It Begins.

Utah

Mountain goats in 70 through Colorado

It's official! We left Chicago on the 17th and stayed with our wonderful friends Andrew and Lisa in Kansas City, MO. A night in a hotel in a tiny mountain town off 70 in Colorado and a 15 hour drive later and we arrived at the hotel in Ventura, CA on Tuesday.

We spent Wednesday enjoying the town's local highlights (specifically the amazing eateries, Nature's Grill and Tony's Pizzeria). Thursday morning, with a blanket of fog and a nice breeze off the ocean, Thomas headed down the road. My excitement for him and the experiences ahead of him is curbed only by wish to be on my way as well. I'll be spending this week with my family in Marin County, CA before I take off on the 28th toward my first farm in New Mexico.

dorky boyfriend

final preparations

For now I'll have to appease my restlessness by chasing my 6 and 4 year old nieces around the playground and posting up the pictures I took of Thomas' last day and departure. I've put a few here, and you can see the rest on the right side of the page in my Flickr feed.

Christening in the Pacific

the beautiful drive north on 101 along the California coast

Since I'm feeling a bit antsy about not updating my music blog anymore, here's a little Mason Jennings for your ears:

Mason Jennings : "California"
  Live at The Cave in 1998.

Karlin Family Farms

Second farm confirmed! If everything pulls together I will be just outside of Lawrence, Kansas at Karlin Family Farms from May 19th-June 6th (after which point is reunion time for my birthday in Chicago!). I've been to Lawrence a couple of times and always really enjoyed it there so it'll be nice to have a little more time to explore the town. During the time I am there Warren Brush of www.quailsprings.org will be hosting a Permaculture [permanent agriculture] Design Series which I've been invited to attend. I like the idea of sitting in on a few lectures but I am more excited about the idea of getting my hands dirty!

I spoke on the phone with Brady Karlin, brother of Troy Karlin (the stewards of the farm which has been in the family since 1985). The Karlin's hope to turn the 10 acre property into a thriving homestead and educational facility, as well as develop a master permaculture plan for the farm which now includes a 225 native fruit and nut tree orchard and 6500sq ft perennial garden. Brady sounded like a really friendly, laid back guy and I'm really looking forward to working with them.

Also: Kansas friends- this is a call to you! Come volunteer with me. It will be fun, I promise!

You can see their facebook group here and their website here!

First farm confirmed!

Alllllllright. First farm confirmed! I have been in touch with the owner and she has assured me that there will be some other WWOOFers and "plenty of shit to shovel" when I get there. I'm bringing a tent and some camping supplies for the trip because although many WWOOF registered farms do provide housing to their volunteers, most of the ones I am hoping to stay on do not. Anyway I would not put up a fight about camping all summer long if I needed to.

The farm is located 12 miles north of Taos in Des Montes at 7,500 ft at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. They grow greens, raspberries, and seasonal vegetables in the fields and in the greenhouse. They produce their own honey (I am specifically seeking out bee-keeping farms on this trip in hopes of learning as much as I can).  If all goes well I'll be staying there from April 28th-May 10th. One of the shortest stays on the whole trip because I'll be meeting Thomas in New Mexico and traveling to Denver.

After Thomas gets back in his bike again (around May 19th) I've got a few potential farms I've emailed. I'll update when I know exactly where I'm going to be but the goal is to be on a farm from May 19th/20th through June 7th when I'll drive to Chicago catch up with Thomas for a reunion with our incredible Chicago family to celebrate my birthday on the 8th.

Hazaah! More to come.