Back to the mundane

Ok, we are home and more rested by the day. What an adventure! This trip came together largely by default and was pieced together somewhat haphazardly. We both had doubts as it approached ... would we exhaust ourselves? Would we have enough time in places? As it turned out, we came through with flying colors. I thought we'd get sick... nope. Just tired, and reacting to the East's fabled mosquitoes. We're aging but tough. One of the points of this trip was to see how we handle extended ones, since we'd like to try more in the US and other places. I think we can handle it.

We planned this to see if there were other areas where we might try to live. Northern California is wonderful but increasingly expensive and crowded. The ever present high-tech cool attitudes get us down... We didn't spend enough time anywhere to get more than an overview. It does reenforce our belief that northern California is not the center of the universe, there are other places where we could be happy. But there is so much that is good about Northern California. Whatever shall we do?

We did have big adventures (dune climbing, whale watching, canoing, etc., andconnected with old and newer friends. Again, Air B&B gets the highest recommendation from both of us, there is an article in this.

Our last few days were in Pittsburgh with family. I didn't have much time to post from there since my great nephew and nieces demanded much of my time... that was great. There were also Belz family issues to focus on. We did connect with relatives. Pittsburgh is a really fine town in many ways, but they are slashing public transit and the traffic is unbelievable... I think Kate and I would both have nervous breakdowns, coming from our lack of love for driving. But we will spend time there, and I will write about it in more depth.

Ok... I do have many photos I want to post. Since returning, I have become the proud owner of a new computer. I want to get that set up, starting today... give me a week, maybe a little more, and I will post.

"The road goes ever on and on..." Tolkien

We're home...

...alive, safe and quite exhausted. More to come soon, for now...zzzzzzzzzz

We're alive...

We're alive and well at my brother's house in Pittsburgh. It's hard to write from here since I have nephews and neices demanding my time very aggressively... lots of fun, really. Since my last post, we drove to Pennsylvania from North Carolina, spending a night in W. Va. and another in Ohiopyle, Pa, one of our favorite spots... rambling Youghighenny River, deep forests, Allegheny Mts. and wild fungi everywhere. Then we visited my old friends Don and Ellen in Butler, Pa. for a night.. we drove on dirt roads to get produce from Amish stands way back in the off-road area... fascinating. And now, da "Burgh (which, for those of you unfortunate enough not to hail from the center of the universe here,) is Pittsburghese for Pittsburgh.

I'd like to share more details... may have to wait until we are home on Wednesday. Kids like me! I'll get some pix up soon too. I may do some from here if I get a chance.

sittin' here in the Blue Ridge Mts....

Ok, a quick blast of a few days...

We stayed at a fine Air B&B in Ashville...run by a couple who were social service professionals for years. Very generous and fun folks... Ashville is a very eclectic community. Anarchist cafe, many excellent bookstores, fine native plant garden, more veggie restaurants than you can imagine...

It is a sister city with Vallodolid, Mexico, a town that we visited in the Yucatan last year. Everytime you turn around, there is another poster for another peace, ecology, social justice event. It's the kind of town where you'll see a man wearing makeup and nailpolish walking past a group of James Dickey tyoe characters with stringy hair and t-shirts that say "Freedom is not free."

We went to a community drum circle Friday night where someone lent us drums so we could participate... a fine town, needs another look.

We are now staying with friends Tim and Melinda in Boone, a college town in the Appalacinans. We spent last evening with vegan burritos, guacamole, fine white wine and Jerry Garcia while we tried to solve the world's problems. Probably requires a few more sessions. Yesterday we hiked on an excellent trail near here... they wanted me to i.d. wild fungi, and I was able to come fairly close with more than I would have thought (there are many species that I don't know, of course.)

I got up and took a hot tub on the deck, watching storm clouds blow in over the Blue Ridge Mts. The storm is about to hit, gotta get off the computer.We are drinking Japanese tea and watchingthe storm. Kate and I leave tomorrow morning to drive north through W. Virginia for a few days... we'll visit friends Don and Ellen for a day in Butler, Pa., then wind up with my family in Pittsburgh and the odessey's final stages... can I write a book now???

3 days in 4 paragraphs

We are alive and well in Ashville, N.C., which appears to be a funky/creative town... first day here.
On our last day at Crissfield, Md., we swam, explored, and I took a canoe ride with Marcus and Betty. We wandered along Johnson's Creek, which passes their cabin and made our way up some narrow passages through marshgrass and pines. Totakky fine! A great egret kind of circled us. We returned to Baltimore that evening... the storm we encountered en route was like riding into Armageddon... constant lightning, including some vertical bolts... I've never seen that. I enjoyed it, but wasn't driving. Betty was an excellent driver for that stretch!

Next AM, we caught a train to Durham, N.C. We were held up for two hours by a brushfire and freight trains using the same tracks we were (the great curse that is placed on Amtrak.) We saw little of Durham that night, but were able to wander and explore the next day. It is a funky and artsy place, with much music and an outdoor film festival going on. My favorite announcement about that was for a split screen film where one side would show old westerns or gladiator films while the other would show old dramas. The announcement advised people not to come if they are easily confused, and also told really manic folks to bring a laptop they can look at while the film is playing. Durham has many community and political groups as well, including some that I didn't think existed any more.

Awhville is in the Mountains, beautiful bus ride here. We've only begun to explore, but it seems like a fine little town, with music in the parks practically every night, more used bookstores than you can imagine, public art and a very progressive atmosphere. We'll plst more soon, and yes, photos are coming. I have to show you the Sagueney Fjord!!!

Chesepeake Bay area

We've been reading poetry and trying to figure out the sad state of the world with marcus and Betty's help. It is ridiculously HOT, but there is a creek behind their cabin where we can swin (need to go do that soon), and will canoe today. People here are amazingly friendly. Today while I fumbled for quarters for a dryer in a laundramat, a woman came and deopsited two quarters, since she didn't give money at Church today. People talk to you in stores, from their porches, everywhere.

The Cabin abounds in birdlife: great blue herons, laughing gulls, hummingbirds, black capped chickadees, turkey vultures and cardinals, to na,e a few. We visited an island where wild horses roam free, and got some pix of them (pix are coming.) Lots of birds on the island too.

People here have always worked gathering oysters and crabs. Apparently there were territorial disputes around the 1870s, and crabbers from different states had cannons on their ships they used to blast at each other with. They'd board ships and throw each other overboard... whoa. I guess the government intervened and made them come to some agreement. They still gather the critters, but populations are down because of over-harvesting and water pollution. I guess the crab and oyster folk have agreed to quoptas...

Anyhow, we return to Baltimore tonight, and catch a train to North Carolina to see other friends... up to Pittsburgh from there. This has been some odessey! More in a day or two.