Park Staff: John, Meeshe, Keith, Teresa, Crane, Margaret, Dale, Bailey, Ben

Eisenhower State Park, Lyndon, KANSAS - We headed to Kansas, not knowing what our plan was. We knew we wanted to stop for a chunk of time so that we could process the trip so far, but we knew we couldn't afford to stay anywhere for 2 weeks. (Folks, camping is expensive these days! Off season with one utility hook-up, no showers or water available was going to run us about $250!) ) We called Dale, the park manager at Eisenhower as we drove and asked him if we could work off any part of a 2-week stay there. He gave us work for 3 hours a day on weekdays and only charged us $35 for the entire time we stayed. We had a blast working with the Americorp volunteers and other employees at the park while we mulched and weeded flower beds and trees around this huge park. We spent some good quality time processing and journaling, cooking interesting new foods (even some outside over a fire!), scrapbooking, reading, and watching the sunset over the lake. The only downfall to this whole experience was that it was SO windy almost the whole time we were there so it made walking difficult and bike-riding impossible. But here's a BIG shout-out to Jeff Brown in thanks for his space heater donation to us! We would've been frozen solid without it! And shout-outs to all the folks at Eisenhower!

Thanksgiving - Michael's family always put a great importance in holidays, Thanksgiving was no exception. Before we left Kansas, Michelle called the Chamber of Commerce in Laramie and Chyenne, Wyoming to see if either town was having a public Thanksgiving. It turned out that the Senior Center in Laramie was serving a free dinner, so we headed there, the coldest place in the continental United States. They already had a few feet of snow. We had Thanksgiving with some wonderful people who told us all about their town and lives. Traveling was hard, but there were a few beautiful moments. Although the truck didn't enjoy the mountains so much, she did well taking us over them. (It's like we have the "Little RV That Could".) One night we thought better than to try this mountain pass and turned around. In the morning, we learned that the police had closed the mountain pass a little after we decided not to try it! We might have taken the trip a little slower but, we had to race across from Kansas to Washington in able to hang out with the Sines before their travels took them away.

SEATTLE, WA - We made it to the home of Tom and Christine Sine in time for dinner, which was pretty impressive. They had guests who shared with us during dinner. Phil Wagner shared about his times in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan as a health care worker, and Faith and Aaron Stevens shared about being in Afghanistan and Mongolia for 3 months. The following day we ran around Seattle for a few hours checking out Pike's Market and the Elliot Bay Book Co. We had dinner again with the Sines and picked their brains a little bit about community. They are lovely people. (We nearly left our bumper in their driveway when we pulled out.)

The Oil Changers: Doug, Gil, Les At the L'Arche community

TACOMA, WA - In Tacoma, we met back up with some old friends from Philly. Gilbert and Melody George were also some of the few that told us to visit before the trip even began! Melody went to school with us and was part of the YACHT club that we started. Gil went to church with some of the simple way people. It was great to re-connect with them. On Monday, we went to work with the two of them. They work with a community called L'Arche, who live and work with developmentally disabled persons. Melody runs one of the houses they own, and Gilbert works one-on-one with Doug on the Farm. This is an amazing community. We were able to be a part of the start of the work-day, when they went around and shared about their weekends. Pat, one of the organizing Farm staff, was an amazing facilitator who we connected with right away. Gil, Doug, Les and Michael changed the oil in the RV and, after getting Michelle from making paper, toured the operations.
     Later that night, we had dinner with the Stevens family that we met at the Sines'. It was a great night of sharing about community and family and raising kids (their baby, Atticus, is super!) and music and so much more. They were a great strength to us in our journey.
     The next day, the two of us went to breakfast at a little alternative cafe with Beth and Aaron, who worked at camp this summer and had recently (the week before) gotten engaged! Although the food was terrific, the conversation and laughs were that much better. We thought we might miss them on our way through (because of Thanksgiving) but it was meant to be!
     Later, we went to the Tacoma Catholic Worker and hung out all day. We talked to folks about community, about poverty, anarchy, problem-solving, consensus decision making, 'zines and more! To sum it up: we met Bruce, David (the poet), Nick, Susan, Heather, Biggs, Mary, Farah, Celeste, and many more. They have many houses and it's great to see the community. We stayed for liturgy and the pot-luck that followed, both of which are also attended by about 50 homeless folks.

Our friends from Portland: Anne and Hyung

PORTLAND, OR - Anne Weiss is a wonderful musician, surrogate mom, and good friend that lives in Portland. She and her housemate, Hyung, graciously hosted us for our stay in Portland. We ate wonderful organic meals and drank lots of tea together. Our time with Anne was full. She directs a choir-for-the-musically-challenged-who-love-to-sing, which we were able to see in their first performance of the season (they were great!), and where we met a woman who had gone to Camp Lebanon as a camper many years ago! Anne took us to see Whale Rider at her favorite cheap movie theater, to her Gospel Choir rehearsal, and for a hike around Multnoma Falls and the gorge, which was absolutely beautiful. She also took us (well, we took her) to a weekend birthday party that she was performing for in Eugene where her friend Mike decided to have a birthday party/ concert for himself. Anne played a great show. We met some awesome musicians and stayed with a great family there in Eugene for the night.
     While in Portland, we also were able to connect with other friends as well. We had lunch with Dale Stitt and Esther Armstrong, a couple who started an organization called Journey Into Freedom. Michelle knew them from Word and World in Tucson and was glad to get a few minuted with them. We also got to see folks we knew from a church called Imago Dei. A group from there had visited the simple way a year or so ago and we wanted to connect with some of the folks who had visited. So we spent some time with Joe and Missy Barker at a great Lebanese Restaurant, and later got to see Jessica Troutman and check out her apartment after a crew of us went to church and dinner together.
     Other Portland highlights include hanging out in Powell's Used Books and checking out world-famous Burnside Skate Park with Christian.

SALEM, OR - We had dinner and stayed the night in Salem with a really cool family. Michelle knows Frances and Bethany Loberg from Word and World and we met Lance, Emily and Matt when we got there. While Michelle talked about issues and family with Mom, Dad and Bethany, Michael went and hung out, talking theatre with Emily and Matt. Matt and Michael also dipped in and out of Monday Night Football. Michael had a great time hanging out with Matt and Emily, Michelle called it his "kid fix" because he hasn't hung out with kids since Lebanon.

TRAVEL DAYS... - We are trying to get some time for ourselves again in California but are having trouble finding a place to plug-in so we can update our website! We are at Olema Ranch Campground near Point Reyes, CA, outside of San Francisco. We are leaving today -- $32 a night!

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