two nights, sleeping in the van of course, and had a nice birthday dinner and some awesome presents.

As you can see, I got a 5 string banjo. I've been asking for one since before Christmas, so I was pleased to say the least. Now all I have to do is actually play it, unlike all of my other previous instrument attempts. Violin, Guitar, Drums...Although I often yearn to play all three, I can't seem to get the motivation to learn them. I think I have the motivation now, and I'll have lots of free time while on the road!) Now all I need is some overalls and a piece of straw. My mom also gave us a djembe, which has a rip in the head but still has a great sound, and it can double as a table since we don't have to worry about ruining it. Jim also has a Harmonica. Now we can be troubadours!

I also got some hand-knit warm socks for those chilly nights, some earrings my aunt made, a really sweet picture album chronicling my life with nice notes from my family and Jim, and some various odds and ends. And bubbles. Of course we got the van less than a week before my birthday so that counts too! All in all, one of the best birthdays yet.

Now we are back in Ohio, running errands to get the van up to (our inflated idea of) snuff before we hit the road, hopefully by the end of July! I can't believe it's June 22nd already. Things are going great. It's comfortable here but I can't wait to get on the road. Even if our summer travels are shorter than we thought they would be, I'm satisfied with how things are going. Ohio is a lot different from New York, and it is nice having a change of pace and a new place to rest for a while.

Also, I'd like to put up some pictures from the day we left New York for future comparison:

Van electric systems

2009-06-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

As promised, I'm going to write a bit about how the electrics in the van are set up.

We had no idea how everything was wired so we were forced to do a bit of research and a lot of guesswork. The hardware was pretty deep behind the counter and the wires were run behind the walls, so we didn't have access to them. We decided to run a series of tests to see how each system would respond to different power sources.

First we removed the shore power and shut of the engine. It seems the only things that still run are the 12v DC cigarette lighter plug, the cab lights, and the tiny speaker for the TV's audio. This seems like a mistake to me since that speaker could completely deplete the starter battery's power. Oh well. Also, when we turn the key partially, we get power to the radio.

Next, we ran the engine and took inventory of the working devices. In addition to the above systems, we were also able to power up the fridge. (An igloo Cool Mate 36, actually a cooler/heater), the rooftop vent fan, the internal lights, and the 12v DC plugs for the TV and VCR.

We then cut the engine and attached the van to shore power from the house. All of the above systems became operational again, but in addition, we also had power to the 120v AC outlets. This activated the microwave and let us plug in our laptops. Unfortunately this means that we have to be plugged in to shore power in order to do this.

From all this information we drew some conclusions. First of all, there is no recreational battery. All of the systems run from the starter battery and the shore power. This needs to be addressed. Second, we determined that the starter battery was NOT being charged by the shore power. Since the tv speaker is hooked up to the starter, this means that even if we are plugged in, the starter battery can run down completely leaving us stranded.

The wiring was so obscure and hard to reach that the idea of performing the upgrade ourselves seemed out of reach. I got the suggestion to call Winnebago and see if they had any documentation or an owners manual available for the van conversion. So I gave them a call this morning. They said that they typically don't do van conversions and haven't for a while. Also, he mentioned that they don't have the blueprints or wiring diagrams or even an owners manual since it was probably done off the cuff. He suggested that we call and RV dealer and repair facility and hopefully they can perform the kind of upgrade I want. I asked about a secondary battery and he suggested that based on the info I gave him, the van is running on shore power and the starter battery only.

So I took it to an RV shop that specializes in repair and upgrades and had the guy take a look at it. After checking the thing out, he wasn't too impressed with the way it was set up. He examined it and confirmed my theory that there is only the starter battery and it isn't charged by shore power.

He gave me a few suggestions. He wants to switch out the converter with a beefier one. It should do a better job of handling the load from multiple 12V DC devices. Then we would install a 12vDC breaker box to route all those connections through. In addition, he would install an inverter with a voltage controller so that we can get 120V AC power from the recreational battery. He also wants to put in a recreational battery and hook it up to get a charge from the alternator and shore.

He quoted 85 bucks an hour for roughly 6 hours of work. Combined with the cost of parts and a generator it would come out to about 2 grand. Now it's up to us whether or not to persue this route.

Highway to Hell

2009-06-18T07:40:00.001-07:00

On the road- for the first time. Rockin' out to ACDC. The future is ours!

Everything's coming along

2009-06-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Things have been going very well so far. We spent the last two nights in the van and I have to say, it was the perfect picture of comfort. I haven't slept this well in a long time. I don't know if it's the comfortable bed or the fact that it's mine but I can't wait to spend a lot more time inside.

Once we bought the van, we still had a few more tasks to complete before it was ready for the road. We had to get it registered, get our license plates, get insurance. After that all we had to do was pass an emissions inspection. Our baby aced it with flying colors. As of now, all of these items are done. The insurance was a bit pricey but it takes effect at 12:01am tonight. We wait with baited breath until we can get this mean machine on the road where it belongs.

Tomorrow, we're going to make our first major trip on the van. It also happens to be our first international trip. We're crossing the border into Canada to vist Angelica's family. We plan to sleep in the van during our visit so hopefully we can find a place to hook up the power in the driveway. I will try to detail our plans for an upgrade to the electrical systems in the next few posts.

In preparation for our trip, I decided to learn some of the basics of vehicle maintenance. I am pictured above putting the finishing touches on my first tire change. I felt very manly afterwards. A new skill under my belt always makes me feel good. The rest of the day will be spent cleaning out the various accoutrements. Till next time!

Home

2009-06-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

After a positively grueling hour-long search on Craigslist and a drive into Cleveland, we came across this beaut'. It's a 1995 Chevy that was made into a camper van by Winnebago. It has Winnebago written all over it, which won't be conducive to stealth camping, so we have to do something about that. We welcome any ideas.

The Van has a kitchen, complete with Sink, Microwave, and Fridge. We will put a coleman camping stove on that counter so we can cook fresh things every day.

There is also a porta-potty. It hasn't been used as far as I can tell. There is a curtain that wraps around for privacy. This might be useful when we're out in the desert!

One thing I love about this van is that the bed folds out lengthwise instead of widthwise. In a regular conversion van, the bed takes up the whole back so there is no place for other things, like a kitchen. Not to mention those beds are too short even for me. We slept on this bed last night and it was one of the most comfortable we've ever slept in.

We moved in right away. There is a power hookup on the side and we are running a cable from the van into the garage. In fact I'm posting from the van right now! Snowy will be coming with us. Look for my "Snowy Round the World" series!

We are incredibly happy with the van. We got really lucky and found our perfect van in our city, within our budget, and without having to go to a lot of auctions. It is already set up exactly how we wanted it, so all we have to do it put in a few more storage bins and add a recreational battery and switch so we don't drain our regular battery during the night. In a week or two, we'll be on the road!

First Stop: Cleveland, OH

2009-06-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cleveland at 7am after a 9 hour overnight bus ride from Port Authority Terminal in New York City.

We're now staying with family in a guestroom, or as I call it: "The Base of Operations". Our mission? To acquire a "Mobile Command Center". So far we haven't met anyone who wasn't from Russia, so we were forced to conclude that Ohio is entirely comprised of Russian people. Each of these people owns at least one dog (though two is more typical). Our Base houses two toy poodles (ferocious guard dogs) and often hosts a neighboring Pomeranian.

This is our third day and we've already looked at 2 potential vans.
They were both late 90s GMC Savana Conversion Vans with Explorer High-Top modifications.
(image from explorervan.com)

One in green and the other in gold. These conversion vans have 4 Captain's chairs and a power bed that unfolds in the back. It also has a television and a lot of storage space.

The first ended up being not for sale, the second was in poor condition. But it was very helpful to get inside one of these vehicles. Now we have a much better idea of how much room we have inside. I learned that contrary to my belief, I can not stand full height inside the van, even with the high top. I also learned that the unfolding bed is much too small to be comfortable. We are considering going with our original plan of stripping the inside and installing a kitchen and bed.

We will keep our eyes open on the internet and in auctions for similar vehicles with low milage.

Angelica's Introduction

2009-06-14T20:35:00.001-07:00

I've been travelling my whole life. From a baby on the shores of lakes in New Hampshire to Alberta, to a teenager sailing and diving in the Caribbean, to Thailand, to Europe, and Central America. But all of those trips have been missing something. There were so many plans, having to accommodate everyone else, or having to follow a set schedule. The trips were always less than a month, and I've had to rely on other people for food, transport, ideas. I'm very grateful and consider myself very lucky, as these travels have had a huge part in shaping me. Now, I'm ready to see the world through my own eyes, not through the eyes of a guidebook or following the paths of millions of tourists.

I'm so lucky to have found someone with the same mindset. We're young, but we're ready to experience life and grow.

For more personal details: I'm 20 (21 on friday), have lived in New York all my life (half upstate and half in New York City), I have never been without pets until my mom moved to Canada 2 years ago, I love languages and linguistics and my major is French. I have one semester left in University, and I will graduate in December. If I ever settle down I want to open a dive shop somewhere warm and pretty.

Right now, I am not much into book learnin' and want to learn from living. Some of my goals for this trip and the near future are to go deeper within myself and bring out opinions and ideas for those existential talks. I want to learn an instrument, so I always have something to bring to a group. I want to listen and see how other people think. I want to hone my survival skills, take awesome photographs, and find beautiful, unspoiled people and places. Mostly I want to continue to be happy, which as far as I can tell is what life is all about.

Jim's Introduction

2009-06-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

An apology and a beginning

I want to apologize in advance for my disorganized writing style. It has been a while since I've been forced to write anything and I'm a bit rusty. Please bear with me, and I hope to improve with time.

With that said, here goes. After trying the 9-5 grind, I can safely say that it isnt't for me. My voyage of self discovery is only beginning and the road is calling my name. Angelica and I have dared to answer that call and together we hope to have all sorts of wonderful adventures. We decided the best way to do that is by buying a camper van and touring the country! (Going where ever the wind takes us.)

The journey as a metaphor

This journey is a way for me to work on myself physically, intellectually, and spiritually. For all my time on this earth, I have barely lived. My goal is to expose myself to as many visceral, direct experiences as possible. I believe that this is the only way for me to learn what the world has to offer and discover my place within it.

Personal growth is a private subject. So why create this blog? It is a way to record my beliefs and ideas as well as chronicle events so that I may continue to learn from them long after the moments have passed. But most importantly, a blog might imbue me with a sense of responsibility to fill it with interesting experiences. The only way to do that is to have them. Instead of letting my natural shyness get in the way, I will throw myself headfirst into any and all interactions.

Getting Personal

I've always found it hard to define myself so I'll start with my name. I'm Jim and I'm from New York. I worked in I.T. up until a few months ag0 when I was laid off. I like adventure, travel, hiking, exploration but haven't had much of an opportunity to do any of that. I'm also deeply interested in the mind. How we learn, what we're capable of, and why we do the things we do. I spent a large portion of my life living in my own head and I'd like to hear what the world has to say. I'm newly 23 years old and my childhood is for all purposes, over. However, I don't feel like I've been tested. There was no defining moment to catapult me into adulthood and waiting for one will get me nowhere. Leaving my life behind was difficult but I now have the chance and it may not come again. I've decided to take it.

Some thoughts on travel

The idea has always seemed appealing to me. Beautiful places, interesting stories, and a break from the monotony of the day to day. Foreign travel is expensive and uncertain. As it stands, I don't think I have enough experience to successfully handle this sort of trip so it will have to wait. However, there is an enormous range of possibilities right here at home in the US of A. I've spent almost all my time in New York City and as much as I love it, it's time to see the rest of it.

Being a city boy, I've seldom wandered experienced the joys of nature. The time I spent upstate were some of the happiest I can remember. The idea of the wild really appeals to me and I spend a lot of time watching nature/survival shows. But as anyone will tell you, this isn't a substitute for the real thing, so for this trip, I want to focus on the great outdoors. Hiking, camping, and backpacking are all things I want to experience. I had one major hiking trip in the past and it wasn't a walk in the park but it was very rewarding and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Social goals

I've always been shy and it's something I am struggling to overcome. I can listen to people for hours but when it comes to having a conversation, I get anxious. I blame this on all the years I spent watching TV. I feel more comfortable when conversations are one sided. However, I also want to meet people and listen to their stories and learn how they live. There are various communities of people that live on the periphery of society. I think they are the most interesting kind. My goal is to push myself and overcome my resistance to social situations.

The plan is a van

Taking all this into account, we decided to sink our savings into buying a van, outfitting it with some essentials, and living out of it full time. (All for about 10 grand.) After that, our only responsibility will be freedom. That has always been a dream of mine.

However, the first step is to buy the van. We left our lives behind and made the trip from New York to Ohio to start a new life. This has proven to be no easy task. The vehicles we want are pretty far out of our price range. But we're going to keep looking. I just know we will find our new home soon.