Well well well well well. Over the past week we've biked through: a downpour, oil refineries, 20mph headwinds, cool couchsurfing hosts in Baton Rouge, a total of 7 popped tubes, a brand new tire with kevlar bead destroyed, weird combinations of different processed foods, skinny shoulders that barely avoid 18-wheelers, and a lot of frustration. That got us up to Natchez, MS, where the start of the Natchez Trace Parkway is. This road runs 440 miles up to Nashville, but we were only planning on taking it about 100 up to Jackson or further up to Tupelo MS where we'd switch and go east through Alabama.
Day one on the trace we met a guy named Eric who was out for an afternoon ride, and he chatted with us as we leisurely biked along. As we were headed downhill we all heard Sam's tire go POP! so we pulled over to fix it. Eric stayed with us and lent a hand as well as concerns for our wellbeing, so he left his phone number if we needed anything. That night we got to the Natchez State Park about 15 miles up the Trace and stayed in our tent from 7PM until 7AM while the rain and lightning came down on us without pause. Sam kept his panniers in the nearby bathhouse where fortunately there was a washer/dryer, so in the morning we spent about an hour and a half drying our tent, sleeping bags, and ourselves. Both our bikes, however, were now experiencing problems: Cayla's chain would skip and fall off every time she went even slightly uphill, and Sam's tire/tube fiasco continued to cause worry. After a brief visit to the Emerald Mounds, which were indigenous ceremonial grounds as impressive as Stonehenge in the amount of labor put in, we embarked along with a six-mile descent calming our bike calamities for the meantime. It was only a matter of time, however, until Sam's tube went flat, again, and we were out of tubes to replace them (every flat was beyond patching, with either large tears or holes around the stem). That's when we called Eric.
With his long gray hair flowing and bellbottoms to boot, Eric picked us up and brought us back to Natchez to fix our bikes at his local favorite mechanic. Cayla ended up with a new chain and a new gear ring in the back, and Sam got a new tire. Then we rode back on the Trace for a quick 10-mile ride with Eric and his riding crew just to keep our legs stretched. We took Eric out to dinner and he let us stay in an empty rental home he owned, where after a looooooong day, we fell asleep around 8.
Eric insisted on making the 2-hour drive up the Trace yesterday to drop us off in Jackson where we had a Warm Showers host set up. We couldn't thank him enough for the help he gave us, and we'll miss him, but it felt good to keep moving. As we drove up the Trace it felt a little weird knowing we really wanted to be biking it, but sometimes things don't work out the way they were supposed to. We're staying in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson with Don and Becky, some awesome people who own a home with a huge garden, two greenhouses, cool art everywhere, 4 cats, a snuggly pug named Moondog, and a miniature horse named Willow. In the 70s, Don and Becky moved out into the woods, built their own cabin, and lived there off the grid for 8 years. In order to raise their three kids they moved back to town, but they still carry their ruggedness with them. They've been vegan/vegetarian since and pointed us to the co-op in town which felt comfortingly like City Market. We hung out there for a little while eating lunch and making phone calls to start shopping around for trucks, and even went to see one in town. Then we went out for pizza with Don and Becky, and fell asleep, again exhausted.
Today is raiiiiiiining and cold, so we'll be taking it easy, looking for more trucks, and planning our next moves. We may be headed back to Vermont sooner than expected to get a jumpstart on farm things as that anxiety has been weighing on us. Traveling is fun but feels unproductive in a lot of ways. Stay tuned for what comes next!
PS: photos can be found at: http://instagrid.me/slboutin/ and include: Sam searching for a gecko in the bathhouse in Natchez; the Emerald Mounds; playing with Willow; and air-mattress surfing.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
I think I'll get as far as New Orleans
Well it sure is nice to be down here in some sunshine. We rolled out of Boston on Saturday the 4th which brought us into Chicago after a few (23) hours of drinkin' whiskey and playin' Mad Libs. We had an awesome day in the city with unseasonably warm weather, taking in some really cool exhibits at the Chicago Cultural Center gratis-- One called "Morbid Curiosity" which had some cool Day of the Dead stuff and other artistic infatuations with skeletons, and one called "Write Now" which mainly focused on text. Then we met up with Sam's old boss from Flatbread, Phil, who took us to an awesome taco place and bar in Wicker Park. Phil was a great tour guide regardless of being new to the city himself. Then he dropped us back off at Union Station where we tried to watch tidbits of the Superbowl before boarding our second train Sunday Night. After a decent night's sleep we woke up to miles upon miles of ghost town scenery heading south through Mississippi... Very eerie and beautiful. It seems as though in those parts, you either own it all-- the silos, the land, the scrap yards-- or zilch.
At one point as we headed in to New Orleans the land slipped away on either side of the tracks and it looked like the tracks were floating. Neato! Upon arrival that afternoon we gathered our bikes and belongings and Nate picked us up in his roommate Micah's minivan, blasting punk with the windows down in typical Nate fashion. He took us to the elementary school where he volunteers at their edible school garden so we could check it out and glean some veggies for dinner. Then we headed out to the car compound, where Nate's car awaited to meet its maker after getting totaled the other week (not his fault...!). We cleared it of his belongings as well as a box of rubber chickens (his next door neighbor is a freelance clown/children's birthday party performer). We then headed back to Nate's house in the Marigny district, after a quick bike ride to get daquiris (alcoholic slurpees... to go!) and groceries from the co-op to cook dinner. Then we rode down the narrow one way streets to Frenchman and Bourbon streets to check out "the scene" and then went back to a bar just a few blocks from Nate's house to see World/Inferno Friendship Society who put on a kick-ass show even though we were pooped from the journey.
Tuesday we explored the quarter a bit more in the daytime, then went all the way across to mid-city to eat fried okra, and then made red beans and rice for dinner. We went back out and while Nate went to a friend's birthday party we zig-zagged around before hitting up some awesome old-time music at the Spotted Cat.
Wednesday Nate had to work in the morning so we set off across town to Audubon Park to get a sense of where we'd be going Friday morning in order to leave town on the Mississippi River Trail. After a stressful few minutes of orienting to find a bike-friendly street (Cayla went over the handlebars after trying to cross some trolley tracks at a busy intersection... whoops. Made it out with just a scraped knee!) we were quickly uptown passing through funky-lookin' neighborhoods (well it's all pretty funky) to the park, which was beautiful. we did a few loops around the track just for kicks and then headed back toward the Marigny. We went to dinner at Coop's Place ("f--k those guys waiting outside, they want separate checks. I like you guys, what can I getcha? Unless you want separate checks"-- first thing our waitress says to us, we like this place immediately) and the night ended raucously with the three of us falling asleep in Nate's bed watching Power Rangers season 1.
Our last day in NOLA we biked over to the Bywater area to eat po' boys, check out a few crazy thrift stores, and read the paper over coffee at Satsuma. We spent a solid few hours at Plan B, the awesome community bike shop, during their open shop hours so we could get our bikes in tip top shape. Panniers are packed, dinner's on the stove, and couchsurfer in Baton Rouge secured-- we're ready to hit the road! New Orleans has been great and everything our friends who've been here have said was true except that we are in fact leaving when we said we would as opposed to 3 weeks later. We'll be back though... if only for the daquiris.
Farm updates: Fat Rabbit has been at the forefront of our minds and the bulk of our conversation as we've traveled thus far. Our seed order is ready to get sent in as soon as we get our first member secured. And look for us in the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce guide for local farms... We will be listed! We've also been in contact with both the St. Albans and Winooski farmer's markets and will definitely be set up at one (if not both) this year. If you are interested in signing up for a share, drop us a line and we'll happily send you an official sign-up sheet that can either be emailed back to us or sent to the farm. And we'd obviously love to hear from you with any questions, comments, etc. anyway: fatrabbitfarmvt@gmail.com.
Love, Sam and Cayla
At one point as we headed in to New Orleans the land slipped away on either side of the tracks and it looked like the tracks were floating. Neato! Upon arrival that afternoon we gathered our bikes and belongings and Nate picked us up in his roommate Micah's minivan, blasting punk with the windows down in typical Nate fashion. He took us to the elementary school where he volunteers at their edible school garden so we could check it out and glean some veggies for dinner. Then we headed out to the car compound, where Nate's car awaited to meet its maker after getting totaled the other week (not his fault...!). We cleared it of his belongings as well as a box of rubber chickens (his next door neighbor is a freelance clown/children's birthday party performer). We then headed back to Nate's house in the Marigny district, after a quick bike ride to get daquiris (alcoholic slurpees... to go!) and groceries from the co-op to cook dinner. Then we rode down the narrow one way streets to Frenchman and Bourbon streets to check out "the scene" and then went back to a bar just a few blocks from Nate's house to see World/Inferno Friendship Society who put on a kick-ass show even though we were pooped from the journey.
Tuesday we explored the quarter a bit more in the daytime, then went all the way across to mid-city to eat fried okra, and then made red beans and rice for dinner. We went back out and while Nate went to a friend's birthday party we zig-zagged around before hitting up some awesome old-time music at the Spotted Cat.
Wednesday Nate had to work in the morning so we set off across town to Audubon Park to get a sense of where we'd be going Friday morning in order to leave town on the Mississippi River Trail. After a stressful few minutes of orienting to find a bike-friendly street (Cayla went over the handlebars after trying to cross some trolley tracks at a busy intersection... whoops. Made it out with just a scraped knee!) we were quickly uptown passing through funky-lookin' neighborhoods (well it's all pretty funky) to the park, which was beautiful. we did a few loops around the track just for kicks and then headed back toward the Marigny. We went to dinner at Coop's Place ("f--k those guys waiting outside, they want separate checks. I like you guys, what can I getcha? Unless you want separate checks"-- first thing our waitress says to us, we like this place immediately) and the night ended raucously with the three of us falling asleep in Nate's bed watching Power Rangers season 1.
Our last day in NOLA we biked over to the Bywater area to eat po' boys, check out a few crazy thrift stores, and read the paper over coffee at Satsuma. We spent a solid few hours at Plan B, the awesome community bike shop, during their open shop hours so we could get our bikes in tip top shape. Panniers are packed, dinner's on the stove, and couchsurfer in Baton Rouge secured-- we're ready to hit the road! New Orleans has been great and everything our friends who've been here have said was true except that we are in fact leaving when we said we would as opposed to 3 weeks later. We'll be back though... if only for the daquiris.
Farm updates: Fat Rabbit has been at the forefront of our minds and the bulk of our conversation as we've traveled thus far. Our seed order is ready to get sent in as soon as we get our first member secured. And look for us in the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce guide for local farms... We will be listed! We've also been in contact with both the St. Albans and Winooski farmer's markets and will definitely be set up at one (if not both) this year. If you are interested in signing up for a share, drop us a line and we'll happily send you an official sign-up sheet that can either be emailed back to us or sent to the farm. And we'd obviously love to hear from you with any questions, comments, etc. anyway: fatrabbitfarmvt@gmail.com.
Love, Sam and Cayla
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