Phoneblogging.

we're sleeping tonight in the woodburn fire station annex, where they dry their hoses. It was a good tip we got all the way back in northfield, mn to ask for lodging at fire stations.

Slow day, with the wind in our faces, but it was great to be back on the bikes. Banging out all this text on my phone isn't ideal, so i'll leave the rest for later.

After a long weekend and getting our bikes and trailers put back together, today we are headed to Salem, OR and aiming for Pringle Creek Community, an eco-suburb.

It's going to be good to get back in the saddle today after too much time off. I rode around yesterday on both our bikes after reassembling them, and it felt great to be on the road again.

Melissa and I spent the last 3 days at the Oregon SolWest Renewable Energy Fair in John Day, Oregon. We met tons of great people, and learned a fair amount about solar, wind and other energies, and generally had a great time. We were surprised to be granted booth space, so we got to tell people about our trip and get a few good interviews in the process.


Overall, it's been a great experience, and I've been impressed with a lot of the ideas on display here. An end to our worries about energy? Probably not, but a good start down the path to a fossil-free future.

Dinner the first night was great, one of the best we've had for a while:



A tremendous gentleman by the name of Tom Sutton showed us the town and treated us to dinner. Our sincere thanks to Tom:



Also, two new photo galleries:

http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/072408/index.html

http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/072508/index.html

Alberta street in the Northeast end of Portland seems to provide a real sense of community. Within four blocks from my sister's house, I have the choices of coffeeshops, the grocery store, a bike shop, art supply store, friendly walking paths, and an assortment of restaurants that finally make my mouth salivate. In addition to the variety of shops, as I look down the street to get to the hopping intersection, colorful flowers and herbs jut out from the easements and the old buildings are blanketed with colorful murals, such as one to the left to amuse my curious eyes.


Not only is the hodgepodge and randomness of how the area has been designed, or organically morphed inviting to the visitor, it's also a welcome surprise to see bikers pass every couple of minutes, and families out an about, as just within 10 minutes of staring out the open cafe window I've seen 8 children pass in burley trailers, on the back of bicycles, and in ladies arms. In fact we even got a visit from my adorable relatively new nephew, Zayden, and my sister, Annah, as she just got done with her jog. They are indeed cute!

The other prominent feature to this area is the art. They promote art through the couple of art stores and shops that provide classes for children and adults, such as the ceramic store next door, but they also display it everywhere on this street. For example, as I look out the cafe window there is a strange art sculputre 15feet high with some sort of vine like covering draped over it. It's unmistakable, and though odd looking, is refreshing to see. Also, if I were just to walk down the crowded streets, i'd see over 6 murals within a small radius. If I don't see the color and intricate design on the walls, I pleasantly see it on the skin of the many tattooed citizens. Indeed, it's a fun and vibrant place, filled with diversity and lots of color!

Though we've been here for a couple days in Portland, this neighborhood exemplifies what a thriving neighborhood community could be like in other areas.

I'll be researching more on community space, and hopefully getting an interview or two with building a sense of community, as it's something all towns need to continually work on.

Read a post over coffee this morning about how bike commuting is up and so are bike accidents and fatalities. A big part of it is just that folks aren't used to cooperating with bikes on the road, and lots of bikers are taking to the streets who haven't been riding until gas prices got so high.

Here's a post and article about it at the Bike Commute Tips blog:

http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/2008/07/bicycling-increases-so-does-injury-rate.html

Our experience riding on this trip has been almost universally good. From no-shoulder highways to crowded streets in downtown Chicago and out to the the rural roads, we've really not even had a close call yet. We've probably had 2 hecklers on the whole trip, and one time in Iowa where there wasn't a shoulder and a semi just about ran over a couple of cars who had slowed down to pass us, but I've generally felt pretty safe. Even the semi thing was annoying at the time, but in retrospect I totally understand what happened.

We were on a 2-lane highway with no shoulder, so we were partially blocking the lane. We were going down a long descent and a couple of cars backed up behind us waiting for a break in traffic. A couple of Semis came over the hill behind us and couldn't slow down enough on the decline. We were probably going 20-22mph on that stretch, and a speeding semi going 70+ has a lot of slowing down to do with a load on. So the semis laid into their horns as they were trying desperately to gear down and not hit the cars in front of them. I don't think we were even really in much danger, but it was pretty scary to be going down this decline with no space to get off, knowing that there were some cars lining up behind us, and then hearing those air horns going off and just feeling the collective panic in the air.

Luckily, there was a small break in the traffic going the other way and the cars got around. The semis got around too, but they had to stay in our lane since there was more traffic. I'm sure some cars on the other side got pushed pretty far into their lane, but the semis stayed just clear of us. It was pretty hair-raising.

But I think the baby trailer is becoming ubiquitous enough that drivers avoid us like crazy, thinking that we might have a kid on board. That's a good thing, and we've gotten plenty of space on the trip in general.

But another thing that we've got going for us, especially now, is that we've been on the bikes an awful lot. I started commuting almost daily last summer (with weather exceptions), and what biking skills weren't already at a high level before have definitely gotten honed to a fine point this summer. We've become good bikers on the trip, and it's nice to feel like we'll go back to Bloomington ready to face the crazy traffic there (and it is worse in non-downtown Bloomington than 90% of the places we've been on this trip).

Traveling across the country in search of sustainability, is making me unhealthy. Don't get me wrong, we've had some amazing, delicious food that has been local, not local, organic, not organic from our hosts and restaurants, however, in the course of two months, my diet has changed considerably, as my semi vegetarian diet of whole foods and lack of hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, has now substantially included the latter. Now, my staple diet consists of cookies, my new love of cotton candy ice-cream, doughnougts, and fried goodies, everything that is good for the body... high fat, calories, and empty calories; a diet that would make a new college student proud.

For example, as Andy and were waiting at the greyhound station calling people to stay with in Portland, I spied a hostess dingdong in the candy machine. It actually was calling my name, and though I had already had processed cookies, peanut m&ms, and a Starbucks gas station frappacino, the DingDong was clearly on my list of what next thing to devour. So with the only dollar between Andy and I, I easily purchased it.

As I sit here writing this I'm trying to figure why I have little motivation for choosing a more healthy diet on this trip, and I've come up with some reasons, as illogical as they may seem.

First off, I've been spoiled for the last ten years as I've lived in places that acknowledge that a vegetarian meal is more then celery and carrots, and strangely that's more or less the options I've received. Unfortunately as we traveled across country, more times then not restaurants, delis, and grocery stores, still don't get that garlic, butter, salt and pepper go a long way and that some people, like myself, actually do like vegetables, heck and even some are trying to eat healthier(sometimes I am, and other times not). So when I go to a restaurant that charges 8-10bucks for a meal, and the only option that doesn't contain meat is a three layer grilled cheese, fried thing, with a side of fried french fries, you bet I'm disappointed, because I then know that if I order a salad, in their innovative ways, I'll receive the iceberg lettuce, with maybe two cherry tasteless tomatoes, and the random sliced cucumber. It never fails, I think it's some law of nature; it's no wonder why people think being a vegetarian is crazy, as it sure is with those options! So i've figured that my choice has been limited, and that's why i've resorted to the sugary goodies, as I now tend to order the dessert that I know can be somewhat promising. Really, who can go wrong with dessert?

Okay so limited choice on the menu has been a factor, but maybe the other reason why I've become the unhealthy eater is because we actually haven't seen that many grocery stores in all the towns that we have traveled to. I'm personally hoping that our route or road just bypassed the them, however, some of these towns only have one street, so unless it was by the cemetery we didn't see, some of these towns had no source to get their food. Actually, that's incorrect the gas station would provide the local diet, and of course what ever we found there would become our diets as well.

In particular, I remember riding through LeRoy, MN. Though they might have had a grocery store, it wasn't on the main street that we passed so the only place we saw was the BP at the end of town. We shopped there a couple times and enjoyed our addiction of doughnoughts, and peanuts, packaged fruit, chips, and a granola bar, all of which was laden with corn syrup. As towns are closing grocery stores, what other choices are we given?

I talk of the rural areas we passed, but even in some of the urban areas we didn't find any grocery stores, and have relied on the minimarkts, conveniance stores, gas stations, and vending machines to provide our substanance. If Andy and I are forced to live off some of this food, what are the people in the towns living off of? What does this mean for our nutrition, our overall connection to the food and to the people who farm it? Basically, where IS our food coming from, and what concerns me as well is WHAT is in our food, as I can never articulate the last couple of ingrediants in my candybar or peanuts, as I feel like I need a chemistry degree.

Lastly, I need to mention that sometimes we've been eating poorly as well is because of price. As all of you know we are on a fixed budget and finding comparable prices to local and organic food is harder in these areas we've passed, again we don't have a lot of choices, but when there are, it's quite a bit higher. So I have the debate in my head, do I eat the apple that I know has pesticides on it, or go for the local produce that is much more? Usually, I choose not to eat at all, and I'll pick the peanuts back up. I don't like the option I choose, but I live with it, and then the next time choose the local eggs for the higher price and savor every bite. Price is sometimes a concern. How price is determined is just another issue of very, very large problem of what farmers get or don't get, and what is and isn't being subsidized by our government.

So lack of choices, availability, and price, I guess have contributed to my now unhealthy diet. Personally, I can't wait to get back on track with some tasteful meals. Though I've eaten poorly, I must say, that we do get a little reprieve when our gracious hosts provide us with their delicious meals. As it seems when we are with others the meals are amazing, and maybe it's because of the conversation, I'll give it that, because that has been great, but I think more so, is that the food many times comes from their gardens or from their neighbors(such as the fresh eggs we have ate), local farms(such as Moody Meats-the bacon hamburger was delicious!), or local co-op(peanut thai soup is always a good option)where there is more availability.

The local movement, or trying to eat within a 100 mile radius, has gained quite a bit of speed, http://100milediet.org, and I was a little more hopeful prior to the trip, but as i've now been on the road for two months, the towns, government, businesses, and individuals, definitely still need to talk with each other in securing more local, healthy, tasteful options for consumers, and figuring out a way where it is comparable to the price of the gas station food product.


As for Andy and I, we just need to be invited to more dinners, I guess to get flavorful/healthy food, or mini marts, continue to bring on the sugary goodies that I continue to crave.:)

Here's just some websites on food and our choices that are enlightening:
http://www.appetiteforprofit.com/faqsonfoodpolitics.html
http://www.foodsecurity.org/
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/sa/
http://www.caff.org/

Two new photo galleries!

Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming Travels:
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071608/index.html

Yellowstone, Bozeman, Portland:
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/072108/index.html

Today we're in Portland, OR.

A lot has changed in the last week, as we've been travelling quickly, not by bike, and we've gone from way behind schedule to way ahead of it. We made some decisions - some compromises to make sure we could complete the leg of the trip from Portland to San Francisco, and now we're dealing with that fallout. Fallout in that our plans are changing pretty rapidly. We're forced to change tone from a bike ride from Indiana to San Fran, studying sustainability, to a trip across America, learning about sustainability. The multi-modal "trip" idea is less appealing to us, but our time constraints leave us with little choice than to do what we've done.

The time constraints are mostly mine, and that's caused some problems with our relationship. I've decided to start my MPA program this fall, so that puts a limit on the trip duration. We've worked out the complications that causes, but not all of the details that have to do with the program itself (like the mandatory orientation).

But the last week and a half we've been off the bikes, and now we find ourselves in Portland without them or our trailers. That's kind of a long story, but the condensed version is that we got a ride from Western Minnesota with my Dad in his RV. It's a 1970's era Dodge "Gladiator," which is a smaller RV based on a Dodge van.

He picked us up and we spent the better part of a week making a quick tour of West Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming. We saw a few national parks/monuments, toured Yellowstone, and then drove up to Bozeman, Montana. In Bozeman, we parted ways with my Dad and the trailers, taking a Greyhound Bus to Portland. Here in Portland, we've settled in with Melissa's sister Annah, her husband Tim and infant son Zaden. It's good to settle down for a bit after moving so much for the last 2 months.

I expect we'll be in the Portland area till Friday, when we'll drive to SolFest. SolFest is in John Day, OR, which is a 5 hour drive (or about a 5 day bike tour). We planned to pass it on our way, but we've overshot by arriving in Portland, and now we'll make a jaunt backward to interview folks at the festival. Then we'll head south on the bikes, assuming we have them at that point.

Our relationship is good now, and seems even stronger given how many issues we've dealt with over the course of this summer. A few people have asked us if things are ok, if we're still planning on getting married, etc. Things are still going ahead as planned, we're still in love and planning our life together. The only difference is that now we've been forced to confront all kinds of challenges that were going to come up someday anyway. We've just had to do it all in the span of 2 months.

I'm working on a picture gallery right now, but here's a great video of Matt Simmons, Peak Oil expert, on CNBC talking to the financial team. He's got it right, and his setting them straight is awesome to behold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkzETN8qfzw

Well, not that much more. A little news though.

We're in Buffalo, WY for the night, camping at an RV park. Tomorrow we'll likely be able to make it to Yellowstone, although there's a chance we'll camp outside the East entrance.

In two days or so we expect to be back on the bikes and in Idaho. We'll be scrambling to make up time as we go, and it will be a race of sorts, but I'm looking forward to it. It's been good to catch up with my dad and Buddy, but it will be good to be back on the bike again and making our own way.

I've got three days worth of picture galleries to share, and I've seen some really fun things the last few days. We've been taking it easy as far as looking for sustainability, but we've definitely been doing some tough thinking and seeing some inspiring places.

We also passed a huge coal region around Wright, WY, and one of the largest mining operations I've seen (it was right on the main road). We took some crazy pictures, but it was just amazing and inspiring, in a different way than Crazy Horse, to see how the mines had ravaged the land.

Wyoming is beautiful in a lot of different ways, and it changes every time you look up or go over a hill, it seems. Gouging huge surface mines into these hills seems like such a waste.

Without more comment, here are a few of my favorite pics from the last three days:

South Dakota from Madison to Ft. Thompson:
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071308/index.html

Badlands, Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Oreville, and Crazy Horse:
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071408/index.html

Crazy Horse (with better labels) and Wyoming:
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071508/index.html

We're in Wyoming now, having covered South Dakota in great time. Not much in the way of internet access though, so I'm just putting up some random thoughts I've been collecting over the last few days. I'm sure I'll edit them later.

We've been driving through the western end of them for the last half hour or so. Melissa is falling asleep at the computer. Buddy is closing his eyes and trying to ignore the bumpy road noises. Dad is sitting up front, looking back every so often. I'm not sure if he's looking to see what we're up to, how we're doing, or what.

The Badlands are pretty spectacular scenery, kind of like giant sandcastles out in the plains. It is such an odd contrast, and even on a hot day like today, they are oddly compelling.

Riding across the country was going slow, but now we are making great time. We will have covered South Dakota in just over three days, and hopefully we'll make similar time in Wyoming. It doesn't leave much time to enjoy the company or to find the stories like we would prefer, but it is getting us closer to Oregon and California, which seems to be Melissa's great concern now.

Well, her great concern outside of money. We're running out now pretty quickly, and I haven't been able to check my account for a few days to see how I'm doing. The Cash is low and we're dependent on the American Express to cover our expenses. We've got a couple of thousand left there to get us through, and hopefully we can make it. The whole country's financials seem to be in a mess, and I don't expect much help to come our way, so I guess we're pretty much on our own when my dad takes off. For now, we've got plenty of food and a place to stay the night in the camper. When he leaves us around Yellowstone, we'll be on our own again and we'll need to re-evaluate what we have going for us.

... We're nearing Rapid City now, and I'm going to get off.

... Just got back from Crazy Horse. In the last 24 hours we saw Mt Rushmore, camped at somewhere called Oreville, and drove through the Black Hills to Crazy Horse Monument. Oreville was a nice campsite, and we had a crisp, clear morning to wake us today. The Black Hills are lovely country, serene and powerful in the background.

Rushmore has a new visitor center and lodge, made of stone and filled with people. The monument is impressive, as is the vision of the sculptor, who wanted to leave a lasting lesson on Democracy to people still to come. It is interesting how only the hagiographic part of the monument was finished, and never the parts that would really be a testament to why we honor these men and what legacy they left us.

It's really a shame that even in the Visitor's center, there isn't a good distillation of who the Presidents on the monument were, or what they meant for our country. We watched an older video narrated by Tom Brokaw about the making of the monument, but there were only short snippets about each President. It was mostly a celebration of making the monument itself, and not an explanation of what we should learn from the men on it.

In sharp contrast, the Crazy Horse museum and video really accentuate what Crazy Horse stood for, why he was important to the Lakota, and really serves as a celebration of Indian Culture and heritage. There was very little in Rushmore's Visitor Center that didn't pertain directly to the making of Rushmore or its appearances in pop culture. Where are the descriptions of American History that was shaped by these 4 men? Where are the overviews of what it means to celebrate living in America and to enjoy the legacy that was left to us by our forefathers.

Crazy Horse is a part of my legacy as a white American that makes me pretty cynical about how much the ideals put forth by our forefathers really counts for. My forefathers killed, stole and betrayed the native americans until they were a marginalized and powerless group. Crazy Horse fought against it, and was stabbed in the back under a truce flag. That's my legacy.

It's pretty sad really, how little we are taught about any of the substantial parts of our history, and this plays a huge role in how we allow ourselves to still act as a nation.

We are here in Wright, WY, as we've sped through South Dakota, at a parking lot deciding if we want to talk with someone about renewable energy. As according to the Billlings Gazette in 2007, the town council approved a program to fund all of its' municpal energy using renewable energies, reducing it's annual carbon emissions by 345 tons. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/07/04/news/wyoming/25-coal.txt
This is a unique area as it is one of the largest producers of coal in the nation, and this was evident as we passed Black Thunder Mine. On both sides of us were massive digs taking place. Four train tracks and hundreds of coal carts where riding to the east, as empty train carts were coming from the west. I had never seen such a large production, so it was even more exciting to hear that the town is looking at ways to offset their carbon emissions. We'll keep you informed as we try to talk with someone from the city.

Outside of tracking down coal mines, we also checked out the famous monuments in the area, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. Always a great history lesson to be learned when going through these areas. One has to be on their toes though, as propaganda tends to seep through.




We also checked out the original green house in South Dakota, right outside of the Badlands. For over 100years, through harsh winters and windy summers, the sodhouse has been intact. Though a (little) dirty on the floors and side walls, the temperature was noticeably cooler, plus they they had a great example of rooftop gardens. Though I wouldn't want to live in the house, we could probably learn a thing or too in temperture control and resource use.
And now we are on our way to Yellowstone. Hopefully, we'll have more opportunities with the wifi as it has been difficult to find out here in the prairie. What would Laura Ingalls do?

Problem: My shoulder feels broken.
Solution: I rested for a day, now it is only sore. Hopefully in a few more days it will heal whatever was ailing it.

Problem: My laptop's power supply won't turn on.
Solution: Yet to be solved, but doing everything as fast as I can so that I can squeak out a little more productivity on my fading battery.

Problem: No time to post.
Solution: Pictures. I'll write more later.

Problem: We're a good month behind schedule.
Solution: My dad's giving us a ride for a bit in his RV. Trailers and all. Trying to make up ground, camping, and getting some family time all at once. Good speed. Maybe we can catch up, maybe not. Gas is crazy expensive.

Problem: SPEA says orientation is mandatory. It falls in the same week as Annah's wedding.
Solution: I have no idea.

We cooled off, in the Gladiator 1970s RV, from a rather sticky, humid 100mile drive to Marsall, as Andy prepared yesterday's random dinner. A mix of ramon noodles, black and corn salsa, butterbeans, and canned corn filled my stomach. This smorgsboard would have been the perfect high protein diet we needed had we were biking, however, yesteday, we nixed the bikes for a couple of days to join up with Andy's dad, Bill, and dog, Buddy. He's taking a similar path, tracing some of the Lewis and Clarks trail, and we decided to join him to catch up on time, enjoy the company, and explore a little of our journeys together.

As a side note: Andy and I had discussed weeks ago, as Andy had to now get back to school, if biking or the story about sustainability was more important. Though I wanted to ride across the country completely on bike, I favored getting the story instead, as did he. So yesterday, getting into the RV, was the first day of clearly taking action to make sure we can get to the west in time, while documenting the sustainable story that thankfully, and much to my surprise proliferates in the nation. However, I can't say I particularly enjoyed the RV sleep, as it was an exhaustive evening of killing mosquitoes(see previous videos for loathing), getting bit in mouth(see Andy's pics for a great picture of my lip-I've found a natural way for botox), and getting overheated as I had to wrap blankets all over my body so there would be no way for the little pests to touch any part of my body. My face, body, legs were all covered, so naturally I sweat the whole evening. Though the evening was less then desirable, we've had a pleasant day riding and checking out the sights from Pipestone State Park. This an area were the Sioux Indians mined pipestone for their ceremonial pipes. It's a beautiful, tranquil place, with a nature walk, carvers cutting the stone into figurines like the picture above details, and a refreshing falls. We walked around for a bit, and absorbed the words at the interpretive center. Here's a couple of flower pictures from our walk.

Though the below is a little hard to read and fuzzy, it did make me stop and reflect about our relationship with nature when we are or aren't in it. This was also in Pipestone.

After a rousing night of karaoke, where surely I have found my calling to becoming the next star, Andy and I spent much of the afternoon catching up on the latest news at the local coffeeshop, Diamonds. In particular, I found an informative news journal detailing woman's stories in Minneapolis. They covered articles about death and dignity, woman leaders making an impact in the community, health options, and a section that provides latest news that we all should ponder. http://www.womenspress.com/

The one that made my jaw drop, and swear out loud was my first reading of Purity Balls. This is where young girls, of all ages attend a decadent ball with their fathers to affirm their abstinence before marriage. In one of the rituals that the NY times covered, the graying fathers holding their daughters hand pledged “before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity.” After prayers, dance, food, and bonding, the basic message was that girls' need to stay pure before getting married.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/19purity.html http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/19/us/0519-PURITY_index.html

I'm all for promoting the option of abstinence for females if that is what they choose, and I'm all for dad/daughter bonding, but I'm even more in favor of empowering females to have respect, courage, understanding about themselves and their bodies and mind that when faced with inevitable situations that they are confident in their choices and have all the information in their heads to make an emotional, intelligent decision. Thinking that a dance and some verbal rituals/affirmations, as well as only promoting abstinence-only programs, will curb sex until marriage is overall unhealthy and irresponsible as stds continue to rise, and as unwanted pregnancies and abortion still exist at a young age, and as stats suggest that people are marrying much later, and people are having sex much earlier. As other methods of sex education, such as protection, choices, self-respect, are being lost or not talked about, and studies are showing that the abstinence programs aren't working, though they are still getting huge amounts of funding, what effect does this have this have on our society?

As Andy and I travel across country, I'm strangely coming across more and more readings about these asinine programs, bills, and actions in place, and am outraged. I'm indignant as there are many people who though, I want to believe, mean well, yet are debilitating our females and males from making thoughtful and reflective choices. When talking about sustainability, we think of environment, what we eat, our urban design, but our health is right up there, and when there are programs in place limiting choices and putting value on mainly purity and the constant need for approval, through fear based teaching, frankly I find it determental at advancing a sustainable world.

I understand that the topic, or conversation, of sex is still very taboo, even if ironically it's marketed to us everywhere, however, we need to openly talk about it more, especially when it's uncomfortable. We need to figure out ways to provide open space and respect for honest conversation on what is on going, and we need to provide them with the intellectual/emotional tools that empower them.

Really, no more virginity balls, please.

After I get through with this trip, I may have to research further our current state of sex education, however, in the meantime check out some sites that provide reports on the effectiveness(lack of)of some of the programs. http://www.legalmomentum.org/site/DocServer/SexLies_Stereotypes2008.pdf?docID=1001
http://www.nomoremoney.org/reality.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-04-15-sex-education-grants_n.htm




So I ranted and raved for awhile at the coffeeshop with Andy and then have been trying to figure out my involvement in all this nonsense. I'm still formulating, as I love all the different aspects of what one could do, does do at working toward a more sustainable environment for the family, community, nation, and world. What I am realizing, is that it doesn't really make a difference what path you choose, as it is the individual who utilizes their strengths and preferences that achieves their goals. So if the goal is to create a more sustainable world, yes, that's a broad one, then we need to align our goals with action, not just words. The twenty, or so, people we have already interviewed have proved that action produces some very positive results. Though they have different professions, from urban designer and small-large business owner to farmer and city planner with different passions, ideas, and thoughts, they are working on sustainable methods just in a different way through their committed and long term actions.




Shifting topics: other then drinking lots of coffee in this town, Andy and I also have had time riding the paths, and I must say, the signage is easy to follow. It's actually fun riding through congested downtown during rush hour, and I have been able to see more at the slower pace we are going, then had we been traveling in a car. It's helped that our interviews with Peace Coffee and Minneapolis Project have been in different areas.

Getting to Peace Coffee a couple days ago, we road the path most of the way there, and ended up having a great time learning about coffee, their vision, and how they make their choices to be as sustainable as possible, as they could easily expand to other markets, however, for sake of freshness and footprint, they stay committed at serving their region.
http://www.peacecoffee.com/home.htm
Or another example is they distribute their coffee by bike and biodiesel van, even through the cold mn winters.

Also, for this year alone they have collaborated with over 100different events that match their interests, many times with a social change and empowerment message. And probably the most effective/sustainable decision they made right from the beginning, was that they were going to provide a fair wage to their southern partners, and actually were one of the firsts to promote and produce fair trade coffee.

After getting the scoop on Peace Coffee, and feeling caffeinated with their Twin Cities blend, Andy and I biked up north, passing the beautiful buildings, that clearly indicated some sort of past milling industry, as the river was lined with these sort of silos below.



After passing the silos, new buildings, and strange looking power lines, we headed back to the Hennapin bridge, and got a better view of the Grain Belt Beer sign. Our first taste was back in Prairie du Chien, so it was a warm welcome when we first arrived in to Minneapolis.





We ended the evening, with yet again vibrant conversation with Jeremy and Jenna our lovely hosts and tried to catch up on some of our webstuff. The next morning, we secured a meeting with the Minnasota Project. They are working on Agriculture, energy, and Food issues, with some great programs such as CERTS(Clean Energy Resource Teams) and the Heartland Food Network, building stronger local economies and connecting people with resources.
http://www.mnproject.org/
As we found out from Dan Theide, Energy Project Coordinator, they even provided a small grant for our friends down in Northfield, the ARTech solar project we wrote about a week ago. Small little world indeed.
We also talked with Rebecca Baumann, new Executive Director about the overall mission, challenges, partnerships, and had a great insight as she reaffirmed at this point in time, that agriculture, energy, and food issues are now strongly effecting each other. It's interesting, because in the past we could or have been focusing on them as separate entities, however, it's clear with peak oil that we now need to work together on all the issues as they are intricately linked. In addition, she also talked about food policy and how they are trying to figure ways to get resources to each other, such as food from farmers to chefs and distributors.

As we said our goodbyes, our final stop for the day was at Cupcake. We had passed the 3-dimensional sign on our way to the Minnesota Project, and I was intrigued. So when we were approaching it on our way back up, it seemed inevitable to stop. They had dozens of delectable cupcakes to choose from and I decided for the Boston Cream cupcake and ice coffee. Even when I look at the picture now, I salivate over some sugary goodness. Folks, my diet since being on this trip consists of sugar, and more sugar, and though one would think I've lost weight, I make it up in eating junk, delicious food!

We read some more, and headed back north.

Woke up this morning and my right shoulder is killing me. When I first got up I couldn't raise my arm above parallel to the ground without pain. Now I can't raise or straighten it without feeling a jab of pain in my shoulder.

Can't think of anything that happened yesterday that would cause shoulder pain now, but it's hard to tell what could have happened, including just sleeping on it wrong. Even just typing now with my arm down at my side, there's a dull pain like someone is pushing on a pressure point right in my shoulder joint.

Fun times. Hopefully a bit of alleve and a little rest will make things better. We got some insurance before we started, but there's like a $3000 deductible, so I really don't want to go get this checked out since it doesn't feel like a break.

I'll start by saying that I like Minneapolis. It is bikeable, has good public art on display, and seems like a generally friendly place for a large metropolitan area. There's decent food, lots of parks, and good green initiatives going on. Good stuff. They even have a light rail line that's pretty nice and a decent airport.

So it's been no surprise that our stay here has been a pleasure. We've met some good people doing good work, and I've enjoyed learning about some of the projects that are going on here.

The first such project we visited was the site/business of QBP. They seem to be a great company and their facility is top-notch. Melissa and I wrote a bit about them a few days ago.

Yesterday we spent some time over at Peace Coffee, a coffee-roaster that is all Fair Trade and Organic, that delivers throughout the midwest.


70% of their business is in Minnesota, but they even have coffee as far away as Bloomington, IN (Bloomingfoods and Wandering Turtle carry it). Their operation is pretty awesome, from their sourcing of Fair Trade beans through Cooperative Coffees to their deliveries by bicycle or biodiesel van. We got to tour their roasting and packaging facility and interview one of their delivery riders.

It was great to see them in action and talk to the folks there, and see once again that you can make a positive difference and have a solid business at the same time.

To be simplistic about fair trade here, it's just the right thing to do. It makes sense to try and create markets where everyone gets paid a fair amount for their labor. If people can't survive on what they are paid, then we should make a conscious effort to alter the market to allow that to happen. Whether that happens through trade agreements, wage laws, government-set commodity prices or consumer-led fair-trade doesn't much matter to me, but farmers who are producing food/drink for people around the world deserve to live at a decent standard.

I'll mention a couple of other things about our trip out to Peace Coffee: 1) great transportation options here in the Cities. We biked a good portion of the way to their office on a bike/ped trail that ran parallel to their light rail line.


It's great to see safe routes for bikers and pedestrians, and the integration of these three great options for transportation is fantastic to see. I did comment to Melissa though that there's so many bikers here in the Cities that it seems like some of the camaraderie is lost. Back home bikers are still uncommon enough that when you see each other waves, hellos and smiles come out pretty often. There's just a comfort that comes from being part of this small community of bikers among the great numbers of drivers. It seems like there are so many bikers here that most don't really care much when they see another biker, and I don't feel any sense of shared struggle/community. Of course, maybe it just gets that way because it's dangerous to be waving all of the time when you are trying to ride your bike.

Finally, I want to note some of the great public art we saw out while we were traveling to Peace Coffee and back.



The murals here are tremendous and abundant. The last one especially got me, because it is otherwise a really ugly industrial building for the Metro, but the mural insets really make the building come alive.

I think murals/public art are becoming a real passion of mine. There are a few good ones in Bloomington, but there are also a huge number of walls and buildings that could use a new look. I hope when we get back that bringing more public art to Bloomington in the form of Murals is something we can accomplish.

Finally got up a couple of new short videos, and I think they are winners. :)

http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/shortvid.html

It's a bit warm in the commodious converted warehouse. Now a quirky coffeeshop, I sit on the hard wooden chair trying to write and figure out our itinerary for tomorrow in Minneapolis. Surprisingly, this is my first time in the green city, and I want to obtain the little known ecostory, but I also want to have a bit of time to explore the city as the sculpture garden keeps catching my eye when I look at the detailed tourist map.

Thus far, it's been a relaxing weekend, as we finally made it to the city of Minneapolis. After biking probably 20miles, with many detours, we were greeted by my old friend from highschool, Jeremy, and his wife, Jenna, who are graciously hosting us for the next couple of days. As we spent a pleasant evening on their comfortable backyard sitting area(definitely having one when we get back) drinking my all time favorite meal of wine, cheese, and bread, we caught up and then decided to end the evening with some songs at the karaoke bars.

We'll have to download our vid clips in the next couple of days so you can hear my out of tune, yet crowd rousing song of "last train to clarksville", by my all time favorite the Monkees. Andy just looked over at me, and even exclaimed that it's a sure winner. Stay tuned for those. In the meantime, here's a the latest pictures from the last couple of days.

http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/070608m

After Andy's recent post, you'll find my thoughts about our relationship and where we are at further down. I actually started my post before him, it's just taken me a couple more days to finish my draft, so the blog placed it the day I started it. If that makes since.:)

Yesterday we got up a bit late and rode into Minnneapolis proper. We got about 3 miles from the hotel before we saw a Caribou Coffee and decided to stop and blog for a bit. Blogging was productive, but it still felt like a bit of a time sink. It seems like anytime we don't do an impossibly large amount of work we feel like we didn't do enough.

After spending a couple of hours sipping coffee, reading news and writing, we moved back out onto the road. But we got sidetracked at a Jimmy Johns for lunch, and then we ended up talking for another hour or so about the future and our recent relationship situation. Good talk.

This is kind of the way it goes for us, it seems. We take longer to do everything than expected, partly because we don't have real deadlines, partly because the two of us can talk to each other for hours without any effort. We're dreamers and when we start bouncing ideas around, it can get a little crazy.

But we did eventually get back on the bikes and head towards downtown. There's a great chain of lakes along the west of downtown Minneapolis, and they have biking and walking paths all around them, as well as a ring of forest. It's really a great resource for the people who live here, and there were lots of active, happy people hanging out along our ride.

As we got into the city, we lost our direction for a while and wandered about, but we saw some great sights that we loved, including this mural:


And their awesome art museum:

And this one's for Marty:

Finally we got to Jeremy's place. It was honestly big enough that we thought he and his wife much just have an apartment in it, but amazingly they have a huge, 3 story brick house near downtown in Minneapolis. It's got a great vibe inside and out, in no small part due to his oil paintings that are scattered throughout the house. The outdoor sitting area/fire pit is also a great feature, and one that Melissa and I are sure to try and include when we get our own place.


Jeremy and Jenna also took us out for a night on the town, including Karaoke and many more drinks than bikers should imbibe. But we knew we were having a rest day today, so we didn't sweat it too much. Melissa gave a rousing rendition of Last Train to Clarksville, and I sang some Fire and Rain. Good times. We also heard a spot-on rendition of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" from a 50-ish year old bald white man. Awesome.


Today, our hosts introduced us to this great tiki-theme eatery and bar, and we've been sitting in an overheated art studio/cafe near their place blogging, talking and thinking. That's my favorite thing to do lately: thinking. I've learned and seen so much on the trip, I really can't wait to have some solid reflective time to write down all of my thoughts on this whole thing.

I'm sitting here in a Caribou Coffee within sighting distance of Best Buy corporate headquarters. My power supply is failing for my computer, which might be something of a disaster if we end up with a 10-pound computer that won't run anymore.

Took a slow day today for the holiday, and it was worth it, mostly. We came in pretty late the last couple of nights, and I think we're getting a little worn down from the trip. Mostly mentally. There are lots of things going through our heads now, and some of the momentum from the trip itself seems to have waned. We're still thrilled with the people we are meeting and what we're doing, but there never seems to be time to breathe, and I think both of us could use a break from each other at this point.

But we used today to get back on the same page. We've been stressing over a lot: what we're doing for the wedding and when it will happen, what our timeline is looking like (bad), how our bank account is looking (bad), and what Melissa is going to do with herself (or with me) when the trip is over with. The last one seems to weigh most heavily fairly often. I think that before I got into grad school it was kind of up in the air what both of us were doing, but we were going to try and do it together.

Since I got into school, that dynamic has changed. Ultimately, going back to school is a project I'm doing on my own. If Melissa and I decide to do joint projects in the fall, they will have to compete for my time and energy. I think to begin with that bothered her a lot because I made the decision to go back to school for sure. Now she seems resigned to doing her own thing and both of us doing something smaller with each other on the side of our main projects. I think that bothers her because she thought we'd be doing our next phase in life together, and she's not thrilled with the idea of doing it on different paths. She's struggling to figure out what that's going to be. She comes up with good ideas every day, but she hasn't settled on one yet, and I'm not sure how long it will be till she does.

I'm not really sure that this relationship is exactly what she wants anymore either, given that I think a big part that she really wanted was to be working together in the future. I don't think that has been ruled out as a possibility yet, but if I'm in school I'll certainly have lots of pressure on my time. I love her and want to have a life where we work closely together, but we're starting off in different paths in the fall when I go into school. We both want to work on similar issues, but I think the way we approach them is different. We'll keep trying to work things out.

In any case, there's some stress on us and our relationship now that we needed to have some time to deal with. We're lucky the holiday came along when it did.

So we spent a long morning just talking things through, then we caught a shuttle from the hotel to the Mall of America on our way to Taste of Minnesota.


We had to walk through and hang around MoA for a bit to get a bus to St Paul, and MoA is a bit crazy. Huge mall, big enough to have an amusement park inside. But there's just a level of pervasive consumerism that jars us. I wasn't very comfortable inside, and the crazy amounts of money that they want for practically everything seems at odds with the economic reality I'm living in.


After we got the bus to St Paul, we rode downtown along the river. One great thing about the twin cities is the forest lands that closely border them, and even weave through them. I suppose they are hard to develop on, but there are also lots of park lands within the greater metro area, and the wooded cover in the distance is a calming influence.


But apparently not calming enough for some. When we arrived at Taste of Minnesota, we crossed a long bridge that had been converted for the day to a footbridge. As we neared the opposite end, people walking the other way warned that there was a fight ahead. Then people started shouting and running to the side of the bridge to look over the side.

It's pretty amazing in groups how quickly the mob mentality takes over. Despite our lofty ideals trying to tell us to not pay attention to such things as a looming streetfight, Melissa and I both felt impelled to go to the railing and check out what was happening. It turned out that not much was going on by the time we started watching, with the police/security having arrived shortly before. Just some people shoving and yelling at each other, and other people who were probably the principals involved quickly dispersing into the crowds.

When things died down, Melissa and I kept walking into the festival. It was a huge crush of people going into what turned out to be little more than a typical traveling carnival atmosphere. There was a bit more live music than normal, but otherwise it was just your typical inflated fun houses, carnival rides and crappy fried foods. I was expecting Taste of Minnesota to be an event where the fine eateries of the twin cities got together to show off their specialties. Not so much.


Featured eateries included the mini donut factory (there were two of them, even), Poncho Dogs, Falafel King, and some place selling Mexican Corn and Tamales. There were funnel cakes, caramel apples, cheese curds and pickles on a stick. Overall, when I came expecting cuisine, fair food was pretty disappointing. To be fair though, the Mini Donuts were pretty amazing.

Then there was the Ford vehicle demo area. They were having quizzes to win Ford merchandise and had lots of multimedia "fun" going on. But there were certain things that really caught our eyes. Greenwashing is something we're pretty sensitive to these days. So this is the main part of the Ford display, also part of their website that I linked above:

If you can't read the little subtitles on the bubbles on the right, they say "Drive Quality, Drive Green, Drive Safe, Drive Smart." The Drive Smart symbol is a CFL bulb. That's some serious nerve on the greenwashing front.

Ford has exactly two cars that gets over 30mpg in their 2008 lineup. It's the Ford Focus, and it gets exactly 35mpg. They have one hybrid, and it is an SUV that gets 34 mpg. The notion that somehow this lineup of 18 consumer cars is "Green" is laughable. This was one of my favorite pieces of propaganda:

Yes, you too can drive a "Green" car that gets 20 miles-per-gallon in the city! Goodbye gas crisis!

Honestly, we couldn't even stomach the idea of staying the three hours that it was going to be before the fireworks started. So Melissa and I went back to wait for the bus:


Happy to be away from it all, just like Lucy and Simon (well, except for the brother-sister thing). Oh, and no kidding here, the official site of Peanuts is being blocked by the firewall here at Caribou. I guess they are afraid of the Red Baron:

Quick note here:

California regulators admitted Thursday that for more than a year they didn't even try to enforce a million-dollar fine against health insurer Anthem Blue Cross because it feared they would be outgunned in court.

In early 2007, the Department of Managed Health Care pledged to fine the state's largest insurer for "routinely rescinding health insurance policies in violation of state law."

But they never did.

That's from this AP article. Basically, Anthem/Blue Cross has so many violations where they decided not to honor an insurance contract that the state decided pursuing them was hopeless. There were almost 1,800 violations in the last four years, and the state is afraid they'd all be tied up in court forever.

I'd put this down as one more reason why I support universal health care.

Happy 4th! Today, we are still in Bloomington, MN getting caught up with webstuff and even more importantly each other, as Andy and I haven't been connecting so much lately. For me it stems from a big change in our dynamic. This past month Andy was accepted into the Masters program at IU for Sustainability, and though we were anticipating that to happen, we've also discussed our future together as working together on the same major projects, such as starting businesses or continuing our media endeveavors, all of which takes up energy and time.

Since he was accepted, I've been anxious and a little worried on the future, because I've been through this route before. With past loves, some of the reason why those relationships didn't work was because of time, or competing for time and energy, as well as us not being on the same page because we weren't working for the same thing. Anyone who has been in a relationship knows that time is an issue, and when work or school takes you away from the relationship or family something gets missed or pushed aside as less of a priority. It's inevitable.

From a philosophical perspective I find it interesting to ask what are our priorities, and why are they our priorities, and if we have priorities, why do our actions indicate something else? Are our priorities aligned with our actions? Many times my actions haven't been, and likewise for my significant others, so I understand it is always a work in progress, and that we are always compromising and working on creating as little suffering for ourselves and others as possible.

Personally, I want everyone I know to reach their truest potential(see mural picture for inspiration), and that includes Andy on his new phase of school and the future after he is done with school. I've just been adjusting to the new focus, or shift in both our lives and am accepting that we can't predict the path or how life is going to unfold. It just threw me and left me to process the meaning of my new phase now without him as he deals with new prioritizes and how we now are going to pursue our lives. So, I am back at figuring my phase solo, which makes sense if I too want to reach my truest potential. It's just what I wasn't expecting so quickly into the relationship.

I started to write the above the same time Andy posted his a couple of days ago, and now July 6th, we've had supportive, open conversations about fears, past patterns, and we also spoke to how we saw our lives together in the future, getting down to what it could look like, and are we actually thinking similarly....... I guess this is why religions have pre-martial work sessions. We are just getting these sessions 24/7 riding a bike across the country. ;)

Overall, it actually has been a great process, even though it is consuming and tiring. We even used a tool we received from our new friend Liz, in Decorah, who gave us some helpful advice that when something isn't quite right the best thing to do is to say the thing that you most don't want to say. Though it's hard sometimes to be completely honest, I think these past couple of days have allowed both of us to express our true thoughts and in that process we are clearer and assumptions have been corrected.

When I look at Andy across this table, I am indeed fortunate I've found a person who does look at life with similar curiosity, and with positive cynicism, and we both are trying to commitment to making the world a better place. In addition, we have all the normal relationship qualities one would seem to have when being committed to each other: first and foremost love and respect, we enjoy similar things, have a good time together, can be thoughtful and serious, provide the space for expression, are sexually compatible, and we can see creating a sustainable future together. Lastly, as these past couple of days have proved, I actually am committed to working through those rough times, which I'll admit wasn't my strong suit in the past.

I just had to shift my way of thinking this month, but I feel am even more committed to making it work.

I was inspired by the 11th grader from ARTech, Kaya. She was specific, knowledgeable, ambitious, and a true fire starter, when it came to getting things accomplished. She along with 10 other students, with advisers to boot, came up and followed through with an ambitious project to obtain solar arrays and provide the school with a bit more energy in the coming years. In a little under six months, they accomplished this task by going through the ups and downs of unexpected challenges, raising over $20,000, negotiating necessary items, figuring the specs, and, what I personally felt after the interview, utilized and cultivated their different skills. Basically they had an idea and made it happen. This notion seems very easy, yet, year after year I fail to realize the basic concept in my life, as I have yet to follow through with yoga, get more involved with the community, and cook more meals for friends, and even when I look back at my high school career thinking of the grandiose things I tried, I know I failed on that whole follow through business. Great ideas I had, but the action was definitely lacking.

So nonetheless, I was inspired by the interview, with Kaya, and the ARTech staff, Joe Pahr, the teacher who helped on the project and who made our two days in Northfield eventful, and Simon, the new director of the charter school, now in its fifth successful year and who also invited us into his home for the night. Overall, ARTtech emphasis project based learning, and the results of their energy project, as they put in their solar arrays up next week, clearly showed what one idea can do. We'll have to stay in touch with them as their next idea is to get more energy from a wind turbine. Check out the school at: http://artech.k12.mn.us/

Now fast forwarding to the next day after staying with Simon and his family, Vicki, Miles, Matthew, and Jordan.

So, I was a little groggy getting up from the wood floor at Simon's farmhouse, as I heard someone stirring in the kitchen turning on the dishwashing machine at 7 in the morning. I looked over at Andy, and he two looked a bit tired. AFter our internal clock of 7 goes off as well, we begin our day with a mighty fine good cup of joe.

After talking with Simon, before he left for ARTech, I continued to putz around reading my Green Minnosota guidebook that I recently purchased from the co-op and a chapter on peak oil by Shuster. This particular morning, our kind chef, Miles, the 9th grader on the right in the picture, offered to make us fresh eggs from their laying hens and some toast. How could we refuse such a kind offer? So we spent our morning chatting with the family, eating, and being a bit lazy. I even played a little on the piano.

12 o'clock went by, then 1:00, and at 2:00 we finally we got a meeting set-up by 2:00 from Bloomington, MN Quality Bicycle Product. We were to meet them at 5:00, as they closed at 6:00.This meant we now had to leave rather quickly, with little chance of a break. Yeah! So we said our goodbyes, and somewhat sluggishly started our afternoon ride.

After 35miles of biking north from Northfield, and an hour being late of our appointment, Anne and Jason were ready to meet us for our Quality Bicycle Product tour. I had briefly checked out their website before traveling and saw that they seemed committed to sustainability though I didn't know the extent. I learned that the list is very large as to what they have already implemented, such as their LEED certified building, raingarden, rooftop solar panels, composting program, incentive program to ride to work, also rather then using plastic ware, they use silverware made of potatoes, which is then composted(they even have worms on site), they also have worked with their overseas vendors to reduce waste(those yellow ties you would see with stacks of newspaper), saving some over $50,000 a year, in addition, as Anne excitedly would talk about, they have a program that works on advocacy, community, and environment(ACE) where the employees come up with ideas and action for community projects, such as http://www.tripsforkids.org/national/start.htm or their involvment with
http://www.qbp.com/pdf/QBP_2.20.08.pdf. All the while the business model basically relies on trust and collective ingenuity. What an idea! Also, the culture they have created promotes sustainability at all levels, and, AND there is a constant process of evaluation on what needs to change or improve to make the business more sustainable, and workplace and products better, with suggestions many times coming from the employees; incentives are attached to implemented ideas. It's no wonder Anne melodiously expressed how proud she is to work at QBP.

This unexpected tour was indeed welcoming and made me want to move to Bloomington, MN and work for them. I love the fact they embrace innovation and change, oh, and trust. I've been in enough sectors to know this doesn't exist throughout the job market scene. It's my hope that entities are changing toward these successful models, as Jason pointed out the high retention rate, plus the overall success of their profits.

This is a company that promotes creativity and is truly working toward helping sustainable projects and programs to benefit the community. AFter leaving Quality Bicycle Product, it gives me hope to how businesses could restructure their systems, if they go back to not only thinking of the product, but the people, and space that produce the product. Definitely check them out at: http://www.qbp.com/

Lots of work to do with getting things updated, but we're going to take some time and enjoy the holiday in Minneapolis/St Paul. A few pics and impressions:

1) We spent the better part of a day in Northfield kind of catching our breath, trying to blog but really just reading news and feeling apprehensive about our future. Melissa didn't want to blog:

2) ARTech's director, Simon offered for us to stay at his farm north of town since it was on our way. We took him up and rode off from Northfield, into the sunset:



3) After a great night and morning meeting his wife and family (and talking to people who know soccer), we had some goodbye hugs and set off for Bloomington, MN:

4) Where we found Quality Bicycle Products, a real model of a company. They really impressed me both in the strides they are making in sustainability, but also in the way they operate as a company. They put a great amount of trust in their employees, and they allow the input of everyone in the company to help make improvements on a constant basis. I really got a great vibe from them, and I wish them all the best. They also have a great sculpture of a biker on their warehouse wall, and their whole facility is top-notch:

We've given ourselves some time this afternoon to take a breath. Sitting in this coffee house called The Hideaway in Northfield, I've alternated between blogging, making arrangements (or trying to anyway) with SPEA for school this fall, working on our short video pages, and reading a bit of news.

I keep getting drawn back to the news. Not the presidential campaign fluff. Not the latest on 90210 (that show still exists?). Not even the notion that heat waves will be even hotter by 2100. I'll be dead and gone by then, but the temperature shift should be absurdly obvious to anyone paying even the most minimal attention to global warming.

What keeps me reading is the news about the economic meltdown that we're in the midst of in the US. The though