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?