Fort Collins and surrounding areas

I love this place.
Sara and I both drove up Friday afternoon caught my friend Jenn at home before she headed out for dinner then went to meet up with my old house mate Christy to get some food and drinks. Christy is now teaching a psychology class at our old University and is an assistant teacher for another class, crazy, and in a doctorate program there. Where has the time gone? I guess we are getting old, by 10:30 we were all calling it a night, lame huh. But as Christy and I were walking back to her house we passed the Aggie Theatre where she use to bartend when we lived together, so of course we had to stop in for a drink, say hi and see who was playing. I was the only one who didn't end up at an ex-boyfriends house that night......
Saturday, some of Jenns friends came over to can peaches and make peach preserves, mmm it smelled scrumptious. Sunday, Jenn and I went to the Grant Family Farm to pick apples, plums and visit some small friends:
I headed to Old Town on Monday to pick up some ingredients to make my own lip balm and stopped by my favorite store, Nature's Own to get some stone jars. One of the guys working mentioned he had puppies so I of course had to go take a look at them that evening. Oh man were they cute, I may be picking up a little fur ball on my way back through for my drive south.

Wednesday Jenn and I drove up to Red Feather and camped off Deadman Rd. We were looking for the best spot that was protected from the wind and was surrounded by changing Aspens. We found it after a bit of seeking, but no doubt it was worth the search. We set up the tent and started a fire. Jenn made some delicious guacamole and Magda explored the woods. As the sun set the coyotes began their call, with each set of howls we could hear them getting closer

In the morning we packed up and harvested some rose hips, then headed to the The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya I do not have the words to describe this place, they will come one day.

That evening Jenn and I rode bikes to the last bike in movie at New Belgium for some pre-movie double dutch and a few brews.
Friday I was picking up a CSer at the Greyhound in Fort Collins who was going to travel with me to the west and ran into Kevin a friend of Jenns that I met the night before at double dutch. He came to pick up Jaret with me and invited us to Colorado Springs for the night then go see Bishops Castle Saturday down in Rye Colorado. After sending pictures to one of my friends, he described it perfectly: "it looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie"
We climbed all around it, into the towers and into the globe. I have not been that scared in a long time, the towers were shaking, I wasn't sure how some of the walkways were being held up, there were steep spiral stairs with low ceilings and no hand rails but I felt great. Jim Bishop, the guy who built and is still building this castle was present and working on it all the while speaking his mind on any issue you can think of. My favorite quotes of his were "if bullshit was music, I'd be a walking brass band" and "I have no boss, I work for myself, nobody tells me what to do. Well my wife can tell me what to do, I guess my wife is my boss", he's a smart man.

Denver

After a days worth of driving through Kansas and I'm not sure if I'm losing it or being in the south for so long has gotten to me but Kansas wasn't as bad as I remembered it, I actually thought it was kind of a beautiful drive, anyway, I arrived at my good friend Sara's in the early evening, we caught up, took Jelly, her aussie, to the park where we played this game which included him nipping me on the butt. We then went to dinner around the corner from her place at the Vine Street Pub, we talked the night away and closed them down. The next day, Thursday, we ate at the S.A.M.E. Cafe, also around the corner from her place (So All May Eat, you can check out some info about it on Sara's blog page, click on the link above) which is a pretty cool concept and hopefully more places like it will be popping up all over. Afterwards we took Jelly to City Park just a few blocks away so he could swim in the fountain and herd some geese or chase them into the lake whatever you want to call it he did a fine job.
When we got home we made a sauce conglomeration consisting of eggplant, tomato, peppers, onions, garlic, basil, oregano and tofu to use up all the veggies before they went bad but ran out of time because Blake was picking us up for game night at 6:20 sharp and according to Sara he is never late. At 6:19 her phone rang, Blake was downstairs. So we each picked up a bottle of wine and headed out to play Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase and drink some Pink Panty Droppers or what we use to call Summer Brew in high school and then my dorm mates adapted the name to Liquid Crack. Its amazing how the times have not changed? but I like to think we have become more cultivated, now we have a couple drinks and play games like scrabble or dominoes as a way to socialize where as ten years ago we were playing games like flip cup for the sole purpose of getting drunk.

on the road again

After spending two weeks back in Fort Myers I headed to Athens GA for a few days and CSed with Kendra and her semi-permanent house guest Lacey, hilarious, good-spirited folks. Then headed to St. Louis to see the fam, visit a winery and see my brothers new home in Columbia. From Columbia I'll be heading to Colorado so my tentative route this time is:

Colorado: 9/9-9/17
Great Basin NP: 9/17-9/19
San Francisco: 9/19-9/22
Arcata: 9/22-9/25
Eugene: 9/25-9/28
Portland: 9/28-9/30
Seattle: 9/30-10/1
Vancouver: 10/1-10/4
North Cascades NP: 10/4-10/7
Idaho: 10/7-10/10
Salt Lake City: 10/10-10/13
Colorado: 10/13-10/17
St. Louis: 10/17-10/20

This is all in pencil and can be edited at a click of a mouse.
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Montreal

We arrived in Montreal around 1:oo a.m. and found our hostess' flat with out a problem. The only thing was she wasn't home nor did she have a cell phone or leave the key under the mat like she said she would. Drew is freaking out, calling his mom; Ofri and I sit down and decide to wait, no worries, she probably went to grab a drink and will be home shortly. So we take a walk around the block and sure enough when we get back Caile and some friends (Dustin, Mark and Shana also couchsurfing from Halifax) are sitting on the porch, had just run out for a beer.
The following afternoon we headed to the "beach", I put this in parentheses because it is man made on a man made lake I believe too. They charge $8/person to get in and we don't want to pay so we walk around trying to find a secluded place to sneak in and end up hopping a fence. Well, not really hopping, we had to climb and then jump, and I was uncontrollably laughing because passerbys were staring and Dustin had a duffel bag of beer he was trying to climb over with. Well we made it, found a spot to lay our things, grapped a beer and jumped in. Right away a lifeguard came over and in French told us we couldn't have beer in the water and also we were not suppose to have glass bottles and the guys at the gate should have told us this(Thanks for the translation Mark). Ooops, we blame the guys at the gate.
Sunday was the Pride Parade and Tamtams, we saw some of the most beautiful people! Montreal is an amazing city, full of life and color.

New Brunswick

On the way to Montreal we made a detour to the Bay of Fundy Hopewell Rocks to see the most intense tides in the world. We timed it for low tide so we were able to walk on the sea floor which is super muddy with seaweed covered rocks. Drew joked he was with Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball, my skirt kept blowing up and Ofri was playing in the mud.










Once we were done playing on the ocean floor we made a quick lunch and hit the road again. I drove for a bit more then Ofri took over. It was her first time driving on the trip and we were all a little nervous since she kept saying "lets see if I remember how to drive manual its been awhile" and guess what, we survived!

Nova Scotia

Onward to Canada via New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. First off, THEY LET US IN!! After a few questions: what do you do for work, where are you from (you are holding my passport), how did you meet, how long are you staying, why are you here, are you bringing anything in (yes, can't you see my car is full), are you leaving anything (just the guy in the back), will you be taking anything, do you have any weapons (only if you consider a butter knife a weapon), back to the beginning...I think they are required to ask every question twice. We stopped at the information center so Ofri and Drew could use the playground and so we could get some info on the Bay of Fundy. We then continued our 12 hr? drive to Lawrencetown where we were couchsurfing with Daina and Stefan. We arrived even later then expected(we forgot to take into account the time change, oops). We were greeted by Daina, Daisy and Cozmo, Stefan was at the opening of the Canoe Sprint World Championships, and shown into their amazing home. Daina told us how she and Stefan want to drive down/around to South America via United States and Central America which sounds incredible, by then I should be settled somewhere so hopefully they will visit. The next day we headed down the road to Lawrencetown Beach so Ofri could continue with her immersion into every body of water in the various places we were staying and to see the area. Daina made us a walking map with points of interest in Halifax so after the beach we headed to the ferry. After trying to figure out the parking meter and ATM (which it seems mastercard is the preference in NS) I found a store to exchange some US $ into Canadian so we could pay the meter then we headed on the ferry to Halifax. As we pulled up to the dock we could see the International Buskers Festival going on, street performers galore!
We stopped to watch an acrobat, juggler/fire juggler couple, very impressive. We then walked up to the Public Gardens and around town, watched some more street performers before heading back across the river. That evening Daina prepared dinner and dessert and we watched a surf video. The next morning Daina showed Ofri and I her studio where she creates her beautiful masterpieces (she is an artist), their house is full of stunning artwork, ceramic, photographs, paintings...we then embarked on our trek to Montreal but first making a stop at the Hopewell Rocks.

Picking up another CSer and heading to Maine

Monday (9/10/09), Ofri and I woke up the earliest we ever had to head to Boston and pick up Drew, another CSer. After rendezvousing with him we hit the road heading to Maine, without directions of course. We arrived in Bar Harbor and had still not heard from our host, so we went to the park, walked around the small downtown area and the harbor, did some head stands, took some pictures and ate dinner.Then I drove to the Seawall to see it and check out the campground nearby, it was full but the view was great.

We then drove to a private campground just around the corner, also called the Seawall Campground and this guy holding a beer lead Ofri back and forth, back and forth then finally had us follow him to a site. We set up my two person tent and the three of us slept snugly our first night together. At least I can say none of us were cold!
We woke up kind of early, packed up and headed out to hike Precipice Trail. I hiked it in a skirt and sandals, luckily I was wearing some pants under the skirt otherwise I would have flashed a lot of people.
After the hike we went to the beach, Ofri got in the water of course but it was too cold for me and there were no other Floridians making me feel like a wusss for not getting in so I opted to just get my feet wet and take a nap. Following the beach we went to Thunder Hole, since there wasn't a storm or waves it wasn't making the "thunder" sound it usually does, I guess. We climbed around on the rocks watched the other tourists and headed to Otter Point. Sat on some more rocks, watched the water, looked for otters then decided to head out. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain, took in the view quickly, it was overcast, windy and a little chilly, but beautiful. On our way to Bangor, Drew received a call from Adam a CSer in Orono who offered to host us, so we took off towards Orono. Adam and his house mates were wonderful, as soon as they heard we were coming they began preparing a meal that included locally grown potatoes and green beans and locally made cheese they had received in exchange for manual labor and Adam had run to town and gotten some growlers of a local beer. We all shared a meal, stories, laughs and music. It was his first time hosting with CS, and he got three of us and was a very gracious host, we could not have asked for more!
A little side note, ever since I was a little girl and had read: Sarah, Plain and Tall I had wanted to visit or move to Maine, my almost life long dream has been fulfilled and hey maybe I will move there one day.

Stamford CT and the Renissance Faire in Tuxedo NY

Saturday we drove to Stamford CT just north of NYC to stay with, Micah, a friend of Ofri's who had been a volunteer solider in Israel and had lived in her Kibbutz. My first glance around I noticed all these amazing drums and hand made instruments, beautiful. Then I noticed the rocks and asked if he collected, he said "no, I'm not that nerdy, I was kind of nerdy, making candles and jewelry when I was younger but I don't collect rocks." I told him "I do, I love rocks and I make jewelry, it was my job for three years in college." Later that night when I showed him all my rocks I've brought on the journey I got him to admit he collects rocks too : ) Anyway, Micahs father had prepared a delicious meal so we sat out on the back deck, ate, had great conversation with him and his family all while overlooking the harbor. I'm sure the conversation was interesting although I can not remember it and I think a lot may have been in Hebrew. Micah then took us out to downtown Stamford to a club to meet up with some of his friends from high school. Boy did this club take me back to high school, girls in three inch heels wearing skin tight clothing shaking their booties all looking the exact same and boys with popped collars and glow sticks ahhh the memories of sneaking into these joints at seventeen and getting as drunk as possible before sneaking back into someones parents house. Ofri and I ended up leaving them and walking around the downtown area, we then stoped at the "crappy" diner, Micah pointed out earlier, for hot chocolate made with coffee, followed by an excursion to his friends house in the middle of the city on a street where only their house stands surrounded by state owned land and a beautiful garden from what I could see in the dark. The following day we went to the Renaissance Faire, I've never seen someone so excited about this type of thing but wow, was he excited. Swords and all, said it was better then Six Flags, not sure what he was doing at Six Flags but I sure as hell love roller coasters and I didn't see any there. The highlight for me was the Aerialists performing out of a tree! But now I can check the Renaissance Faire off my things to do/see....even though it was never on there in the first place. All in all, I'm grateful that this kind family took me in and gave me a place to sleep, shower and eat! Oh and the father, Jeff plays a magical bamboo flute!! Very talented and I was graced with two songs.

Beltzville and Perkiomenville PA

We arrived in Perkiomenville late Wednesday early Thursday morning after driving through six states (NC, TN, VA, WV, MD, PA) taking a small detour off the Blue Ridge Parkway driving through Blowing Rock, Boone and then into TN by mistake. I took a short nap on a cement block next to a gas station and then met Britt in a parking lot to follow home and immediately went to sleep. Thursday we walked around one of the many quaint townships around and then met up with some of Britts friends in the evening and went sloppin. In case you don't know what this is, which I did not, it is floating down the creek/river in a blow up baby pool and drinking lots of wine and avoiding going over the waterfall. Which we were successful on all accounts. Afterwards we went to see David at his tent which he has set up in Collegeville behind some houses next to some trees. He fed us and then Britt read his journal, got outraged by what he wrote, tried burning it, then knocked a burning candle out of his hand with hot wax spraying Billy and proceeded to kick the sh*t out of him, finally some people pulled her off of him and we left to sing karaoke. The following day, Britt, Ofri, Billy, Dijon, Shalane, Justin and I went to Beltzville to go find some waterfalls and take a dip in the river. I took a nap on a rock and was awoken by a little girl screaming "oh my gosh what is that" I bolted up expecting to see a bear running at me. Goodtimes in PA. Lots of old rock buildings, farms, horses, cows and quaint little townships, nothing like I've ever seen before. "You guys weren't swimming, were you?" "No Sir" "Good. Guess you just got caught in a thunder cloud then?" "Yes Sir"

Asheville NC

We left Folly Beach Sunday evening August 2nd, heading to Asheville with no couch lined up and hoping for the best. Asheville is only four hours away and it rained just about the whole time. We were thinking of camping or hoping to find Internet once we arrived to see if we had gotten a reply. We arrived in town around 10:30 pm and I remembered it was Sunday, so I didn't think there would be much going on. Ofri pointed out a camping sign but I by passed and wanted to get downtown to see if there was possibly a chance of night life. As we drove around looking for parking we noticed some bars, cafes and street performers. One that stuck out was two guys, one with a drum kit and the other with a crazy beard. We walked around a bit, noticed all the cafes that might have had Internet were closed, so we walked to the corner where the guys had been playing just as they were packing up and asked if they knew of a place we could get Internet or if there was a hostel around. Daniel, the drummer offered his place right away! Turns out, they lived downtown in a loft type setting Daniel in the basement and David James upstairs in the studio with Tamara in the room off the studio but she was staying at her other place at the time. So we had the futon to ourselves. Everything worked out and we didn't have to sleep on the street. Another couple walked up and requested some Dylan tunes so we got a little show before heading home. Once back at the place, Daniel showed us his skills on the piano and sang us an original. David James, Ofri and I stayed up talking about life and we discovered Ofri knows every Beatles song there is. So her and DJ played and sang until the sun rose. The next morning I got some replies from CS but we decided to stay with our new friends. We had to leave the place by noon because the burlesque dance group comes to practice at the studio. So, David James showed us around Asheville, I ventured into a bead store where I refrained from buying anything but helped Ofri make a necklace out of a shell she found on Folly Beach. We then met up with Daniel, on the street, where I got the chance to hula-hoop while him and DJ played some tunes. As we were heading home a girl chased down Ofri and asked what was in the case she was holding. One of DJs basses, guess she was a local talent, Ash Devine, so she walked back to the house with us and talked a bit. Tuesday we decided to go into the mountains, so we drove south on the Blue Ridge Highway and got off at mile marker 416 and hiked into the forest to a small waterfall with ice cold water. I wasn't going to get in but then a couple came from Tampa and the wife eventually got in, well she was technically pushed in by her husband, and as she got out she said "if I didn't love you and hadn't been married to you for 27 years I would leave you" but then she continued jumping off the rock so I had to jump in. Oh man was it freezing! Later that evening we went to Brita's, one of the burlesque dancers house where there was a small gathering of travelers, a group with some dogs and a rat of course. David James and one of her house mates played some tunes on the guitar and banjo. Banjo boy was playing a bunch of traditional songs that I love. Asheville was a wondrous place that I hope to visit again sometime soon.

Follow your Folly Beach

We arrived in Folly Beach at our host Lyndon's house late Friday July 31st, he lives literally across the street from the beach, you can hear the waves with the windows open and have a beautiful view from the porch. He showed us around Folly beach and took us to see some live local music and they have New Belgium here!! So I got to have a Fat Tire and introduced it to Lyndon, guess they just started distributing to SC, there were signs everywhere. Now when will they get it in Florida? Later when we got home we were introduced to his house mate Joey a surfer from MD. Saturday we slept in then walked around their backdoor neighbor Vivians vegetable, herb and flower garden. She showed us a book, Humors of Folly, where there was a picture of her bottle tree. Lyndon had to go to work and as he was leaving their other house mate Elsa arrived with a bunch of randos with a keg. So as they started their afternoon binge, Joey, Ofri and I went swimming in the Atlantic then took the longboards and bike to the dock, which is off an empty lot filled with a bunch of beautiful live oak that goes out over the marsh. Later, Ofri and I went to the most magical place, Angel Oak, an estimated 1500 year old live oak. It is suppose to be the oldest living thing this side of the Rockies, it was amazing. When we got back, Lyndon was home from work so we went back to the dock for sunset and a swim. That night we went to see Vivians son, Graham play/sing at a local bar, where we ran into some Israelis that Ofri got to speak Hebrew with. The next day Joey took us to the old lighthouse at the end of the beach past the washout. I do not think it is currently in commission but the beach was beautiful and peaceful with sand dunes and trees. There was a group of dead trees that we started climbing on and swinging around and some weird cement foundation, maybe for an old light house?

Land Excursions

I will be leaving tomorrow morning, traveling with a gal named Ofri who is traveling the states for a few months from Israel, we'll be heading up to the NE

So our tentative route/itinerary is:

Charleston SC 7/31-8/2
Asheville NC 8/2-8/4
Philadelphia PA 8/5-8/7
New York/Connecticut 8/7-8/9
Boston MA 8/9 picking up Drew from CS
Acadia NP/ MA 8/9-8/11
Halifax NS 8/11-8/13
Montreal 8/13-8/15

more to come...

Hmmm

So, I am beginning my second week of early retirement and it feels great, why didn't I do this earlier?! I've begun (is that a word? it just seems so odd) packing up the triangle and it feels weird, I'm not sure when I will un-pack, it might not even be this year. I have a lot of things to give away/donate, but it will feel amazing knowing that I have less to lug around, a big weight being lifted! I don't know if I will ever live in a triangle house again so I may have to change the name of this blog. I'm thinking of a tree house or circle house(maybe a yurt?) for my next residence....and where? Your guess is as good as mine. (/|\)

Last day of textbooks

Today is my last day of managing textbooks! And life in the triangle house is slowly winding down....three more weeks.

Adventures

So the time is coming quickly, it has been almost two years since I moved to Florida and I have only nine more days left of my job! I've been counting down since month 22. Then I will begin a new adventure taking a road trip around the states and Canada!
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SummerDo

Since high school I've rarely had my hair cut. Yesterday I decided to get a trim (it had been a year) and when I got to the hair place I saw a Marie Claire magazine and decided that is what I wanted. The hair stylist asked if I wanted to donate to Locks of Love, I said if my hair was long enough, of course! This is a before picture, the picture of the style I wanted and an after picture. I think this is why I don't get my hair cut very often, I even had the magazine in my hands, laid it on the hairdressers counter, showed it to her, told her that is what I wanted. She said she wanted to finish cutting my hair dry so she could see how it would "naturally" fall so she pulls out a blow dryer, I tell her I don't own a blow dryer or brush so it will never be blown dry or brushed hence it will never "naturally" lay the way she was about to style it. She laughed "oh haha you don't own a blow dryer, hehehe your so cute, my boyfriend would love you hahaha he says I spend too much time on my hair". Maybe she should spend more time listening to her customers.... I don't really mind, I think in about 2 months it will be exactly what I wanted, hair grows. Its not the end of the world, but seriously, this lady needs to listen.

full moon drums Gulf of Mexico hula hoops lightning storm fire lanterns devil sticks family

Full Moon Rising

Experiencing the full moon by the water is very powerful, whether it is by a mountain river, the salty ocean, wondrous sea, country stream, or inland lake. You get the reflection off the water and the light just surrounds and energizes you. Also, I think creatures that you wouldn't normally see come out at that time. There is also the pull on the water that the moon has, creating intensified tides that get our blood flowing and affect our whole body seeing how are bodies are more than half made of water. Get yourself to the water! Everybody needs to spend some time by a body of water to re-energize and if it happens to be at the full moon even more magnificent.

Couch Surfing

So I have joined this network of Couch Surfers and have been hosting 1-4 people a month since I began. This concept is such a wonderful idea. A lot of my friends think I'm crazy inviting people into my home, to sleep on my couch or spare room with out knowing them and vice versa them staying with someone they don't know. If people are going to join and offer their home and trust I don't think they will take advantage of others. My first experience with any such thing was a couple I had met on the beach where I live. They came down for the winter and were living in the woods, one night I invited them to stay with me because the weather was bad, they stayed two nights that time and a few more times that winter before they headed back north. Now I have two wonderful new friends who I am going to visit this summer. Then in late December I joined this network of couch surfers and have been hosting travelers from Portugal, New York, Vermont, Florida, Sweden and hopefully more to come! Eventually, when I can take off work I will be utilizing the website. It is a great feeling to know there are welcoming, kind and gracious beings out there that will invite you into their home and give you a place to rest your head. Thank you!