austin, nola, birmingham, atlanta, athens, murphy, athens, atlanta (phew)

Austin! 

Spent a week on my Auntie's couch reading Wicked, swimming, eating, snuggling with doggies, and laughing a lot. Also spent some really great quality time with my mom's folks. LJ + Dave, and I spent an afternoon looking at pictures, telling stories, and remembering. I was especially excited to have a bit of one-on-one time with each of them. Talking about Joe, architecture, and gardening with Daddy Jack while drinking a beer in rocking chairs on their back porch. Looking through copious amounts of pictures, and memories, and pictures, and memories, and pictures with Grand Joyce. I'm lucky to have such fiesty grandparents. They help me redefine what it means to be 80. I've got some big shoes to fill. 

I spent a little over a week at Kathy's (more time than I've spent anywhere consecutively on this trip, and boy was it appreciated!). Since I was doing the drive home on my own, I broke it into two long days. The first day I drove to New Orleans and stayed with Miss Melissa Ann Clark of B&P fame. I hadn't seen her in 2 years, but she welcomed me into her sweet little home with open arms. We chatted and caught up a bit, and then I slept hard. The next morning we had croissants and coffee in the French Quarter before saying our aideus. I drove around NOLA a bit before heading out. It was depressing. The city seemed to be having a hard time keeping its head above water. Literally. 

From there I drove on to Birmingham for dinner with my friend Lauren Libero from UGA. We were in ASL together and she just moved to AL to start grad school. So good to see her and her beau. Her tongue is about the sharpest I've ever seen. Always good.

Then I continued on to Atlanta, and couch surfed (and by that I mean, stayed in a lovely guest room) with my friend Angie Nicovich Phiera. We have been friends since we met at Glisson when we were 11. How cool to see her rocking at adulthood. She's got her dream job doing Aquatic Recreational Therapy at the Shepard Center, married to her high school beau (I remember the first time she told me about him at Glisson!), and they have an energetic puppy named Bosco. Really neat to get to connect with her. (yay facebook!)

The next day I continued on to Athens and spent a lovely day with the lovely Megan Louise. She has become the friend I stay with when I'm in Athens, and I'm so appreciative that she's always so hospitable! We ate at transmet, drove around town looking at what's changed and what hasn't, then did happy hour at Flickr with Lauren and Matt Weeks! That turned into dinner at Clocked, and an evening that ended the way only evenings in Athens can. (it's really more like 1 degree of separation in Athens).

The next day, Meg and I got up ate at Ike and Jane (new uber cute bakery and donut shop where Black Forest used to be) and ran a few errands then went up to the cabin for a few days. In true cabin fashion, we ate good food, read, went and visited John C. Campbell, and watched movies (Man on a Wire was as good as I thought it'd be). Our doggies got to be doggies and ran and played and got excessively dirty. 

Friday we drove back to Athens and I spent the afternoon with Lori, Jackson, and James. Oh my gosh they are so big! Jack is 8 now and James is 5, which means James is older than Jackson was when I was their nanny. Sheesh! And what a talker James has become. He was barely verbal when I worked with them, and now he just talks and talks and talks. Jackson made me a sweet picture that says "Thank you for all the great days" and it made me wish I could still be a part of their lives on a more consistent basis. Le sigh. 

Friday night I went out to happy hour @ 283 and had a lovely cocktail, but the vibe just wasn't the same without my college crew there. Dad was in town because Nada's daughter Natalie and her husband were playing music at local eatery White Tiger off Boulevard. I went and had dinner with Dad, Nada, her son Keith and his girlfriend, and listened to Natalie and husband play. And you know what? It was nice. I was genuinely glad to see all of them, and they were all enthusiastic about me being there. I realized in the car on the way back downtown that I'm not angry anymore. I've been angry for a really long time. It felt really nice to realize I didn't have to carry that anymore. 

Later, I met back up with Lauren and we had some drinks before heading back to her place to work on our hit ukulele single, "When I said Aloha, I meant Goodbye." 

The next day, Lauren and I met back up and had lunch at Cali'n'Titos (veggie cuban how I've missed you!) before getting matching origami paper crane tattoos. Mine is on the top/inside of my right knee and hers is on the outside of her right calf. And let me tell you, I am done. No more tattoos for me. Do I have selective amnesia or something? This one either hurt more than the rest, or I'm just good at forgetting. Anyway, I love the tattoo, but I've reached my quota. Quatro. Finito. 

I was spent after that so we went back to her place and zonked out to a bollywood movie. I iced my tat and took some tylenol, but I really think it was the take-out that put me in a happy place. Sometimes I forget how amazing take-out is. Food. Food people bring to your house. Amazing.

I ended up staying at Lauren's into the late late night and D-ray came over. I made him laugh a couple of times, which I'm counting as a personal success. So good to spend time in person time with the lovely and amazing Ms. Lauren Benbrook. 

Sunday, Meggie Lou and I got up and did the sorority girl thing and had brunch at Last Resort. It blew my mind that we were eating at one of the best restaurants in Athens and nothing on the menu was over $8, in fact most were $6. We both ate entrees, split dessert, I had coffee and she had a mimosa all for $32. Damn. It made me miss Georgia in a whole new way. 

That afternoon, Scout and I headed for Atlanta. Nina and Brandon were stuck in Panama (such a Nina and Brandon story) so I tooled around my old stomping grounds in Decatur. I realized that the only places I ever went when we lived in Decatur were 1) our house, 2) school, 3) church, 4) Callanwolde. That's it. (well, the Miller's house too, but I didn't feel like trekking all the way out to Stone Mountain). There was a torrential thunderstorm, and since I hadn't heard back from Nina's roomie (I'd left him a note) by 7:30, I called Debye and Jody and ended up staying with them. It was really nice. I love having friends that actually, literally, feel like family. 

Monday I spent time with two old Callanwolde buddies, Helen and Gaelyn. Helen is recouping from shoulder surgery, but otherwise doing fine. Such a beautiful, vibrant soul! Gaelyn is also, living her life beautifully. It was so delightful to catch up with each of them (lunch with Helen, dinner with Gaelyn). 

Tuesday started the Puppet Festival, but that's a whole other entry. 

I hope to be done with the epic entries soon! Thanks for your patience for all who've made it this far!

old time religion revisited, then head west young (wo)man

Ah! Days at the cabin always pass much faster than anticipated. After a couple of lovely days of rest and repose, tasty food, and family time, LJ and I headed back to meet up with Daddy-o in Murrysville for biscuits (if you're ever in the area, Reid's Cafe is stellar), then LJ rode with Dad and I followed behind as we caravaned down to Whiteoak via Thomson. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd been down there, but it didn't really surprise me how little had changed. The gray sand, the squeaky snap of the screened door, the sweet air conditioned air juxtaposed with the liquid heat of the outdoors. Familiarity, even that which you are uncomfortable with, can be comforting.

We arrived earlier than Mee-mee had anticipated and had tomato sandwiches and fixin's for lunch. It was like I hand't really experienced summer in 12 years. South Georgia tomatoes are edible summer, sweet crimsion sunshine. Then we lazed about on the porch and caught up in that way that is mostly talking about the past. I played them a couple of songs on my uke.

Then Mee-mee sent Grand Dad into town to retrieve something or other from the house and shooed us out with instructions to look at the pictures she had on the stereo. Being at their house was even more surreal even though I was there as recently as Christmas of '07. The pictures she referred to were an arrangement of pictures from LJ's wedding next to pictures from Dad and Nada's wedding, next to pictures from their 50th anniversary party, next to a perplexingly placed (and oddly large) senior picture of Nada's son Keith. I made a comment under my breath about having worth when I get married someday... Then there was dealing with the whole seeing pictures around the house, one of which originally included mom, now edited out. And pictures of Dad and Nada filling in the empty places. Intellectually, I understand that, but seeing it manifest does something altogether different for the empty places inside me.

I digress.

Being in Mee-mee and Grand Dad's reality takes some mental fortitude and adjusting, and once I'd gotten over my little internal hissy fit we had just about the best visit we'd ever had. We got back to the campground in time for the most amazing of southern feasts. White acre peas, squash casserole, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, cantelope, angel biscuits, three types of meat, and four types of cake. I stuck to the vegetables and was in heaven.

After the meal, we got cleaned up and headed over to the Tabernacle for the evening service. It smelled exactly the same. Somewhere between the old musty Spiritual Life song books, sweat, and prayer. It was so easy to feel right at home fanning myself with an old funeral parlor fan, singing old hyms (Rock of Ages was the closest we got to any of my favorites), and listening to the harmonizing of the cicadias. Somehow though divine providence I picked up the one Spiritual Life Songbook that had been given by my grandparents in memory of our family. I opened up the cover to see pasted in old 80s font the names of my great-grandparents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, my parents, and my sister and I. It was almost enough to make me say "Amen" or at least "oh my stars." The sermon was old-school Methodist about being empowered by Christ, and taking care of your community, "what are your excuses when called by God? The one-and-only-may-his-name-be-priased." Afterward we shared a brief reunion with a few of our cronies from growing up at Whiteoak. All married. All with at least a couple of kids. All excited to see us, but still looking at us with that look of foreign awe that we got from being city kids in our youth, and I guess that we get for being city people still.

When we got back to the trailer, Dad headed back to Gwinett, and the four of us had dessert while Laura Jean quizzed our grandparents about their courship and life together. It was fun and easy and natural and good. I enjoyed listening. Just being hot and sleepy. Eating ridiculously sweet cake, and hearing the smiles in my grandparent's voices as they recounted their lives. We turned in a little after 10, and the same energy continued the next morning over another amazing meal. Real grits, (grits like no one but Mee-mee can make), more biscuits, eggs, fruit, sausage, coffee, and juice. We visited for about an hour and a half transitioning from what has happened to what is happening. Laura let them know a bit about her book, I talked a bit about puppeting.

And then we were off! With hugs and waves and you-be-safe-nows. Laura Jean securely behind the helm taking on the second of the two longest drives of the trip. I was more than happy to play navigator and co-pilot as I still have much driving to go. We did the insane thing and drove all the way to Austin because we are young and stupid. Yep, over 15 hours rocking out to Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace), and without a single fight or as much as a tift. We realized that LJ being an introvert and me being an extrovert are pretty much at the base of all of our issues. And those are things that aren't going to change. So as long as we can respect that, and realize that we're not intentionally hurting each other just expressing ourselves differently, we're good. 15-hours-in-a-car-together-good.

Friday we were up and had family lunch(with just about everybody minus Leslie and the working McElroys) at Matt's before crashing pretty severly. That night we just hung out at Kathy's, working on last minute touches to gifts for the grandparents. Jake wanted to go out, but as I am homebody of all home bodies, nearing broke, and tired as hell, I suggested we just get some beer and hang out by the pool, so that is exactly what Jacob, LJ + Dave, and I did and it was pretty freaking sweet.

The next morning after several glasses of water and a big cup of coffee, I was a human being again and the day of celebrating GJ squared times 60(Grand Joyce and Grand Jack's 60th wedding anniversary) began with a start. Kathy organized us all to serenede them with a rousing rendition of "String of Pearls" (their song) on kuzoo. It was quite delightful and we were all in stitches. Then it was off to Moonshine for a delicious celebratory lunch (I did a toast), and then back to Kathy's for gifts and cake. Mom organized a family quilt (we each made a 1" square), the McElroy ladies tiled a garden bench with their handprints, David and Lynne gave them fancy edibles, but the icing on the cake was LJ and Dave's. LJ collected stories and photos from each family member, edited them and Dave designed, and made (by hand) a beautiful book entitled "60 Years of Adventures in the Hollingsworth Family." They spent collectively over 130 hours working on it, and even made copies for all the children.

Daddy Jack cried. Everyone cried. Then, punctuated only by the eating of cake, and taking of some family pictures, we read. We read every last story in the book. They said it was the best day of their lives, and I was humbled and delighted to be here for it. I have learned so much from them and their marriage. Sometime later, I may even post what I wrote for the book, but that's another entry entirely...

So we've been hanging out in Austin. Eating well, of course as we are wont to do. I've been spending lots of quality time with Auntie Kathy and the dogs and am determined to move here before Laura Jean and Dave so that I won't be following them here. (They're off Atlanta and on Austin in a major sort of way). I'll be here for the weekend before heading back to Atlanta via NOLA.

Then, about a week split between the cabin and Athens, and a week in Atlanta for the puppet conference and a few reunions then I'm back to Pdx to try and make some sense of this crazy summer.

I am so thankful to have been blessed with such enlivening, loving, supportive, and expressive family and friends. Taking this trip has been good for my soul in so many ways, but nothing has blessed me more than simply spending time with people who mean so much to me!

nyc, north cakalack, ath and back again

The epic trip continues!

So, on the way down to NYC, we stopped over in Hartford so I could check out UConn's puppetry MFA. We pulled up to the puppet building (about 10 miles away from the rest of campus), I was instantly unimpressed. I knew that just about everyone was down in Waterford for the O'Neil conference, but I'd hoped someone would be there. That someone just happened to be John Bell, a puppet expert extraordinaire and old Bread and Puppet alum who I'd met on the farm 2 years ago. I'd known that he was in charge of the museum at UConn, but hadn't expected to see him. I recognized him on sight and reintroduced myself to him. He told us the museum was closed, but invited us in and turned on all the lights for us. It was really sweet, and I particularly enjoyed their toy-theater exhibit. It was a cute little museum, and John was offering to write a letter of recommendation before I left, but I have to admit, I was throughly underwhelmed. I'm leaning heavily toward continuing to work and perhaps apprentice with someone or start my own company.

Then we drove on to New Jersey, stopping in New Haven for dinner to avoid traffic. We spent a lovely evening with Linda, my maternal grandmother's cousin. She provided tasty brownies, a comfy bed, and even let us do an epic load of laundry (MUCH needed and appreciated!) In the morning we took the George Washington bridge into the city and met up with LJ and Dave. Parking the car became a bit of an ordeal, but once that was taken care of, our visit was delightfully low-key. We ate some pizza at their favorite local place, walked the doggies in the park nearby, but mostly just hung out. I'd been to New York before and so mostly just wanted to spend time with them. That evening we rode the subway into Times Square and tried to score last minute rush tickets to Avenue Q but even the discounted ones were $67, which was more than any of us were willing to pay. So, we just went to dinner at this neo-retro diner and went back to the apartment and watched a movie. The next day we slept in, and then Jose ventured out to visit a couple of green non-profits he was interested in and I helped LJ pack and get ready for our trip. That night, Harrison (Buck), my best friend from high school came over for dinner, and it was SO good to see him. It'd been two years since we'd seen each other, and we'd probably only talked 4 or 5 times on the phone. It's just so relaxing to be around people who know you. Who know your history because they were there. People with whom there's nothing to explain. He's loving city life and working in a research lab at Columbia and seeing patients (somehow, I'm not really sure how this works since he still hasn't been to med school) while applying to med schools and trying to figure out what's next. Basically succeeding at this whole adulthood thing, which is good to see. And, it just so happens we'll be in Austin at the same time in a couple of weeks, so we're going to get to spend July 4th together too!

The next morning, LJ, Joe, and I left around 6 am for the cabin. LJ was jazzed to drive and wanted to get there as soon as possible so she ended up driving the whole way, which I was nothing but pleased about. In Tennessee, we stopped for some Chick-fil-a (yeah, I'm a mostly vegetarian right now, but how could I pass up Chick-fil-a?) and I had a delightfully giddy exchange with the two high school girls working the drive through. I enjoy being chatty with service people, and Joe's never understood it, so not only was that a delightful exchange for me, but illuminating for Joe. Then we went over to Subway to get something for Joe (he's sticking to his pescatarian guns), and it was the first awkward/negative experience of the trip down. The two women working were both oddly cold and terse with us. I don't know if it was because I just exude "outsider" (although both my tattoos and underarm hair were covered), or if it was because Joe is brown, but it made me uncomfortable. It also surprised me and didn't at the same time.

We arrived at the cabin a bit worse for wear around 10 that night and spent the following day eating, sleeping, and reading. It was positively delightful. There aren't words to describe how nice it was to be home.

Laura Jean's childhood friend Beverly came up for a slumber party with LJ, and we all took off early the next morning to meet our respective fathers for breakfast in Murraysville, just south of Dahlonega. We arrived a bit later than anticipated, but Dad was patient and excited to see us. We at biscuits as big as softballs and he got a cursory interview with Joe. After that we took off to Athens, where Jose and I met my dear friend Lauren for lunch at the Grit. Mmmmm. Both as good as I remembered. SO good to see Lauren, heart of my heart. She's just one of the most unpretentious, witty, comfortable, delightful human beings I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Being friends with her is like a good hug: warm and comfortable and comforting, and slightly (delightfully) awkward at the end wondering who is going to let go first. And then she pinches you in the butt.

Then we met up with Mom and Greg, and LJ, and the Aldermans (only parentals + Kristen) and got pedicures. Random, but enjoyable. Then we convinced mom to get a hotel room for the night so that all 8 of us would have a place to get dressed and she and Greg and LJ could crash for the night.

Then we were off to Matt's wedding at the Classic Center. It was hot in a lovely way and the ceremony was utterly Matt Giesler. Hip, evangelical, uber-Christian. There was a lot more "you will respect each other" than I'd expected, although the ceremony was not without the scriptures about wifely submission that made just about everyone in our party stiffen and take a sharp intake of breath. It was really fantastic to see most-of-us from all-of-us, which was one of the main reasons I went. Joe and I also danced up a storm, which was utterly fantastic.

He and I ducked out and headed to Atlanta around 10 which put us in at Nina's around midnight. We both crashed immediately, but were up in time for a tasty breakfast prepared by our lovely hostess. So good to see, even if only briefly, Nina and Brandon, although I suspect their joy of seeing me was leveled by they euphoria at getting to see Scout.

I took my Jose to the airport the next morning with only a few tears. He was off to Portland to start his next term (the very next day). What an amazing gift to get to spend such quality time together. Lots (LOTS) of growth can come from long stretches of driving. He's a fantastic travel companion, and I'm so thankful he could join me for even a fraction of this trip.

Then I headed back to Athens where LJ and Mom and Greg were doing some shopping. I wasn't in the mood entirely, but endured. Eventually Mom and Greg headed to the cabin and LJ and I hung out a bit waiting to hear from the Lanford boys with whom we'd been planning on going camping with. My blood sugar had gotten low so I decided to hit up Taco Stand on Milledge for a burrito (tofu with peppers and onions extra hot- mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) and who should I find there behind me in line but Daniel Ray (D-RAY!) of Earth Fare fame. We caught up briefly and it was the best part of my day.

LJ and I headed to Dahlonega in anticipation to hear from the Lanfords and had an epic figure-out-the-shit-of-our-relationship fight/conversation. It lasted several hours, included me crying in a Wal-Mart bathroom, followed by us continuing to have conflict in the frozen foods asile only to come out of that monstrosity to see 15 (I kid you not) self-righteously indignant Dahlonega locals croweded around our car ready to give us a talking to about leaving out dogs in the heat for 2 hours. (We'd been inside maybe 30 minutes). Then as we were driving out of the parking lot we got pulled over and spoken to in the most clieched patronizing way by a state trooper the concerned mob had called.

Yay for having Oregon plates in rural Georgia.

It was enough to squealch any desire I'd had about moving back to Atlanta. Any.

Anyway after that whole ordeal, we were both beyond exhausted mentally and emotionally and as we still hadn't heard from the Lanfords, decided to head up to the cabin. Just as we were rounding Blood Mountian, they called, apologetic, I explained the situation and invited them up to the cabin if they were up for it. They were! So, all 3 Lanford boys came up and we had a lovely late night. They left early this morning to get Eeph to the airport.

So now we've got a couple of days in Murphy before heading off on the next adventure. I had hoped to get to see my dear friend Helen in the next couple of days, but unfortunately she is having trouble getting back to the states due to immigration troubles in Indonesia. Oh dear! Sad not to be getting to see her this trip, but that just means that when we do finally have our long-overdue reunion it will be epic! E-P-I-C!

Here's to sleeping in, eating tasty food, and reading in a hammock overlooking those lovely mountians!

good times in the green mountain state

So, after a long day of driving, we arrived in Pittsburgh and spent a lovely evening and early morning with a couple of Joe's friends from Miami, Andy and his girl friend Erica. Pittsburgh, contrary to my previous assumptions, is a beautiful city. It is home to 7 colleges and universities, and since the steel boom happened in the late 1800s/early 1900s, the architecture is absolutely lovely. Andy and Erica had a comfortable (albeit narrow) couch, and Andy fixed us a beautiful breakfast. 

Then, after stopping into a market for some lunch and snacks for the road, we were off. We attempted to avoid tolls, since they had been quite expensive the day before, but this ended up making our route ridiculously indirect and longer than we'd anticipated. We left Pittsburgh around 10, and rolled into Burlington around 10:30. That drive tested our map reading and team working skills, and I am happy to say we prevailed awesomely. I cannot tell you how excited we were to see Vermont. 

Sunday morning, we got up early and I dropped Joe off at the UVM campus so he could check the place out and I headed over to Burlington Friends Meeting for my first Quaker experience of the trip. It was an absolutely wonderful experience and I even met someone who is currently in the program Joe is interested in. Then we met up for lunch downtown and afterwards headed out to Glover. When we arrived at Bread and Puppet around two hours later, I was surprised and comforted by how quiet it was. I saw Diana and Suzy stomping clay and said hi to them on our way into the museum, then I showed Joe around the farm. The New Building, the garden (which looks AMAZING), the print shop, the circus field, the pine forest... Along the way, I ended up seeing all of the current puppeteers (all gearing up for the internship, cleaning, and hanging out), and unexpectedly Jenn and Justin and their kids (a family of homesteaders from Maine who were around a lot the summer I was there and have come back so that Jenn can be the cook this summer). It was really amazing to share with Joe, since it was such a formative place for me and I reference my time there frequently. It was good to see everyone and let them know what I'm up to. It was wonderful and kind of delightfully anti-climactic. Strange to be in a place that hasn't changed much, when I've changed so much. That was somehow reassuring and gave me a sense of closure I hadn't known I'd needed. It was also so great to see Jenn and Justin, (who both remembered my name!) because they can participate in B&P but still have their own sense of reality outside it. 

Around 6, we headed over to West Glover to Parker Pie for some tasty pizza and then back in the car most of the way back to Burlington to stay at a lovely little pet friendly Bed and Breakfast in Caimbridge Village. It was a beautiful old victorian house with all original fixtures, and most importantly, a very comfortable bed. After a great breakfast this morning, we are on our way to Madison, New Jersey today to spend the night with my grandmother's cousin who lives there. 

Joe's currently talking with some professors at UVM, and we're going to stop in Hartford so I can check out UConn's puppet program. All in all it looks like another long day, but I couldn't be happier about my touring companions or itinerary. Tomorrow, we're headed into NYC to spend a couple of days with LJ and Dave, which I am beside myself excited about. 

Send us some good vibes for safe travel. Much love to all from the road!

All things go

A sunny day in Chicago is hard to say goodbye to. Joe and I have had a wonderful week here. Here are the highlights:

Joe's flight was quite delayed, but he finally got here around noon on Tuesday and we did lunch at the tasty vege-tastic Chicago Diner. He had to finish up final for his online econ final, so he met up with one of his bestest friends from Loyola, Brent and they went off to a coffee shop to work. We met up later and they showed me Loyola. It is such a beautiful campus. I loved the art deco architecture, and I wish I had had my camera with me. Oh well. Then we had some crazy good Indian food on Devan and then went to a hip hop show at the Abbey Pub. Meg and Moses joined us for the show but left before the headliner, Mr. Lif took the stage because they were spent. It was a really fun show, but my favorite was just watching Joe. I have never seen him that happy-- ever, which of course made me really happy.

Wednesday we got a bit of a late start, but had some amazing Ethopian  (yeah, we mainly ate... a lot here), and then he checked out a couple of Green non-profits he'd looked up and spent some time in Pilsen, his favorite neighborhood in the city (artsy leftist latinos). Then Meg and I cooked up a Southern storm for a birthday dinner for her. Fresh creamed corn, collards, cheddar biscuits, and black beans and rice. It was a feast! 

Then yesterday we hit up the infamous Soul Veg on the southside, and after all of Joe's testimonies, it really did change my life. Unfortunately, I got stuck in the WORST traffic on my way back up to the Northside (it took me 2 hours! blah). So, I just hung out at Meg's and did some stuff like book Scout's flight home. Then I took the El into the city, and met Joe and Brent for a live outdoor taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me in Millennium Park. I've enjoyed my time in Chicago, but I didn't really get it until I took the Brown line into downtown. It was so beautiful and vibrant. The radio show was super fun, and afterwards we went out for some deep-dish and then they showed me Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village before we crashed hard. 

Today we're off to Pittsburgh (our half-way mark to Vermont), to stay with one of Joe's good friends from Miami. Yay!

Land of Lincoln!

I cannot express how much I am enjoying being in Illinois!

After a positively delightful lunch Friday with Carly and her lady love Jan in Iowa City, I drove to Normal, Il. James and Erica have a precious little house and life, and it was such a joy to spend the weekend with them. We ate good food, visited the farmer's market, ate good food, walked, read, knitted, ukulele/guitar played, napped, ate good food, and had some great conversations (did I mention that we ate well?). Since we spent Labor day at the cabin three years ago, Scout and their dog Jack were already buddies. Their lovely fenced in back yard was like a vacation for Scout! I could tell he was very much enjoying not being in the car too. 

Yesterday afternoon I drove up to Chicago listening to Sufjan Steven's C'mon feel the Illinois! and thinking more about the shadow puppet show I'm doing for my grand parent's 60th wedding anniversary party in Austin. It is so SO flat here! Kind of ridiculous. But! I arrived around 3 and got a little lost finding Megan's apartment, but no worries. SO good to see her and be here! I haven't seen her since B&P tour ended a year and a half ago! So we walked around her neighborhood and at a cute little outdoor cafe. I met her bf (who as it turns out has a startling amount in common with Joe...) and we got to gush about being happy.

This morning I cleaned and organized her apartment as a gift for letting me stay here and am now off to walk Scout and explore the neighborhood! 

(aaaaaaand Joe will be here tomorrow and I'm beside myself excited.)

boo couchsurfing and rich folks, yay trees and visiting people!

So, my couch surfing karma was not with me this week. Jon and I had lots of positive experiences using couchsurfing.com on tour this year to hook up places to stay, but I had two people fink out on me at the last minute this week. The guy in Boulder never gave me his contact info, so at 9 o'clock at night frustrated and confused, I just drove away from Boulder. Granted, Scout and I had a good day in Boulder. It's a pretty little college town nestled in the mountains. We hiked a bit, but mostly just lounged around and visited the farmer's market. I realized though, that, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I don't really like rich people. My first reflection was that I didn't like rich liberals, which there are plenty of in Boulder, but no, I just don't like rich people in general. After spending time in Jackson and then Boulder, I was thinking about it a lot. It just makes no sense to me that someone can spend $1,000 on a handbag or a coffee mug or whatever when there are folks who don't have food. Or healthcare. I guess I'm more of a socialist than I thought. 

I got to Fort Collins and stayed in this precious little road side motel that reminded me of something out of It Happened One Night. Small and shabby but clean and cheap ($50!), it was a total find. Then, since my couchsurf from Omaha took a last minute trip to Vegas with her sister (whatevs), I drove all the way to Des Moins last night. That means that, yes, I drove ALL the way across Nebraska yesterday. It's funny, because I'd been dreading Nebraska in particular, but enjoyed it MUCH more than Wyoming or Eastern Colorado because it had trees! Lovely little trees across the farmland that made it much more bearable to look at. 

Today, I'm off to Iowa City to have lunch with my friend Carly from Athens and then onto Normal to visit James and Erica! Yay reunions!

Oh, and on a side note, I haven't held all that well to the not drinking thing. I realized that what I don't enjoy is getting drunk. I had a glass of wine last night after driving for 10 hours and it was quite lovely. That is all. Carry on.