Alright so it has been awhile, and many of you probably think we've somewhat dropped off and are unsure if we will continue on. Well fear not, as there is still plenty more to do and report on, as the world's problems unfortunately haven't been solved while we were out on the road. Damn it. As for our experience, now we are in the fun part of the project, right?(this summer was work...thank goodness for the great and gracious people we met along the way to inspire and continue to motivate us). Now we need to put all our knowledge, story, and footage into a documentary to continue to motivate ourselves and others. In addition, we will continue to report on our progress with the documentary, and also on how we are going to figure out the sustainable projects we want to take on in the city, school, and on our future homestead. Lastly, we want to continue to do interviews with people now in our Indiana region, with the prospect of also reaching into KY, IL, MI, and OH . It maybe by bike, or train, bus(maybe not the greyhound), foot, and car.....nonetheless, the adventure continues!

As a side note, I just wanted to acknowledge that we didn't that great of a job responding to all the emails on the road, and we apologize and express our deepest thanks. Trust us, you were definitely in our minds and hearts, and we appreciated the words and sincerely are grateful. Nonetheless, we will to get reconnected with in you, as it's important to continue the dialog and action, and to keep up with our new and longstanding friendships. Thank you again and you bet if you are ever in BLoomington, look us up. We have a lot of karma to give back.

Also, for this new phase if you do post on our blog, we will respond in our next post with our comments as we figure out ways to make this more interactive.

We'll keep you posted and stay tuned.......

So the end of our summer has come, and we've finally been apart for almost 24 hours now. Melissa took off for Annah's Bachelorette party, and I was supposed to fly out of Portland this morning so that I could get back to Bloomington in time for orientation.

I got up at 4am to start my day. My plan was to call a taxi to get to the airport, as bus/tram service doesn't start early enough on the line Annah lives near. So I called the cab company with no answer. Three times I called between 4 and 4:30, and never got an answer. So I decided I'd walk over to MLK blvd and get the early bus that went to the tram.

That seemed to work ok, even though I don't really care for walking through the city in the dead of night with no one around except homeless folks and cats. But I got the bus and all seemed to be going well.

A few stops down, we picked up a dreadlocked guy who was keeping himself occupied by staring at his ticket through a cardboard tube. That was ok until he started stumbling around the bus while doing it. After he wandered around the bus for a while, the driver pulled over and told him to get off the bus. Well, the guy didn't understand English so well. I'm not clear on how well he understood it sober, but he definitely didn't get it in his condition this morning.

In any case, the driver ended up getting up, yelling at the guy, then calling the police to get the guy off when Mr. Tube didn't get the hint. For a while, the driver, the safety guy and myself (the only other passenger) just hung out on the side of the road while our companion entertained himself on the bus. Before the police arrived, but using up enough time that I missed my tram, the drunkard/druggie stumbled off the bus and started talking to me about smoking. The impression I got was that he was too drunk to know his lighter from his keys, or something like that. While he was thus distracted talking to me, the driver and safety rider jumped back on the bus. I said something peremptory to the man, probably no more intelligible than most of what he was telling me, and quickly got back on the bus myself, whereupon the driver closed the door and called back to tell the police he was leaving the guy on the curb of whatever road we were on.

It was an interesting incident, though not interesting enough to justify me being late for my plane, which is what happened.

The long and the short of it is that I got off the light rail at 6:23am, my plane left moments before 7am, and by the time I even got to the counter, they had given my seat to someone else. We worked that out, but by the time I got through security, they had uncoupled the plane and started the takeoff procedure. I was told I could get on the next connecting flight to Salt Lake City, but it would be $50 (a sum that I didn't have). I asked if they could type a credit card number into the computer, and they said no, but I could call and perhaps pay over the phone. I asked to talk to a manager, who was entirely unsympathetic and gave me their customer service number so that I could talk to someone and work it out.

She didn't mention that the Customer Service line is only open Monday through Friday. I wasn't impressed. So I called their online booking agent, who is open 24-7, and tried to pay them $50 that I didn't want to pay. After explaining the whole situation to the folks on the phone, they said they couldn't help me because even though I was flying on a Delta plane, it had been booked through NorthWest. So they cancelled the remaining part of my flight and gave me NWA's number. What fun!

At that point, I was stuck in Portland International Airport with $20.50 in my pocket, no money in my checking account (I took it all out to give to Melissa so she'd have some cash while I was back in Bloomington for the week), and no ticket. I decided to go back through the security barrier to try and get on the standby list.

Unfortunately, I was informed that there were 3 people in front of me and regardless, it was $25 to get put on the list. If I wanted to pay $100 I could get a confirmed seat, but they also didn't accept any payment except a swiped card or cash. So I tried to call NWA on the phone and book, but they said that the only seat I could get was a $1200 upgrade from my old one. Umm... no chance.

I called Melissa to talk things over, and she suggested trying to get the $5 and going standby. I tried Powell's Books, and offered Oil by Upton Sinclair ( I was told it was not in good enough shape), World's End by the same (too old, try the downtown store) and Thomas More's Utopia (great book, no way anyone else in the airport would buy it). Then I tried the ATM to see if I could just take out $10, but it was a minimum of $20 and I don't have it.

So I went back to the NWA counter to ask what they did if someone's magnetic strip on their card was broken or something. After going through the whole story with some folks, one of their counter managers suggested that I just start going around a) knocking over old ladies and taking their bags or b) flattering the younger ones and begging for the $25. I didn't seem to take to either idea, so he then asked how far short I was. I said I needed $4.50, and he said that he'd chip in to help me out.

So this saint of a airline employee bought the last $5 of my ticket, and now I sit waiting to board a plane for Minneapolis, and then get a connection to Indianapolis. This is a better flight even than the first, that was Portland-Cincinnati-Detroit-Indy, but I'm just going to be happy to be on my way.

I wish I had time to take the train. Orientation better be awesome.

The end of the trip has come, but not the end of our journey. Yesterday we exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony in Muir Woods. That marks the end of the "Changing Gears" trip, at least nominally. But it also marks a new chapter for us in our lives and a transition to a new life as we make our roundabout way home to Bloomington.

Our vow exchange party:

Our vows reflected our worldview, our views on our relationship, and our commitment to each other. It's amazing that we have come so far in so little time, both in terms of geography and in our relationship. This trip has challenged us in many ways, and in a significant way made our bond so much stronger. We've had to work out problems with money, sex, priorities, and our future plans all throughout this trip, and successfully confronting all of them has tightened our bond.

The site of our vow exchange:


But without further ado, here are our vows, very nearly as we read them. We led off with some quotes, then went into the vows.

Melissa:

It's not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes an unhappy marriage.
Friedrich Nietzche

Andy:

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you
believe that you will be able to converse well with
this person into your old age? Everything else in
marriage is transitory.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Melissa:

A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and dina way they express your love.
Pearl S Buck

Andy:

What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how
compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
Leo Tolstoy

Melissa:

Being married is like having somebody permanently in your corner,
it feels limitless, not limited.
Gloria Steinem

Andy:

It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear.
It's not the way you do your hair,
But it's you I like.
The way you are right now
The way down deep inside you
Not the things that hide you
Not your diplomas...
They're just beside you.
But it's you I like,
Every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings,
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue,
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself, it's you
It's you I like!
Mr Rogers

Together:

In the beauty of Muir Woods, with friends as our witness , we gather today to celebrate the creation of our union. We announce our deep and sincere belief in peaceful and nonviolence practice. We agree from this day forward to work for all forms of justice: environmental, social, political, racial, gender and economic, following from our worldview that includes a radical analysis of power, seeing all systems of oppression as interrelated, rooted in structures of domination and control. We will work to create and sustain communities and cultures that embody our values, that can help to heal the wounds of the earth and her peoples, and that can sustain us and nurture future generations.

We understand that just as we are a mystery to ourselves, each person is also a mystery to us, and we pledge to seek to understand ourselves, each other, and all living beings, and will examine our own minds continually and to regard all the mysteries of life with openness and joy.

We vow in our married life together to continually break
through our pre-conceived views of each other and see clearly.

We vow to let go of feelings that arise from selfish
desires, attachments, and fears, so that we can open our hearts
to one another.

We vow to be compassionate with one another and with
all beings.

We vow to refrain from speaking harshly or deceptively
to each other or about one another to others.

We vow to practice peaceful and ethical occupations
and to support each other in our work.

We vow to support one another in creating a
compassionate and loving home.

We vow to continually ask each others thoughts and feelings and be present in the moment.

We vow to work at finding balance with our individual lives and as a committed couple

We vow to trust each other and trust in the relationship

We vow to commit to being active in each others lives, discovering, exploring, and taking action together as a couple

This is our lifelong commitment to each other, ourselves, to the world.

Melissa:

After a reaffirming year being with you on this trip, I will walk, ride, fly, sit, whatever needs to be done to be with you on this new journey by your side, as your friend, equal, lover, with an open heart and open mind, and I will honor honesty and truth, and work hard at not deceiving myself and you.

I am committed to you and the growth of our relationship, supporting and encouraging us to reach our highest potential through the many changes of life.

I realize that this commitment will have its challenges, and I promise to work with you through those times.

I love you Andy, and am appreciative of who you are and promise to trust in our lifelong relationship.

Andy:

On our adventure together, we will face joy and sorrow, hardship and plenty, pleasure and pain.

Through it all, I promise to always keep my mind and heart open to yours. I promise to be faithful to you and supportive of you in all your endeavors. Above all, I promise to love and cherish you through all of life's journey.

To confront the opportunities and challenges the world will bring us, I wholeheartedly take you, Melissa Henige as my partner and companion to the end.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this journey possible.



-Andy and Melissa

By hook or by crook, we're in San Fran!

Tonight we came into the final city of our trip, after riding our hearts out down the coast and then making an extremely tough decision that we weren't fast enough to make it to San Fran for our vow exchange and grabbing a bus/train for the last leg.

Melissa being happy that we're not finishing the last leg on bike:

Mural in progress in Oakland:

After coming in to Oakland, we took a BART tram to the civic center and tried to figure out what we were doing. We saw a great bike security place in the BART terminal too:

After walking around a bit, we found a fun little Celtic Coffee House and settled in to make plans. Unfortunately, the cafe closed at 6, so we took to the streets to find a hotel. After seeing some of the most overpriced rooms in the city, we got to tour a bargain room at $65 that looked scary enough that I understood why the hotel manager leaves the building at 7pm.

After seeing what must have been the look of horror on my face (I've lost all my poker skills, apparently), she recommended the Travelodge down the road, noting that her rooms were for a type of people she described with a hand motion that looked something like her patting a small child on the head. I took it to mean small.

In any case, the Travelodge is run by a reasonable man from the Phillipines that gave us a $10 discount off their normal rate and we now have a comfortable room with 1 bed, 2 chairs, 2 pillows and the all-important wi-fi. Plus, wonderful soap:

More tomorrow. We're doing well and happy to be in Frisco, but now we need to concentrate on vows. :)

For the past week, we've been getting back in shape riding the beautiful coast and Redwoods, and feeling exhausted, as we don't have the time to catchup and talk to the wonderful people about sustainability. Rather then varying it up with conversation with new friends, we just ride and rest, ride and rest, ride, and breathe, heavily.

This part of the last leg is definitely exhausting, and I find it more so mentally, then physically, as all I can think about is biking and how I am going to make it another 5 hours through the hilly terrain. At first I was excited with the downhills, as the cool breeze of the shaded redwoods brushed my body, yet quickly I realized that with every descent there would be another ascent, and many times harder. So my thoughts were "Yes, a downhill....No, not another uphill climb...if i can just make it around this curve, and then this one. Alright Melissa, breath in through the nose out the mouth....man, a doughnout sounds great....did I just smell cigar smoke from that car.....a truck with empty space in the back. I'm sure our bikes and trailers could fit; are they going south? Oh yes, breath again. how far did we go, and what time is it". The thoughts never stop as I'm continually convincing myself that I'll make it, or cursing at this project, and how touring really isn't all that fun.

So yes, it's been mentally challenging, but I have to input the physical damage, as that is also the reality when riding a bike hours a day, up and down uneven terrain. For example, I've had new aches and pains as I'm getting used to the mountain bike and the up and down hills. The handlebars are a little lower, so I'm adjusting my back a little differently, where my neck gets tired quicker and I need to take rests to stretch more. The seat is a bit more blush and sits a little higher causing additional rubbing and chafing. In fact, I've got a tiny blister on the underside of my bum. And under normal circumstances I would break it, but with bacteria and sweat in that area, it's probably best just to leave it alone. Nonetheless, I'm grateful for the mountain bike shocks, as the last 3o miles through the Redwoods has been a bit bumpy and I don't think my palms and hands have been nearly as sore as Andy's. Lastly, the hills and climbs take my breathe and tire my muscles, especially after we have rode all day. So it definitely has been physically challenging as well.



On the brighter side of this last leg of the bike trip, I actually feel we are touring, as finally we have seen many other bikers going down the coast. Seeing bikers was a rarity, if nonexistent in the midwest. So, it's been fun meeting back up with people, such as Chris and Paul, who we have now seen twice. When meeting random people, there definitely is this sense of camaraderie as most of the bikers we have met are going to San Fransisco and we can talk about the upcoming elevation of climbs, or the beautiful peaks we passed miles or days past.

Though I may feel exhausted mentally and physically, i get the reprieve when we meet new people. It also helps when Andy and I have time to reconnect, as we have been.

-So Andy and I are off to the south. Our first stop will be Garberville, CA. Stay tuned.

Yesterday we rode from Scotia to Redway on the Avenue of the Giants. The total ride was something like 35 miles, but probably 30 of it was on the Avenue itself, a scattering of small towns that break up a huge stretch of Redwood forest. It was a good ride, although not quite the sensory experience of the Prairie Creek park before.

There was a highlight of getting homemade blackberry popsicles from a roadside self-service stand. It turned out that the stand was part of a 3 acre farm with a small rental cabin, and we got a little tour that was a great diversion.

There are some great groves through this area, and the ride was a pleasure though. I think what made the two rides so different is just our level of fatigue and the sense that we're not moving nearly fast enough to make it to San Fran on the timeline we intended. Every hill seems like a bigger obstacle than it should now, and we've got the looming spectre of the mountains ahead around Legget. We got a map booklet in Crescent City that showed elevations along our route, and right away Legget stood out.

There are 4 hills leading up and through Legget that look pretty ominous to us at this point, and every time we struggle up another climb, I know that they are not far off in our minds. Today we'll get to test ourselves on them, as there's a 27-mile stretch to Legget, and another 16 or so to Rockport on the coast. The last part to Rockport looks like the worst one to me, climbing something like 1200 feet up from the valley (although then we get to ride down really fast on the other side). Maybe we'll get to that today, but we might end up staying in Legget if we are too slow on the climbs going in there today.

On the positive side, we decided to spring for a room in a motel last night, and it turned out to be a really great place. We've been debating that because we really wanted a hot, private shower and a bed for a night to rest up, and when it was getting darker last night our option seemed to be this one place that had both an RV park and a motel. While we didn't want to pay the extra $50, the motel option was too hard to pass up. It ended up that we got a great, huge room with a kitchenette and a nice comfy couch in addition to plenty of room for our bikes and gear. It was great to have the little change of pace.

On to the mountains! Wish us luck. :)

-Andy

PS Happy Birthday, Dad!

We're back on the road, making progress. It's been a bit slow so far, with some pretty challenging climbs right off the start on our new leg of the trip, but we're getting down the coast and feeling pretty good about our new equipment and mission (to finish on bikes for the people who have supported us).

The drive down to Crescent City was pleasant, if largely uneventful. We were glad for much of the trip that we had the uhaul instead of being on the bikes, as it was hilly and not too scenic. We had envisioned hitting the coast at Reedsport and being along the Pacific the whole way down. Not so much. We didn't see the coast until we hit Port Orford, almost 80 miles to the south. That would have been a long day and a half on the bike, and we would have been frustrated at not seeing the ocean along the way. It must be said that when we did finally see it, the view was great.


As it happened, we drove all the way to Crescent City, slept in the back of the truck in a campground outside of town, then stocked up at the natural food store and headed south. There's a hill right outside of town that would have given us fits at our peak of riding this summer, and we've had the better part of three weeks off now, between the RV, the Bus, the slow days in Portland, and then having the bike stolen in Eugene. So we're a little soft, and this hill was a bit toug, climbing about 1200 feet in about 3 miles. That took us a long time.

On the other side of the hill we descended down into a town called Klamath, then into the Northern reaches of the Redwood State/National Park. We decided to take a little detour to the coast instead of staying on the main road, to head for a little campground called Flint Ridge. This seemed like a good idea until we figured out that the Ridge was a bit of a climb, and it all happened to be gravel road. So we grudgingly walked the bikes to the top, only to find that the actual campsite was about a quarter of a mile hike into the woods off of the road. We can't really hike with the trailers, so we decided to camp right on the roadside, where there was a small parking lot for the campground.

It turned out to be a pretty good choice, outside of the tent being covered in water from the ocean mists. It was good sleeping with the crash of the waves nearby, and we had a good downhill ride out of the camp.

There were a couple more tough hills for us early in the morning, made harder by our legs having not recovered from the day before. But we slowly made our way over them and entered what is no doubt my favorite piece of riding over this whole trip: Prairie Creek State Park's Scenic Byway. You wouldn't know from the name, but that is a road through the heart of Redwood country. 6 or 7 miles of dense, virgin Redwood forest as far as you can see. Trees up to 300 feet tall on both sides of the road, dwarfing us and the few cars around us.

It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. All I can do is share some woefully inadequate pictures, taken from the back of my bike (in that second pic, Melissa is the little dark speck at the bottom of the tree):

We made it all the way to McKinleyville last night, tenting in a random field near the airport because it was getting dark. This morning we rode to Eureka, and I'm going to wrap up because we need to hit the road again to make up some miles.

We're doing well, but we need to pick up speed to get to San Fran on time. Peace.

Follow-up from the Register-Guard before we made up our minds to go on:

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=126211&sid=4&fid=1

We're washing up and getting our things together now to leave Eugene.

yesterday, in addition to doing our interview with the Mayor, we ran around Eugene re-equipping ourselves for the trip south. With the help of some generous individuals and businesses, we're ready to get back on the road. Of course, we've still lost some time here, and we'll be pushing it to make it down to San Fran on time.

Luckily, a local friend rented us a U-Haul to drive out to the coast so that we can make up for lost time on the bike. We'll drive out with our equipment (new and old) and make it out to Southern Oregon/North California today, then get on the bikes tomorrow morning and head South again.

We think we can now make it on time, and we'll be riding with additional inspiration from all the wonderful folks who have given us their support in so many ways. We've had everything from camping equipment to simple prayers given to us, donations of money to bicycles and trailers offered, and tons and tons of good wishes (as well as a song about getting a bike stolen in Eugene). It's been a heartwarming experience overall, and we're leaving Eugene today with newfound optimism. Thank you to everyone who showed support in all of the different ways your could.

-Andy and Melissa

Dear great, generous people,

So offers for bikes and trailers and camping gear and help have been flooding in over the last 48 hours. It's amazing.

This morning we got offers for 3 more bikes a couple of trailers and a bunch of other equipment (camping supplies, clothes, etc.). It's even gotten to the point where we've changed our minds on Amtrak.

We're going to take up some people on their generous offers and take off again by bike, and we're going to make this coastal trip happen. Today we'll be figuring out exactly what we have available to us, but we're going to finish this trip in the bike saddle one way or another.

I just want to quickly say that people who have heard our story and offered us help are amazing.

We're very fortunate to find ourselves being hosted by a very generous family in Eugene who has loaned us a tent and let us stay with them. There have been no less than a half-dozen offers of lodging in the Eugene area, and all of them are incredibly gracious.

We've also slowly gravitated towards not biking down the coast, even though we've also had several offers to borrow (or even have) a bike to complete the tour. We were already on a really tight timeline, planning to ride out of Eugene on Sunday. Obviously, events have slowed down that progress, and we've tried to make the best of it by trying to get some good interviews to show off what's GOOD about Eugene.

We've lined up a few interviews, including the mayor and the city sustainability coordinator, and we're going to try and get more going today, with the new goal of taking a train out of town Wednesday night. We're really crushed to not be biking down the coast now, but you know that old saw about every time a door closes, another opens...

We'll make the best of this, and we really appreciate how so many people have offered to help us (or made donations to our trip). Like we said in our interviews, we've met thousands of good people on this trip, and we're not going to let one bad apple spoil the whole batch.

Take care, and thank you all.

-Andy

Settling in for the night in the borrowed tent outside of Paul and Monica's. Just wanted to also point out this fun article and video from the Eugene paper:

http://www.registerguard.com/rg/Home/story.csp?cid=126107&sid=1&fid=7

It's become something of a news story that we got our stuff stolen here in Eugene. The local CBS affiliate ran a story about us today:

http://www.kval.com/news/local/26260819.html

Today we're sitting in a cafe in Eugene, strategizing our next moves. Now that the camping gear is gone and we're down to one bike, we're trying to figure out where we can go from here.

We're healthy and in good spirits, all things considered. The family that hosted us last night, the Adkins, were wonderful to us and that's certainly helped out. We'll find a way to make this work out for the best.

Right now Melissa's giving the police an itemized list of what was in the trailer, after I gave them a run-down on the bike itself. Hopefully they can help us out. One way or another, we'll keep going on this crazy trip.

Hello thief,
After sifting through the amazing gear that you have now acquired, I'm assuming you'll eventually read this, as you'll find our stacks of business cards with our website and information. Little did you know when you stole my bike and gear that you would disrupt an incredible journey across the country. I guess I can thank you for providing a bit more drama to our trip, though I'd prefer to just be able to get back on my bike that I got moons ago when I lived in sunny Coronado, California.

Nonetheless, I invite you to read through our blog so you can get to know us, though you probably have a feel of who we are as you know where we are from by my soon-to-be-canceled-checks, or from the book on womens issues that I borrowed from my sister, or the pamphlets from the interviews that we just did, and our love of curry cashew nuts. As you read through our blog, you'll see the amazing people who have helped us on this adventure, and maybe their wisdom, ingenuity, and warmth may inspire you to work for a better world as well. Stay tuned, as you have yet to see the in-depth interviews with the pioneering yet common sense minds working on sustainable issues. We are making a documentary or episodes on our discoveries, and going back to our hometown of Bloomington, Indiana to implement some of the ideas we have learned along the way.

Whoever you may be, hopefully you will give my belongings to a woman who can use the clothes, and please give my tent and sleeping bag to someone who needs a warm shelter that has covered me in Glacier, Olympic, Rocky Mountains, Joshua tree, as of the many other beautiful spots in the nation, and back and forth through the country many times over the last ten years. Though some years the equipment has collected dust, I am fortunate that it has gotten more use this long summer with my soon to be husband. I'm not angry, just now unsure as to how the rest of the trip will unfold(though I guess we were never quite sure from the first week), however, maybe you have also made our decision for the rest of the trip.

I'll admit, I was mostly looking forward to ride the coast, as the Oregon and Northern California waters and redwoods have been calling my name for years, and for whatever reason I have been unable to make the journey even when I lived in California. Though I was expecting to see the majestic woods, you may have redirected our route as we now have to figure out if we need to obtain new gear, used gear, or maybe we need to decide to forget the gear and take other modes of transportation the rest of the trip as we continue to get the story on sustainability, as our funds are basically in the negative.

We said from the first week, that we would just see how life unfolds while getting the story is more of the priority then biking. Though you have definitely challenged me on staying with the "lets see how life unfolds course" when I was attached to seeing the coast, I do sincerely wish that you enjoy the gear. It has definitely given me great memories, as I wish the same for you. Please share your new findings, as the only thing I do hope is that it gets used.

I wish you inspiration,
Melissa

PS-if you do want to return it, I'd be more then happy to obtain it. Give us a call or email, you have our numbers. We'll be in Eugene at least for a couple more days.

Eugene, OR

In a cafe for a couple of hours and Melissa's bike and trailer were stolen. They cut our cable and rode off, leaving my bike and trailer with us. Fortunately, the most expensive equipment was with us, but most of our camping gear and her clothes are gone.

If anyone in Eugene (or anywhere else) can help us out, we're now up against the wall on this one. We've got about 2 weeks to get to San Fran to exchange our vows (planned for August 16th) and now we're down to one bike and trailer.

If you know where this bike might have ended up, please, please let us know.

Here's my bike with the cut cable:


Here's our bikes together in happier times. Her's is the one with the red highlights:


Finally, Melissa pushing her bike and attached trailer through the floods back in Indiana:


Her PP sticker:

I forgot to inform all of you that last night was THE FIRST time we had a flat tire. After traveling so many miles, it was due time. Andy's rear tire got shards of glass from one of the shoulders we were on. Fortunately, there was a shelter that we could go under to get out of the rain, along with a bbq stand near by. So as Andy was figuring out the tire thing, I chatted it up with Dave, the chef of the joint. He talked about his cross country train hopping adventures at the mere age of 14, and I told him of our journey and soon to be vow exchange. As a wedding present he provided us with free bbq meals, some chili corn bread, beans and rice, and Andy's bbqchicken.

We were full, entertained, and about to leave with a fixed wheel, when Andy realized the front wheel was also flat. Though the first flat took awhile to replace, his second one received him status of bike mechanic. Yeah Andy!

So here's the latest installments of pictures!
Here's the journey across South Dakota and Wyoming documenting the varied, yet sparse landscape of the Badlands, the activities of coal mining, and the work done at CrazyHorse.
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071208m/index.html

An update with beautiful area near Yellowstone.
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/071808m/index.html

Here we checked out the bustling Farmers market! Great vibrant photos!
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/072208m/index.html

Our time in Portland, with Andy, my sister, Annah, and adorable nephew checking out the natural beauty!
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/072808m/index.html

An update with Solwest, CityRepair projects, lots of beautiful flower pictures, and our time in Corvallis.
http://www.changinggearsmovie.com/resources/photos/080108m/index.html

Okay, so here's my short recap of the last couple of weeks:
After a week in Portland, we interviewed the eco-pioneer, Carsten Henningsen, with Portfolio 21, http://www.portfolio21.com/. For decades he's worked on getting others to invest in green and social businesses, and has used the natural step guidelines to help structure the overall business. http://www.ortns.org/about.htm Using strict criteria, their successful firm is dedicated to promoting sustainable business practices. I enjoyed talking with him, because I strongly feel that we can make social and ecological responsible choices through our dollars, and investing in the businesses that Portfolio 21 is involved with sends clear messages to our consumer country. So what if Andy and I don't have $5000 to invest in green mutual funds, it does make us think about who and what we support.

Though we haven't interviewed anyone at cityrepair, we did ride upon one of their intersection projects in Portland. Biking through the intersection, each corner provides a space for community to meet. On one corner there is a tea station, with hot water, a variety of teas, and cups to boot. On the other corner one can drop of goods and write messages, and the other two we found a children's playhut and book exchange. The area is whimsical, colorful, and fun, so much so, that Andy and I had to peak around and enjoy! http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/about.

In addition to discovering Portland, we ended up renting a car to arrive in John Day, OR for their 10th annual Solwest, http://www.solwest.org/. Jennifer Barker, a woman with passion, tenacity, and perseverance created something out of nothing in her small town of John Day. Basically, she wanted to go to the energy fairs that were happening in other places in the country such as in Custer, WI(MREA) http://www.the-mrea.org/, or the the one in California, but it was too far to drive. With a seed of an idea and little money, she thought of the possibility of bringing something similar to her hometown. Every year for the past 10, the town now comes alive with entrepreneurs, off and on grid type folks, innovative businesses, and people who just like to have fun! For the three day festival, Jennifer had secured a table for us, we received free camping from Mike(and great marriage advice) and interesting bike stories from his dad, Jerry, and new friendships with Tom and his wife Sandra, delicious vegetarian meals, and the information from dozens of great people who have been working on capturing solar energy, figuring out how to use biodiesel/vegetable oil long before they were "green" buzz word, and taking action on saving money using renewable resources. Throughout the weekend, we received great ideas about solar energy, the business in general, and how it's booming so much manufacturers can't keep up in Oregon.



After going back up to Portland, we finally headed to the western interior of Oregon on bikes. Escaping the narrow lanes and rushing traffic outside of Oregon City we finally got to Corvallis. Our new friends, Liz and Ryan, volunteered to put us up for the evening and after a nights sleep and a much needed massage we headed to Jonathan's place.

I was excited for the home tour, as he lives relatively close to the town center and lives in a on-grid, off-grid house. He produces most of his energy with his solar arrays, where basically he pays just his taxes and small water bill. In addition, he also grows a lot of his food intake year round, and the technology that I was floored with was his composting toilet. Okay, so it's not new technology, rather it's something very simple, a bucket filled with a sawdust base. It smells of woodchips, and he takes it out once every two weeks(depending on the load) to turn into compost. The composting pile has to get high enough in temperature to kill any pathogens. So if composted correctly(and he has yet to have any problems), it ends up being human safe, doesn't pollute the water table, and provides nutrient rich soil, while cutting down on the water bill. When I get back to Bloomington, I'm definitely going to have to read the Humanure book, http://www.weblife.org/humanure/ as it really was a common sense surprise. With his composter and off the grid-on the grid set up, individuals could implement these practices in urban or rural areas. The only large obstacles is that the solar arrays are costly upfront, and though Oregon has many progressive incentives that would pay one back, other states aren't as fortunate.







Further in the day, we then had an appointment with Brandon, over at the Oregan State, http://oregonstate.edu/sustainability/about.html who led us around campus in the electric cars and showed us the Leed building, along with talking extensively about the universities initiatives.They have received numerous recognitions in their green practices, such as the EPA's Best Workplaces for Commuters, and are a "sustainable campus leader" in the nation. In addition to Brandon tireless efforts, the university is part of the city's sustainable coalition and they have signed on to the American Colleges and Universities President's Climate Commitment(which Bloomington has yet to do). http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/index.php

Andy and I ended the evening with Maureen and her husband Paul, talking about the Natural Step principals, and the Northwest Earth Institute Series that she has been heavily involved with for the past decade. I felt akin to her words, as I was involved in both applications in Madison, WI. The Natural Step basically is a set of conditions developed by an oncologist that creates sustainable systems. Businesses, such as Shorebank and Nike, have been implementing the conditions to their practices and cities have been signing on as well, such as Madison, WI and Portland. As for the NWEI, there are books that facilitates dialogue about creating sustainable livestyles, discovering ones sense of place, living more simply, etc. http://www.nwei.org/

The next day before heading to Eugene we stopped off at the very active Coop, First Alternative http://www.firstalt.coop/, and talked with Emily. She informed us of the coop solar panel and recycling initiatives, along with the local 6 program, which promotes the 6 surrounding counties that are producing food. At the end of August they are asking the community to participate in the local 6 challenge, where 80%of the diet for two weeks will come from the local area. I like the marketing of promoting local counties, as it seems more tangible to me then eating in a 100mile radius, as I don't know what farms that would include. The Co-op also promotes the local farmers with a info binder that customers can peruse while checking out the produce. Emily was gracious in giving us a tour and information, and even helped me with ideas on my sister's bachelorette get together.

So now we are in Eugene trying to figure out our next adventure, and hopefully will come up with some ideas soon. Hopefully it will include a shower, as Andy and I camped at some fishing pond with no amenities last night.

It's been a while. We're in Eugene, OR, and last night we slept under the stars at Junction City Pond. It was a bit illicit, but it was getting late and we weren't going to make our destination of Eugene before the last bits of daylight faded.

It was a nice campsite, improvised behind a big bank of blackberry bushes to be hidden from the road and the main parking lot of the pond. We ate our fill of berries, just now ripening, for a late night snack and breakfast, then we rode to Eugene and plopped down in The Beanery to catch up on email and blogging.

Let's just first say that we have A LOT of blogging to catch up on. We've been living pretty busy lives lately, and blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. But we'll try to get a bit caught up today.

First, a note on a bit from email. My cousin John is thinking about joining the military as a chaplain. My mom sent me an email about talking to him yesterday. She's predominantly pacifist and very unhappy with the way that our military is being used now, and I know she doesn't want him to join up, both from the perspective of not wanting him to be part of a war machine, and not wanting him to be put in danger. I understand and sympathize. She asked me to write to him about joining up with the army. I'll just share what I wrote.

John,

My mom asked me to write to you about joining the armed forces, so here we are.

I can understand the allure of joining up, and I even thought about the chaplain service myself when I got out of college. I wonder how things would have turned out if I would have made that decision instead of the way I went.

This is your decision to make, and I'm sure you'll give it plenty of thought before you go either way. I'm not one to try and convince others how they should live their lives, but since my mom asked me, I'll at least share my thoughts on military service.

I'll just gloss over a lot here, but I'd highly recommend reading A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn as a good introduction/survey of US history from a somewhat different perspective than what we get taught in school.

You don't need a lot of schooling to think a bit about how the world has worked over the course of history. There have been thousands of governments all over the world that have asked or forced their citizens/subjects to fight for them. Most of them have invoked some sense of righteousness and national pride to encourage soldiers to join up. This is an effective enough tactic that soldiers have usually not been in short supply.

Thousands have wars have been fought, with soldiers on all sides thinking that they are fighting for the glory of their God and to protect their nation. All of them. That's a notion that gives me pause. They can't all be correct about what country is in the right or which side God is on. I'm not willing to fight and kill people (or serve in support of those who do) when there is doubt in my mind over which side is in the right.

When I weighed my options, I decided I was better off trying to serve in ways other than fighting, given my doubts about what was the right course of action. I tried to join up with the state department at that point (and didn't get a position), but decided the army wasn't for me. I'm sure you have good reasons for wanting to join up, and it may be a good option for you. It wasn't the right thing for me to do, and I don't regret at all not choosing that route in my life.

Take care, and don't be a stranger.

Love,
Andrew

I hope he does read Zinn's book, and I hope that he makes a decision that does well for him in the end. That might be the Army, it might not, I have no idea. I don't agree with what our government is asking the military to do right now, and I don't generally agree with nationalism or agressive warfare, so I find myself at odds with US policy all too often. It's sometimes hard to accept that there are other valid viewpoints out there, and that for some people (including my cousin), it may be that what we are doing is a perfectly valid and justified action. I can only say that for me, it is not.

Basically, the last few days we've been riding again, on our way south from Portland along the Willamette River Valley. This is one of the greenest areas in the US, and it's kind of a shame that we're now on a tight time schedule. We cruised through Salem, the state capital, barely even stopping to look over our maps.

Corvallis was more our speed, and we ended up staying 2 nights, getting a total of 4 interviews. One of my favorites so far was the home of Johnathan Carroll, a great example of retrofitting an older house with green tech to make its footprint as small as possible.


As we get closer to the conclusion of the trip, my mind is filled with the possibilities for the future, mingled with the lessons we've learned and the great things we've seen. More than ever, I want to homestead. More than ever, I believe that solar/wind and residential-level food growing is really the way forward for success.

I've been thinking a lot about the real basis of our society/civilization, and it seems so far out of whack right now. Not just the USA, either. It's just a western civilization issue. The most simple parts of human existence - what we eat, drink and breathe and how we seek shelter, have all been largely taken out of our control. There's a limit to how much we can do on an individual level to control what we breathe, but control of the other three can be taken back by someone who wants to choose their own way in the world.

To start with the food, there's a huge amount that we don't know about the "conventional" food system right now, and also a large amount that we do know that is negative. Genetically engineered foods have been shown to be unsafe in several venues, and yet our government allows all too many of them. Huge amounts of pesticides and herbicides are used in raising modern vegetables, fruits and grains. Meat and dairy products are routinely polluted with hormones. Almost none of these dangerous chemicals are required to be disclosed in food packaging. This is to say nothing of products like high fructose corn syrup, which is incredibly ubiquitous in modern foodstuffs for a material that is well-known as harmful, or at the least seems to be linked to obesity.

There's an easy solution to these problems: grow your own food. It's not hard to do. You can plant a few fruit trees one year. A year or two later they make you fruit that you can eat or store for future needs. You plant a vegetable garden. A few weeks or months later you have fresh, healthy veggies. Farming or keeping gardens is hard work, but it is work that keeps you healthy too. Too many of us, myself included, have become sedentary and inactive in our lifestyle. Getting out in the sun to plant and weed and water your future food is a way to improve your bodily health, just like eating the right food is.

The dwellings we choose to live in, and the way we power them, is a hugely important way of taking control of our lives back too. There is too much dependence on entities and people outside of our purview. Food companies are one example. We now mostly get our foods from companies who we have no direct contact with. We interact with them only through a cash register. Energy companies are largely the same way. Certainly that's the case in Indiana with Duke being the major player.

We've seen great examples on the trip of people who have engineered their own independent energy solutions. They have solar panels or wind turbines to power their homes. They have taken efficiency and conservation to heart, so they don't need massive amounts of energy to run their homes. But they have amenities that are synonymous with American life: computers, televisions, refrigerators, etc. They live smarter, they have more efficient appliances, more elegant systems for home heating and cooling, and lifestyles that don't waste so much of the energy that courses through their home. They emit less carbon emissions. They don't encourage the coal industry. They save money. They will never be under the thumb of power companies as power rates in the US keep climbing.

In Indiana, there's a big profit incentive for the energy companies to keep using coal. There's an incentive to keep building more power plants. There's not much of an incentive to start using cleaner energy or to encourage efficiency.

On an individual level, it is easy and profitable to change to renewable energy for household use. There seems to be little reason not to, except for the initial cost. With the big federal subsidies, some state subsidies, and a bit of thought about long-term energy costs, that initial cost can quickly go from onerous to extremely attractive.

Wowee. We got a call from a great host here in Eugene, OR. Gonna go ride over to his place and meet him and his family.