This is this is amazing.

I am coming down from the festival life, amazing connections, tent sleeping high; winding into a high way driving, chill music listening, coffee shop writing mood.

Where am I, where am I coming from, where am I going? I am so glad you asked.

I am in a coffee shop in Portland, coming from the Oregon country fair, doing a few computer connections before jumping off for an adventure with my buddy Eric.

Just to catch us up to speed. On Wednesday night I ventured to a hippie Samba Ja concert in the park in Eugene. Thursday morning I went on a fantastic bike ride through Eugene to pick up my ticket to the Oregon Country Fair, an ever growing hippie festivals in the woods outside of Eugene. Once I made my hippie costumes with one of my awesome hosts of Mandy, Tony and Jessie, I headed to the fair grounds where you can pay for park/camp by the car per night, and wandered the OCF outskirts. I was serendipitously connected with a friend of a friend, Oblio who was able to connect me with the Moon Lodge, a Women’s only space at the fair. The space is located in a little alcove of tress, and is beautifully decorated each year with couches, pillows, flags, and love! I worked there on and off throughout the day on Friday. I also wandered the streets of the Fair, met up with old and new friends, and took it all in. The experience was full of lessons, adaptations and enchantment.

The Fair closes to the general public at 7 30 pm. It is my personal goal to go back and be a part of the night life there, because I will be forever curious and envious otherwise. On my way out for the evening I spotted a backpacker wandering the pathways as aimlessly as I was. I offered him space on my 20’X20’ camp site on an impulse. We ended up sharing dinner, stories, dreams, a fire opera, and a wonderful 12 hour (and probably future) friendship. I am forever grateful for the wonderful conversations we had!

So I departed this morning for Portland, picked up a random craig’s lister along the way, and am just ramping up energy to meet up with my buddy Eric. Eric and I connected two years ago when I was in Portland visiting friends and family. We chatted life, swam in the rivers of Washington, and even made fleeting plans of a birthright adventure together. I am excited to share a hug, bike ride, and picnic with him soon!

From here I will travel north to meet up with some friends who was doing the STP (the Seattle to Portland 2-day bike ride) and make my way to Seattle for a reunion with both California and Ohio friends! After that I am headed East, I swear!

I hope this finds you well.

Craigs list Ad

Going east via national parks (glacier, yellowstone, etc)

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Reply to: comm-yvdvk-1261240968@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
Date: 2009-07-09, 9:07AM PDT


hello fellow travelers!

I am on an adventure and i have room in my car for another person and some stuff. I am departing seattle on monday or tuesday (13th or 14th) and heading east.

destinations are as follows, and are somewhat negotiable. glacier, missoula, bozeman, yellowstone, grand tetons, center for the pole, rushmore, badlands, iowa rag brag, minnesota by the 24th. it will be a 10 day whirewind, and i might drop some of those destinations depending on how things go. i will be camping or couch surfing along the way.

heres a little bio:

i am a 25 year old queer female. im strong, independent, and very DYI. i camp, i cook my own food, i carry my own meals/snacks. i love to ride my bike, i work with kids, and i love to get to know people who i can relate with (mostly travel with women or gentle men), who are into things i am into. that may sound limiting, but i am interested in a lot of things and i see many things in many things. i am interested in health, awareness, bicycles, adventures, gratitude, the human experience, sociology, queer stuff, laughing, camp games and songs, stretching, good music, community, instruments, and many other things. So if you want to jump on my adventure from seattle, thats easy, shoot me an e mail, we will hang out and see if we can get along for a few days, if you want a ride any where along the way, it might be a little more complicated because i dont know when i will be where, but if there is a place i can throw down my tent, i will probably head your way.

best,
dickens
434 825 2890

ps, you can check out my blog to see if you wanna hang out with me. apthocurious.blogspot.com

• Location: glacier, yellowstone, etc
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Already!

So much to say and I just posted this morning. Man oh man what a day I had! And it only started at noon. I went for a bike adventure with two thirds of the family I am staying with. One mom, Mandy, and the 10 year old son, Tony, and I toured the amazingly flat, bike friendly, and sunny city of Eugene. We hit up the community bike shop, the used book stores, and the same hippie restaurant I enjoyed for dinner last night! This is such a crazy hippie town!

After that I headed out on my own, picking up a book on free camping all over the western 17 states, wandering miles and miles of bike paths throughout the city, and catching up with a few friends via telephone. I also caught a sunset park concert with Samba Ja. At first I was shy to dance solo, then I was so empowered by it. And the Samba was powerful!

It’s been a while since I’ve had my alone time. Ironically it was something I was most nervous about when planning the trip, and something I was craving this am. I sure did enjoy the comfortable company of a dear friend while Kendra was with me, but am ready for the self I must face now that I am making my decisions on my own. Luckily, the world is still opening to me, and I am finding exactly what I desire, imagine, and need.

My goals have been transformed, and it looks like I will be experiencing the Oregon Country fair to the best of my ability, swimming in a river with my buddy in Portland, supporting my friends doing the STP (Seattle to Portland) bicycle ride, and venturing to Seattle to meet up with old friends, new friends, and traveling friends! Then, I swear, I will leave this coast and find my self in the woods, in the parks, and in the car, so I can kick it with Cassidy and Ben in Minnesota, and dance to MJ with Lea, nugget, and family! Wooohoooo. Onward, Talley hoe. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and am grateful to have your support along the way.

Best,
Rose

Adventures with Capes

Hellllo Wonderfuls,

I am writing this posting still stuffed into my sleeping bag, lounging on a double stuffed air mattress. After 5 nights of “tenting it” by rivers and trees, this is a nice treat! I’ve been gone for less than a week and already there is so much to share, reflect and process.

My city slicker friend has been my partner in crime since city departure on July 2nd. We supported each other through the pealing away from cell phones and dance parties, and the introduction of bug bites and car life. I dropped her off at the airport in Eugene, OR this morning, and now I will attempt to verbally sum up our adventure…

Kendra and I had two main goals on our journey, three if you count “getting along” as the third. The first (and successful) goal was daily FBS (full body submergence) into rivers or other fun bodies of water. The second, less successful, yet fun, goal was to consume ice cream each day. I will describe our story based around these experiences.

We arrived on Laguna Farms on Thursday evening to find our wonderful farm friends hanging out in the Yurt, after a tasty dinner, some good conversation and a fun visit to the free box (pictures to come of course) we enjoyed a comfy futon, knowing tent life was on its way. The next morning we had breakfast with a bundle of beautiful women, some of my heart family from Ohio who has also migrated to the west coast. We grazed my friend Graham’s farm for fresh veggies for our journey, and visited with some kids on farm camp. From there we made our way north, enjoying the sights, the towns, and the people of the west coast. We stopped at few places along the way, once of which being Ukiah. It was super hot as we walked by a desolate Economy Inn with a pool. I thought our luck was better to ask, so we asked the check in guy if we could swim. He said sure. Our first mission of the day was complete, now on to ice cream. We picked up some delicious coconut bliss ice cream and continued north to the campground of Standish Hicky. Where Kendra conveniently ran into some friends who were bike touring the coast. They serendipitously had made reservations for a car camping spot that evening, but their friend with a car was unable to attend. We lucked out hard core.

After camping with some friends, having pancakes with the neighbors and a photo shoot with our new costume from the free box, we headed to Eel River where we would check off our FBS goal of the day. It was pristine and magical, and gave us energy for the drive a head. Our next destination was a beautiful farm a few minutes south of Arcata. A friend was hosting a large house warming party on his new property (conveniently on a river!). We enjoyed friends, played camp games, and ate delicious, local delicacies. The potluck was amazing, and we accomplished our second goal by indulging in goat milk ice cream made with duck eggs. Of man I wanted to melt right there.



The next day we swam and ate more deliciousness, including the goat milk ice cream, just to keep things rolling, and continued north through the red woods.

We drove through beautiful landscapes and found an amazing camp spot, in the national forest, so it was free and secluded, on the Smith River! We set up shop, cooked dinner, had a nice fire, and played music. The next morning we enjoyed a dip and headed north and east to Crater Lake. Still acclimating to life in the “wild,” the bugs were pretty bad there, I was still nursing itchies from Standish Hicky, and now am double scratching, but it was worth it. The lake is beautiful, pristine, and massive!

We contemplated a swim, but it was pretty cold outside, so we committed to finding a swimming hole along the way to Eugene. We found a random lake along our drive, jumped in and carried on our way. We arrived in Eugene, showered, hung out with some friends we would be staying with for the night, and then hit the town by bike. Oh it felt good to be back on my bike! We enjoyed a tasty dinner and explored the beautiful streets lined with cute bungalows and trees and day dreamed about what its like to live with space around you.

As I said earlier I dropped Kendra off this morning. It’s not clear where I will be going from here. Many things are calling my name. At first I said I was going to skip Seattle and headed east immediately, but now that I have gotten this far, I’m getting pretty curious about what I might find up there, but am not sure how to manage my time. I am committed to arrive in Minnesota on the 24th, so that leaves me with 16 days and a lot of dreams: Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Rushmore, and Badlands, Ashland, Oregon Country Fair, Seattle, Bozeman, Missoula, bike trips in Iowa. I just don’t know how to do it all, and I am becoming unattached to my original goal for a relaxed trip across the country.

ps does anyone know anyone is Boise?

Hello Friends,

I have been really excited about this Blogging adventure combined with my access to a working computer and internet! This is new for me, most adventures in the past were with slow computer, lack of organization, or nothing electronic! Well I have had this past week “free” to prepare. As I mentioned in my last post I have been scrambling to find sublet, fix bike, take care of tasks around house, etc. What I haven’t mentioned is all the internal stuff I have had to deal with. Ironically, all of the stress I have experience from the last minute uncertainty, has actually served to “distract” me from my deepest of fears and stresses. Now that I am completing things on my To Do list, I am facing them. Once Kendra leaves on Wednesday, July 8th, I will be traveling “alone” until the 24th. Now no one is ever really alone, if there aren’t people, there are trees and squires, and the inner dialog. And that’s why I am doing this, I want to spend time with my inner dialog. My fear for this journey is being much louder than my internal voice. I hear so many horror stories about travelers who are taken advantage of, abused, stolen from, and I am so afraid that that will happen to me. Part of me fears being a woman who sticks out, gender queer, independent, coming from San Francisco, etc. I fear that people do no like that in different parts of this country. I am terribly afraid I will be that story no one, but everyone, wants to hear. I’m kind of afraid my fear will become reality if I don’t release it, deal with it (love it) and walk with confidence. I aim to project more positive intention without building heavy expectations. As I am processing this fear, its roots, its meaning, and trying to break it down with my experience of good, abundance and communal support, I am finding more layers of fear that I associate with independence. The next fear that comes up is the idea that each decision I make on this trip is my own. In my last big America trip each decision was shared with my tribe. For two months, Eric and I were a team, then Wormz, Eric, and I were the deciding team for 2.5 more months. If some thing went wrong, we were all in it together. Now if some thing goes wrong, it’s on me. I’m the deciding factor. Man that’s a lot of responsibility. It’s ironic really. I am leaving the city because the responsibility of job day in and day out, rent, social functions, all of that, has been feeling heavy. But I am leaving it for what currently feels like a much heavier decision making experience.

Thankfully my roommate has reminded me that i am A. capable and good and B. those stories i am afraid of are a very small percentage of the actual experiences people have.

yeeaaaaayuuuh

It's back to all good. I found a sub-leaser, I fixed my bike, it fits in my car, I organized some stuff, and I have another day to finish the last bit of work, packing, organizing, and randomness that I would like to complete for the next two months! Here I come world. thanks to ALL of you who have helped me get here!

Tomorrow evening my friend Kendra and I will hit the road and hopefully make it to Sebastopol by sunset to visit with old and new friends!

Best,
Rose