Happy Thursday (or whatever day of the week you're reading this) everyone! The Cultural Recyclists are currently in the town of Butte, Montana; home of the "richest hill on earth", but more on that later. Our last blog entry was in Cody, Wyoming, and we have quite a bit to catch you up on!
Charlie, Kevin, Will, and I (Amanda) spent five days in Cody waiting for Chris and Tina to catch up to us. Of course we didn't mind, considering we had a wonderful time meeting new people and were able to treat our bodies to an abundance of nourishing food and rejuvenating bouts of relaxation. Thanks to all that hosted, entertained, and/or fed us during our stay in Cody. The energy (whether it be spiritual, intellectual, or physical) was just what we needed to propel us onward to Yellowstone.
The journey from Cody to Yellowstone was an adventure in itself. We had been forewarned (probably more than we needed to be) that there have been more grizzly bear attacks this year than in previous years, and that we needed to be most careful in the stretch of mountains outside of the gates of Yellowstone. For peace of mind, we decided to camp in designated campgrounds, where we were able to store our food in bear boxes. Ultimately, we didn't encounter any grizzly bears, which is a bitter-sweet fact. We did, however, spot a mother moose and her calf grazing a patch of plants across the river from our campsite one evening. I believe this moose-sighting was the first for all of the recyclists.
As we pedaled up the mountains and into higher elevation we found it was no longer summertime for the recyclists. We knew this was coming, and were as prepared for the temperature drop as we could be, but it was nevertheless a bit shocking to our systems, which had become accustomed to the warm (often hot) weather. We were a few miles from the gate and another 30 from the nearest place they would allow us to camp in Yellowstone when we heard word of an incoming snowstorm. It was becoming evident we weren't going to make it into the park that day, but there was a ban on soft-shell (tent) camping where we were because of the bear activity.
We needed to find some shelter, and we needed it to be cheap. After all, the recyclists are cycling on a somewhat tight budget. We stopped at a cabin rental place and inquired about rates. We wanted the cheapest room we could get, and assured them that as long as they didn't mind, we would pack in a room like sardines. And that is exactly what we did. We fit eight people in an $89 one-bed room. "Eight people?" you may be wondering. We met two cyclists, John and Olivia, who are biking from British Columbia, Canada to Key West, Florida. They also needed a cheap place to stay, and we were happy to pack a few more sardines into our room.
We woke at three a.m. the next morning and packed our bicycles. We were only a few miles from the gate and knew that if we got there before 6 a.m. we wouldn't have to pay the admission fee. At $12/bicycle, we avoided a hefty $72 entrance fee into Yellowstone (the six of us in a minivan would have paid $25 to get into the park) Avoiding the fee aside, the ride into the park was phenomenal. We were blessed with clear night skies, a beautiful sunrise, and remarkable landscapes. It did end up snowing during our journey into the park, but thankfully it didn't begin until mid-morning when the sun could provide us with just enough warmth to keep our bodies functioning at a healthy level. We had finally made it into the first ever National Park; A relatively untouched stretch of land which is rich in wildlife and geological features.
TO BE CONTINUED =o)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Almost to Yellowstone!
Hello! (This will be Kevin writing, just for clarification)
I am currently in Cody, Wyoming, 50 miles outside of Yellowstone National Park. Charlie, Amanda, Will, and I have been here for three days now. We are enjoying the time to relax and stock up on winter clothes and delicious non-perishables before heading to the wondrous Yellowstone. We are also waiting for Tina and Chris to catch up with us, because they were helping out with projects in the town of Casper, Wyoming. Our friend Arlo, who rode with us for a week, decided he wanted to leave our bicycle tour to venture down to a Co-op in Boulder Colorado. Soon enough, the six remaining riders will journey into the land of Devil's Tower and Old Faithful.
To recap some of our recent excitement, I will retrace our steps. For the last two nights we stayed with a munificent couple, Denny and Suzanne. Denny was intrigued by our bicycles while we were at the library and we soon learned that he has hiked most of America's trails on foot, and traversed much of the roads by bicycle. He kindly invited us for dinner, where we enjoyed elk-burgers (hunted by Suzanne, skinned by Denny, and cooked by Suzanne). We were gifted many recently expired organic goods from a Natural Foods Store called Mountain High. Due to all the "bear scares" recently, we purchased several canisters of Bear Mace.
During our non-riding time here in Cody we have been able to spend more time "being" and not solely "doing". Our friend Andrew from Fairfield helped teach us the importance of balancing doing and being. I found a copy of one of my favorite "being-inducing" books at a store for only fifty cents. "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle catapults me into the present moment like no other book can. While hanging around Denny's mostly handcrafted home, Will couldn't put "A New Earth" down. Charlie found a copy of "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz which also articulates the importance of spiritual practice. Myself and Amanda have both been working on cultivating a regular Yoga stretching session at various times of the day. I was reading about meditation techniques at the library and have resumed my daily practice of entering a state of "Laos." The word "Laos" is part of the mini-lexicon we are developing as we ride. I define the word Laos as "ones natural state within, which can only be felt, not thought, consisting of peace,calm, and joy."
Back to the activities we've been doing...before Cody, we were in the tiny town of Matittsi (blogger doesn't have spellcheck). This old-western town's claim to fame is that Butch Cassidy was captured here. More recently, one of the convicts who hid in Yellowstone was also caught in Matittsi. We ate a tasty pizza at one of the only restaurants in town, seeing as there was no grocery there. Charlie and a woman we met at the restaurant had a duet-guitar jam session in the park we camped in as well.
Rewind back a town, and we are in the home of the "world's largest natural hot-springs" -Thermopolis. We stayed a few nights at the home of a generous woman,named Chellady's house. Chellady and her family let us use their home computer, where we uploaded photos of all the breath-taking buttes and expansive mountain-scapes we see. We soothed our muscles in the hot springs, which reeked of sulfur, but were overwhelmingly restorative.
The ride into Thermopolis through the Wind River Canyon was absolutely astounding. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I can't imagine anything more grand than this. Riding through the base of this natural wonder had my jaw hitting my handlebars!
Before Thermopolis, we were in Shoshoni, which is the name of Native tribe which our culture ...decimated..I mean decided to move elsewhere. We saw some relics of the Native culture in some of the town stores. And we could feel the spirit of the land, embodied in the therapeudic sage scent, and the galloping antelope, adorned with curley Q horns.
Previous to Shoshoni, we were exploring Casper. Within minutes of entering Casper, we had met a myriad of like-minded people at the local Farmer's Market. Our taste buds lit up as we were given free samples of all sorts of fresh peaches, scones, fresh dips, and other goodies. Many vendors were exceedingly generous in giving us crates of fresh veggies to take with us. We stayed two nights at the home of Leah and Brett, who manage the Farmer's Markets. They treated us to warm showers which were graciously accepted by all of us. We met many cool folks around town, some of whom Chris and Tina stayed with to work on community projects.
Overall, our recent adventures have been full of suprise, synchronicity, and bear-warnings. We have had many ups and downs, but we take it all in stride, and are learning new life lessons every day. We appreciate every bit of support and well-wishing, and we strive to reciprocate it. Thanks for reading, and I don't have time to edit, so I hope its ledgible, haha. Love, Kevin May/Phil Osophical and all of the Cultural Recyclists!
I am currently in Cody, Wyoming, 50 miles outside of Yellowstone National Park. Charlie, Amanda, Will, and I have been here for three days now. We are enjoying the time to relax and stock up on winter clothes and delicious non-perishables before heading to the wondrous Yellowstone. We are also waiting for Tina and Chris to catch up with us, because they were helping out with projects in the town of Casper, Wyoming. Our friend Arlo, who rode with us for a week, decided he wanted to leave our bicycle tour to venture down to a Co-op in Boulder Colorado. Soon enough, the six remaining riders will journey into the land of Devil's Tower and Old Faithful.
To recap some of our recent excitement, I will retrace our steps. For the last two nights we stayed with a munificent couple, Denny and Suzanne. Denny was intrigued by our bicycles while we were at the library and we soon learned that he has hiked most of America's trails on foot, and traversed much of the roads by bicycle. He kindly invited us for dinner, where we enjoyed elk-burgers (hunted by Suzanne, skinned by Denny, and cooked by Suzanne). We were gifted many recently expired organic goods from a Natural Foods Store called Mountain High. Due to all the "bear scares" recently, we purchased several canisters of Bear Mace.
During our non-riding time here in Cody we have been able to spend more time "being" and not solely "doing". Our friend Andrew from Fairfield helped teach us the importance of balancing doing and being. I found a copy of one of my favorite "being-inducing" books at a store for only fifty cents. "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle catapults me into the present moment like no other book can. While hanging around Denny's mostly handcrafted home, Will couldn't put "A New Earth" down. Charlie found a copy of "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz which also articulates the importance of spiritual practice. Myself and Amanda have both been working on cultivating a regular Yoga stretching session at various times of the day. I was reading about meditation techniques at the library and have resumed my daily practice of entering a state of "Laos." The word "Laos" is part of the mini-lexicon we are developing as we ride. I define the word Laos as "ones natural state within, which can only be felt, not thought, consisting of peace,calm, and joy."
Back to the activities we've been doing...before Cody, we were in the tiny town of Matittsi (blogger doesn't have spellcheck). This old-western town's claim to fame is that Butch Cassidy was captured here. More recently, one of the convicts who hid in Yellowstone was also caught in Matittsi. We ate a tasty pizza at one of the only restaurants in town, seeing as there was no grocery there. Charlie and a woman we met at the restaurant had a duet-guitar jam session in the park we camped in as well.
Rewind back a town, and we are in the home of the "world's largest natural hot-springs" -Thermopolis. We stayed a few nights at the home of a generous woman,named Chellady's house. Chellady and her family let us use their home computer, where we uploaded photos of all the breath-taking buttes and expansive mountain-scapes we see. We soothed our muscles in the hot springs, which reeked of sulfur, but were overwhelmingly restorative.
The ride into Thermopolis through the Wind River Canyon was absolutely astounding. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but I can't imagine anything more grand than this. Riding through the base of this natural wonder had my jaw hitting my handlebars!
Before Thermopolis, we were in Shoshoni, which is the name of Native tribe which our culture ...decimated..I mean decided to move elsewhere. We saw some relics of the Native culture in some of the town stores. And we could feel the spirit of the land, embodied in the therapeudic sage scent, and the galloping antelope, adorned with curley Q horns.
Previous to Shoshoni, we were exploring Casper. Within minutes of entering Casper, we had met a myriad of like-minded people at the local Farmer's Market. Our taste buds lit up as we were given free samples of all sorts of fresh peaches, scones, fresh dips, and other goodies. Many vendors were exceedingly generous in giving us crates of fresh veggies to take with us. We stayed two nights at the home of Leah and Brett, who manage the Farmer's Markets. They treated us to warm showers which were graciously accepted by all of us. We met many cool folks around town, some of whom Chris and Tina stayed with to work on community projects.
Overall, our recent adventures have been full of suprise, synchronicity, and bear-warnings. We have had many ups and downs, but we take it all in stride, and are learning new life lessons every day. We appreciate every bit of support and well-wishing, and we strive to reciprocate it. Thanks for reading, and I don't have time to edit, so I hope its ledgible, haha. Love, Kevin May/Phil Osophical and all of the Cultural Recyclists!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Life After Linclon...
Happy Monday Loves!
I am currently in Lusk, WY at the Library with Chris. We now have a new member, Arlo Brittan, from Alliance, NE. We are making our way to Yellow Stone seven REcyclists strong. There is a possibility for three more riders to join us in the coming weeks. Check out our Google map to see if we're coming by your town and you can join us too!
I stayed in Lincoln for almost a week. The Sunday we rode into Lincoln, I was hit by a car at the intersection of route 17 N and route 34 W. Chris and I were riding together. I went to make a left turn onto 34 W, then was thrown off my bike by a Chyster Pacifica. I only received some buries, soreness, and a few scraps as my damage from the encounter with the metal beast. However, the beast lost its passenger side rear view vision and got the passenger side of its face busted in, most likely thanks to the Tidy Cat Buckets on my bike. It was a bit crazy. Chris saw the whole event play out.
We were lucky enough that Adam has a truck. He drove out to pick us up with his daughter Sophie. She is adorlable. Adam hooked up the whole crew for the couple days we all stayed. Amanda and Will left Lincoln after two nights, while Charlie, Kevin, and Chris stayed an extra night. I hung out for another night after the boys. Adam drove me out to meet up with Charlie, Kevin, and Chris the Friday after my accident. The boys were originally going to leave with Will and Amanda.
We became distracted once helping Open Harvest manage thier food waste. The Food Co-Op had some figs, salads, bananas, and tuna sandwiches that couldn’t be sold anymore. It was sweet to be hooked up with healthy food. By the time the boys were finishing up at the market if was almost 7 pm. Adam came by on his way into the Meadow Lark. He called over to us, “Yes, you can come home tonight!” So the boys stayed an extra night. We all performed in the open mic at the Meadow Lark that night. I sang my America the Imperial song. Followed by a local folk singer song writer. Then Chris spoke a poem before Kevin’s Semi-Spontaneous Flow Tree Rap. Charlie and Chris harmonized to Surfer girl and teach your children after the rap. Our new friend Elle entertained us with some spoken word next. It was a lovely night.
During my extra day in Lincoln, I was able to film a video that will eventually be posted in four parts about Amy Brt’s permaculture. She is doing some great work! Her site is beauitful. It will be really rocking in a few years once she finishes some of her upcoming plans. I also met Eric. He is interested in joining our ride along with his cousin Sammy. So maybe we will have nine Recyclists before long.
Adam dropped me off in York to ride out to Grand Island with the boys. It was a lovely ride. Loads of wondrous scenery. Chris and I even stopped to go for a swim in a magical lake. I felt like I was living in a fantasy novel. The next day I had to patch a flat tire. Charlie and Kevin biked a head of us to catch up with Will and Amanda. The four of them reunited that night in Broken Bow. Chris and I camped out in Anlsey for the night then rode the last 16 miles towards Broken Bow in the morning. The crew had gotten hooked up at the Tubble weed café for dinner the night before and breakfast in the morning. Chris and I also were able to have a delicious breakfast served by Georgia. Our whole crew chilled out in Tomahawk park most of the day. The heat advisory was for 110 degrees. The idea was to do a night ride around 6 or 7 pm.
We had some group distractions before the concenus seemed to be, “lets camp out here one more night then leave in the morning.” Chris and I were excited for a night ride, so we rode out towards Dunning at 10pm. The night was amazing. We watched at least 30 shoot stars zoom across the sky. Up, down, sideways, over the milky way galazy, star flew everywhere. We learned from James with sandhillrainmaker.org that a metor shower is in process all week. He also rocked.
The next day we all met up in Tedford. We met a women who offered to cook us breakfast if we rode out to her house in Mullen by 8:30am. We tried to sleep well through the most epic thunder storm of the trip so far to prep for the 25 miles morning ride. It was lovely. The sandhills are a breathtaking site at sun rise. The reds, oranges, and pinks fill the skies and the sands. Glowing, glimmering wonderment filled the eyes of all six REcyclists. We passed into the mountain time zone half way through the ride. We called up Gloria to learn she meant 8:30am mountain time not central as we were orginally intending. This made for a steller early morning.
Our next big adventure came in the form of Alliance, NE. We stayed an extra day because Chris got lost from our crew. I found him riding in a truck up to Carhedge. It was wonderful to know he was alright. Kevin had searched on his bike the night before. Amanda and I looked for him on foot too. Now, everyone has a card with everyone’s phone numbers on it. Although chalk messages may come in handy sometime. We also met Arlo in Alliance. He is awesome and into everything we want to do.
Arlo spent a day with Charlie to get his bike ready while the rest of us rode closer to Wyoming. Yesterday, the seven us of all rode across the boarder together. There will be a sweet picture of his moment on the website soon. We are now at about 5,000 feet elevation. That’s all I have time to tell right now.
Peace & love,
Tina Berry
I am currently in Lusk, WY at the Library with Chris. We now have a new member, Arlo Brittan, from Alliance, NE. We are making our way to Yellow Stone seven REcyclists strong. There is a possibility for three more riders to join us in the coming weeks. Check out our Google map to see if we're coming by your town and you can join us too!
I stayed in Lincoln for almost a week. The Sunday we rode into Lincoln, I was hit by a car at the intersection of route 17 N and route 34 W. Chris and I were riding together. I went to make a left turn onto 34 W, then was thrown off my bike by a Chyster Pacifica. I only received some buries, soreness, and a few scraps as my damage from the encounter with the metal beast. However, the beast lost its passenger side rear view vision and got the passenger side of its face busted in, most likely thanks to the Tidy Cat Buckets on my bike. It was a bit crazy. Chris saw the whole event play out.
We were lucky enough that Adam has a truck. He drove out to pick us up with his daughter Sophie. She is adorlable. Adam hooked up the whole crew for the couple days we all stayed. Amanda and Will left Lincoln after two nights, while Charlie, Kevin, and Chris stayed an extra night. I hung out for another night after the boys. Adam drove me out to meet up with Charlie, Kevin, and Chris the Friday after my accident. The boys were originally going to leave with Will and Amanda.
We became distracted once helping Open Harvest manage thier food waste. The Food Co-Op had some figs, salads, bananas, and tuna sandwiches that couldn’t be sold anymore. It was sweet to be hooked up with healthy food. By the time the boys were finishing up at the market if was almost 7 pm. Adam came by on his way into the Meadow Lark. He called over to us, “Yes, you can come home tonight!” So the boys stayed an extra night. We all performed in the open mic at the Meadow Lark that night. I sang my America the Imperial song. Followed by a local folk singer song writer. Then Chris spoke a poem before Kevin’s Semi-Spontaneous Flow Tree Rap. Charlie and Chris harmonized to Surfer girl and teach your children after the rap. Our new friend Elle entertained us with some spoken word next. It was a lovely night.
During my extra day in Lincoln, I was able to film a video that will eventually be posted in four parts about Amy Brt’s permaculture. She is doing some great work! Her site is beauitful. It will be really rocking in a few years once she finishes some of her upcoming plans. I also met Eric. He is interested in joining our ride along with his cousin Sammy. So maybe we will have nine Recyclists before long.
Adam dropped me off in York to ride out to Grand Island with the boys. It was a lovely ride. Loads of wondrous scenery. Chris and I even stopped to go for a swim in a magical lake. I felt like I was living in a fantasy novel. The next day I had to patch a flat tire. Charlie and Kevin biked a head of us to catch up with Will and Amanda. The four of them reunited that night in Broken Bow. Chris and I camped out in Anlsey for the night then rode the last 16 miles towards Broken Bow in the morning. The crew had gotten hooked up at the Tubble weed café for dinner the night before and breakfast in the morning. Chris and I also were able to have a delicious breakfast served by Georgia. Our whole crew chilled out in Tomahawk park most of the day. The heat advisory was for 110 degrees. The idea was to do a night ride around 6 or 7 pm.
We had some group distractions before the concenus seemed to be, “lets camp out here one more night then leave in the morning.” Chris and I were excited for a night ride, so we rode out towards Dunning at 10pm. The night was amazing. We watched at least 30 shoot stars zoom across the sky. Up, down, sideways, over the milky way galazy, star flew everywhere. We learned from James with sandhillrainmaker.org that a metor shower is in process all week. He also rocked.
The next day we all met up in Tedford. We met a women who offered to cook us breakfast if we rode out to her house in Mullen by 8:30am. We tried to sleep well through the most epic thunder storm of the trip so far to prep for the 25 miles morning ride. It was lovely. The sandhills are a breathtaking site at sun rise. The reds, oranges, and pinks fill the skies and the sands. Glowing, glimmering wonderment filled the eyes of all six REcyclists. We passed into the mountain time zone half way through the ride. We called up Gloria to learn she meant 8:30am mountain time not central as we were orginally intending. This made for a steller early morning.
Our next big adventure came in the form of Alliance, NE. We stayed an extra day because Chris got lost from our crew. I found him riding in a truck up to Carhedge. It was wonderful to know he was alright. Kevin had searched on his bike the night before. Amanda and I looked for him on foot too. Now, everyone has a card with everyone’s phone numbers on it. Although chalk messages may come in handy sometime. We also met Arlo in Alliance. He is awesome and into everything we want to do.
Arlo spent a day with Charlie to get his bike ready while the rest of us rode closer to Wyoming. Yesterday, the seven us of all rode across the boarder together. There will be a sweet picture of his moment on the website soon. We are now at about 5,000 feet elevation. That’s all I have time to tell right now.
Peace & love,
Tina Berry
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Welcome Nebraska!
So i now find myself in Lincoln, Nebraska. The road has been long and arduous, but rewarding beyond imagination. I still have some food from Pittsburgh. We would set our intientions to camp and eat the food that we've been carrying for hundreds of miles, but still have meals provided for us!
Meals provided include:
.Steak, vegetable casserol, Garlic bread
.Sweet corn, peaches & cream corn, homemade Lemon pie, Crunch chocolate bar
.Baked Ziti casserole, cucumber/onion salad with vinegar, squash with brown sugar
.Subway
.a couple meals hand picked (by the crew and me) from a new friend's garden.
.Cheese burgers, local sweet corn, watermelon, grapes, homemade cookies, homegrown tomatoes, bananas, and peaches (it was a feast!)
The scenery on this tour is beautiful. Iowa has had the best terrain to date. Breathtaking skies, fun rollers (low frequency, long wave length hills), open roads, and great people. The sun would set on the horizon, filling the sky with heartwarming crimson. Then, if clouds were present, the sun's rays would light up the bottom of the clouds with a deep, radiating violet effectively creating a second sunset. Day time travel riveled evening scenes because of terrain, gently winding roads, and imaginative landscapes. Pumping up a 1/2 to 3/4 mile long hill to see vibrant green valleys on either side is quite a spectacle. Something about climbing hills in medium gears, taking in picturesque views, and then rocketing down the other side in the highest gear possible makes for an out-of-this-world magical feeling. Couple all this with less than 6 cars an hour and it's heaven.
Eastern Illinois and Western Indiana scored a little lower: Tractor trailors everywhere! Our backcountry routes were shaken by fully loaded semi's blasting past at 50+ mph enroute to grain elevators. The only change in scenery was soy on the left and corn on the right to corn on the left and soy on the right. Normally, the solitude would be therapudic, but the trucks were nerve-wracking.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
Will
Meals provided include:
.Steak, vegetable casserol, Garlic bread
.Sweet corn, peaches & cream corn, homemade Lemon pie, Crunch chocolate bar
.Baked Ziti casserole, cucumber/onion salad with vinegar, squash with brown sugar
.Subway
.a couple meals hand picked (by the crew and me) from a new friend's garden.
.Cheese burgers, local sweet corn, watermelon, grapes, homemade cookies, homegrown tomatoes, bananas, and peaches (it was a feast!)
The scenery on this tour is beautiful. Iowa has had the best terrain to date. Breathtaking skies, fun rollers (low frequency, long wave length hills), open roads, and great people. The sun would set on the horizon, filling the sky with heartwarming crimson. Then, if clouds were present, the sun's rays would light up the bottom of the clouds with a deep, radiating violet effectively creating a second sunset. Day time travel riveled evening scenes because of terrain, gently winding roads, and imaginative landscapes. Pumping up a 1/2 to 3/4 mile long hill to see vibrant green valleys on either side is quite a spectacle. Something about climbing hills in medium gears, taking in picturesque views, and then rocketing down the other side in the highest gear possible makes for an out-of-this-world magical feeling. Couple all this with less than 6 cars an hour and it's heaven.
Eastern Illinois and Western Indiana scored a little lower: Tractor trailors everywhere! Our backcountry routes were shaken by fully loaded semi's blasting past at 50+ mph enroute to grain elevators. The only change in scenery was soy on the left and corn on the right to corn on the left and soy on the right. Normally, the solitude would be therapudic, but the trucks were nerve-wracking.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
Will
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Fast Times in the Mid-West!
Happy Wednes (HUMP) day Everyone!
We have been slacking on blogging lately. When this happens it usually means we are consumed by the awesome power of the present moment. The last time we checked in was Oberlin, Ohio. We are currently in Chariton, Iowa. We finished traveling the length of Ohio, then rode through the harsh winds of Indiana, followed by more invisible mountains (head winds) in Illinios, and now are rolling over the many hills of Iowa. We are expected to arrive in Lincoln, Nebraska by this coming Sunday August 1, 2010.
Where to begin with the adventures we have encountered along the way?
After Oberlin at 6pm we rode with our new friends Jessica and Cara to the end of the bike trail leaving the city. Then we cycled a few more miles to Norwalk. I (Tina) went into Stain Paul's Cathedral to see if anyone might let us spend the night in the church. While I wandered the empty halls, the rest of the crew chatting with the dominos pizza delivery guy Brian. The crew were gifted free dinner in exchange with some stories about our travels. One of the preist at the church showed up after listening to my voicemail as soon as we decided to just sleep in the church anyway. Father Eric was awesome! He hooked us up with a huge breakfast in the morning.
We were chased down for the first time near Findley, Ohio. I met a woman (Janet) at a red light. I wished her a "Happy Monday" and gave her our website. A few miles later she’s in a truck with print outs of all our blogs sitting passenger to Steve. The couple found the rest of the crew about a mile a head of me. Then they requested we let them buy us dinner and find us somewhere to sleep. We had an amazing meal at the Dragon something. They also hooked us up with breakfast in the morning.
Fort Wayne, Indiana was our next planned stop. We stayed with Jain & David who are starting a co-housing project. They also have a beautiful garden. Jain's sister runs the 35 year old food co-op in town. We made a video about it!
I was chased down for the second time just before Silver Lake, Indiana. Ted has cycled across country before and wanted to put us up for the night out of respect for all the people that helped him on his travels. When he called his wife to ask if we could come for supper, she recalled seeing us in South Whitney and wanted to ask us to stay too. Charlie and Kevin were a head of Will, Amanda, and I by close to 10 miles. The boys camped while the three of us stayed the night in Ted's basement. We had a delicious dinner and desert filled with marvelous tales of the road.
Ted dropped Will and Amanda off in Rochester to meet up with Kevin and Charlie. I rode the rest of the way with Ted to his first farm stop of the day in Kewanna. I got to our destination first (for once) of Rensselaer. I was able to buy one cup of Highlander Mist from Kim at her coffee & home decor shop then got about 5 cups for free. I meet the rest of the crew at the Hot Dog Cafe. We were able to do some chores around the restaurant in exchange for some dinner. We also got hooked up with a lovely couple to stay with for the night. Alan and Rosemary still check in with us. They have become our new grandparents.
After that we booked it over to Stelle, Illinios. Stelle is home to Mid-West Permaculture. The town is an intentional community run mostly on renewable energy sources, has a community garden & orchard, and is a wonderful place to spend a few days. Becky Wilson who runs Mid-West Permaculture with her husband Bill hosted us for our stay.
We had three great nights staying in town pavilions in Wenona, Toulon, and Joy . While in Wenona we spent some of the money we made collecting & cutting rotten apples for chicken feed to buy pizza and fried food. While we were chowing down. People at the bar like the lovely Peggy brought us 3 rounds of drinks. The Boardwalk Bar gives out coins for free drinks. It was an awesome night. We also met the Mayor who gave us a box of granola bars & showers.
Then we arrived in Fairfeild, Iowa after our longest day yet of about 90 miles! We spent the next 5 nights in at the Abundance Eco-Village! Kevin and I also slept out at the permaculture our new friend Avi care takes a few nights. While in town we met so many people living the way we strive to live, off the grid with strong community ties. Julie came out on a bus to chill with us for the weekend. It was awesome to see Julie again. She decided she will complete our Non-Profit paperwork for us back in Pittsburgh. Then she might grab her bicycle, take it a train and ride with us for the rest of our trip. We discovered a 10 bedroom house with 2 acres of land next to Avi's permaculture! We really want to become an official 501 C3 non-profit so we can apply for grants and have tax-deductible donations made to us for our new co-housing & permaculture project in Fairfeild, Iowa. We also picked up a new member for our trip, Chris Romain! We were also interviewed by the only solar powered radio stations in the Mid-West. KRUU radio a completely community based radio station. Did I mention they have a permaculture outside the station too? Anyway they rock, look out for the interview on our website.
On Monday we left Fairfeild. Chris decided to just ride with us for the day and maybe camp out. During the ride he was not only convinced to camp out with us, but to join us on our ride. Yesterday, Charlie and Chris were picked up by our friend Pete to be driven back to Fairfeild in order to get Chris' bike road ready. Chris and Charlie just showed up to town after being dropped off by our friend Hap. We met Sonya at the Pipers candy shop which has shipped to ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS! She has graciously offered to put us up for the night at her house.
This is not a full account of our adventure. The library gives us shorten time spans for blogging communication. We will try to update more often and throughly. Until then, follow our twitter for daily updates! As always keep in touch with the website for new videos and picutres! We should have loads of new pictures updated today!
peace & love,
Tina on the behalf of all the REcyclists!
We have been slacking on blogging lately. When this happens it usually means we are consumed by the awesome power of the present moment. The last time we checked in was Oberlin, Ohio. We are currently in Chariton, Iowa. We finished traveling the length of Ohio, then rode through the harsh winds of Indiana, followed by more invisible mountains (head winds) in Illinios, and now are rolling over the many hills of Iowa. We are expected to arrive in Lincoln, Nebraska by this coming Sunday August 1, 2010.
Where to begin with the adventures we have encountered along the way?
After Oberlin at 6pm we rode with our new friends Jessica and Cara to the end of the bike trail leaving the city. Then we cycled a few more miles to Norwalk. I (Tina) went into Stain Paul's Cathedral to see if anyone might let us spend the night in the church. While I wandered the empty halls, the rest of the crew chatting with the dominos pizza delivery guy Brian. The crew were gifted free dinner in exchange with some stories about our travels. One of the preist at the church showed up after listening to my voicemail as soon as we decided to just sleep in the church anyway. Father Eric was awesome! He hooked us up with a huge breakfast in the morning.
We were chased down for the first time near Findley, Ohio. I met a woman (Janet) at a red light. I wished her a "Happy Monday" and gave her our website. A few miles later she’s in a truck with print outs of all our blogs sitting passenger to Steve. The couple found the rest of the crew about a mile a head of me. Then they requested we let them buy us dinner and find us somewhere to sleep. We had an amazing meal at the Dragon something. They also hooked us up with breakfast in the morning.
Fort Wayne, Indiana was our next planned stop. We stayed with Jain & David who are starting a co-housing project. They also have a beautiful garden. Jain's sister runs the 35 year old food co-op in town. We made a video about it!
I was chased down for the second time just before Silver Lake, Indiana. Ted has cycled across country before and wanted to put us up for the night out of respect for all the people that helped him on his travels. When he called his wife to ask if we could come for supper, she recalled seeing us in South Whitney and wanted to ask us to stay too. Charlie and Kevin were a head of Will, Amanda, and I by close to 10 miles. The boys camped while the three of us stayed the night in Ted's basement. We had a delicious dinner and desert filled with marvelous tales of the road.
Ted dropped Will and Amanda off in Rochester to meet up with Kevin and Charlie. I rode the rest of the way with Ted to his first farm stop of the day in Kewanna. I got to our destination first (for once) of Rensselaer. I was able to buy one cup of Highlander Mist from Kim at her coffee & home decor shop then got about 5 cups for free. I meet the rest of the crew at the Hot Dog Cafe. We were able to do some chores around the restaurant in exchange for some dinner. We also got hooked up with a lovely couple to stay with for the night. Alan and Rosemary still check in with us. They have become our new grandparents.
After that we booked it over to Stelle, Illinios. Stelle is home to Mid-West Permaculture. The town is an intentional community run mostly on renewable energy sources, has a community garden & orchard, and is a wonderful place to spend a few days. Becky Wilson who runs Mid-West Permaculture with her husband Bill hosted us for our stay.
We had three great nights staying in town pavilions in Wenona, Toulon, and Joy . While in Wenona we spent some of the money we made collecting & cutting rotten apples for chicken feed to buy pizza and fried food. While we were chowing down. People at the bar like the lovely Peggy brought us 3 rounds of drinks. The Boardwalk Bar gives out coins for free drinks. It was an awesome night. We also met the Mayor who gave us a box of granola bars & showers.
Then we arrived in Fairfeild, Iowa after our longest day yet of about 90 miles! We spent the next 5 nights in at the Abundance Eco-Village! Kevin and I also slept out at the permaculture our new friend Avi care takes a few nights. While in town we met so many people living the way we strive to live, off the grid with strong community ties. Julie came out on a bus to chill with us for the weekend. It was awesome to see Julie again. She decided she will complete our Non-Profit paperwork for us back in Pittsburgh. Then she might grab her bicycle, take it a train and ride with us for the rest of our trip. We discovered a 10 bedroom house with 2 acres of land next to Avi's permaculture! We really want to become an official 501 C3 non-profit so we can apply for grants and have tax-deductible donations made to us for our new co-housing & permaculture project in Fairfeild, Iowa. We also picked up a new member for our trip, Chris Romain! We were also interviewed by the only solar powered radio stations in the Mid-West. KRUU radio a completely community based radio station. Did I mention they have a permaculture outside the station too? Anyway they rock, look out for the interview on our website.
On Monday we left Fairfeild. Chris decided to just ride with us for the day and maybe camp out. During the ride he was not only convinced to camp out with us, but to join us on our ride. Yesterday, Charlie and Chris were picked up by our friend Pete to be driven back to Fairfeild in order to get Chris' bike road ready. Chris and Charlie just showed up to town after being dropped off by our friend Hap. We met Sonya at the Pipers candy shop which has shipped to ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS! She has graciously offered to put us up for the night at her house.
This is not a full account of our adventure. The library gives us shorten time spans for blogging communication. We will try to update more often and throughly. Until then, follow our twitter for daily updates! As always keep in touch with the website for new videos and picutres! We should have loads of new pictures updated today!
peace & love,
Tina on the behalf of all the REcyclists!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Adventures in Pittsburgh and Ohio
The Cultural REcyclists participated and helped organize various activities in Pittsburgh before journeying onwards to Cleveland. Before Amanda and Will returned from their family gatherings, Tina, Kevin and Charlie helped put together another Transition Pittsburgh Gathering. Instead of Frick Park, we decided to change settings and go to Schenely Plaza. For those who don't know Schenely Plaza is a rare phenomena in cities, because it was a parking lot transformed into a beautiful park. (Though the park is privately owned, so there will be no ball playing on the grass!) Around 1pm we set up a free books blanket, and two tables filled with the immense amounts of dumpster goodies which we picked up from CVS and Trader Joe's (including apricots, bananas, fig newtons, etc.). As more people showed up semi-spontaneously, the gathering morphed into whatever the participants decided. Activities included free tai chi with a teacher who was nearby, conversations about fracking and Marcellus Shale (You too can have flammable drinking water!), hula hoop lessons, free massages, and all sorts of other things. We firmly believe that gatherings like these allow people to reconnect with themselves, eachother, and the beautiful Earth which gives us life!
We do not have the time to track all of our adventures here, because the public library in Oberlin closes in 20 minutes, but we made various webisodes on our youtube channel: Youtube.com/user/CulturalREcyclists.
We made a webisode about the free bike co-op program in the East End called Free Ride, and also checked out a Squirrel Hiller named Maren's household designed to maximize food production and minimize waste and energy usage. It was very inspiring to see what happens when people take action to transform the area they live in very creative and practical ways.
All five of us coalesced and left Pittsburgh four days ago on June 5th. We biked out of Pittsburgh through Neville Island and saw the disturbing situation there with factory after factory after factory. Our eyes were sore to see so much pollution and dreariness. We next stopped in Sewickley and serendipitously met two gentlemen on their porch who are working to protect 1000 acres of beautiful forest, and also interested in the Transition Town movement. As we cycled towards Cleveland, we stayed in the backyard of nice family who cooked delicious mac n cheese for us. The next night, after a generous free meal at The Hot Dog Shop, we slept on farmland which had been turned almost as hard as concrete. Due to the monoculture farming techniques, the soil is drained of nutrients, unlike permaculture, where the soil is improved.
We then biked 57 miles to Lakewood, Cleveland and arrived at Charlie's Aunt and Uncles house, where we spent two nights. The whole family was very hospitable and we greatly appreciate all the love, food, company, and support which we received there. While in Cleveland we visited the Rock N Roll hall of fame, and also a magnificent Bike Co-op. Thursday is bike night at the bar Now That's Class. One of the bike co-op volunteers invited us to come out with them, because if you bike you can claim a FREE beer. Needless to say, Tina is not one to pass up a free beer. The rest of the crew didn't join, but Tina had a great time. She went to another bar with dollar beers for cyclists. This is where she met up with Ben who is starting a co-housing project in Cleveland. She also got to try his homemade mead.
We are now in Oberlin Ohio, and staying at a friend of Tina's tonight. Now that our whole bikemadic tribe is all together again, we are ready to leave our bioregion and venture into the midwest of this beautiful continent. We are learning wonderful life lessons every single day! We are giving and receiving encouragement everywhere we go. We wished probably 500 people a Happy Thursday yesterday, and we are very grateful to all the people and non-people who allow us to have happy days everyday. We received specific encouragement today from a woman who gave us free cookies at Hippie Cookies in Cleveland to "Keep doing what your doing, we need more people like you guys!"
Thanks to all readers and supporters. We all encourage you to have a happy friday and find your niche and live it to the fullest!
Sincerely, The Cultural Recyclists, Kevin, Tina, Will, Amanda, and Charlie
We do not have the time to track all of our adventures here, because the public library in Oberlin closes in 20 minutes, but we made various webisodes on our youtube channel: Youtube.com/user/CulturalREcyclists.
We made a webisode about the free bike co-op program in the East End called Free Ride, and also checked out a Squirrel Hiller named Maren's household designed to maximize food production and minimize waste and energy usage. It was very inspiring to see what happens when people take action to transform the area they live in very creative and practical ways.
All five of us coalesced and left Pittsburgh four days ago on June 5th. We biked out of Pittsburgh through Neville Island and saw the disturbing situation there with factory after factory after factory. Our eyes were sore to see so much pollution and dreariness. We next stopped in Sewickley and serendipitously met two gentlemen on their porch who are working to protect 1000 acres of beautiful forest, and also interested in the Transition Town movement. As we cycled towards Cleveland, we stayed in the backyard of nice family who cooked delicious mac n cheese for us. The next night, after a generous free meal at The Hot Dog Shop, we slept on farmland which had been turned almost as hard as concrete. Due to the monoculture farming techniques, the soil is drained of nutrients, unlike permaculture, where the soil is improved.
We then biked 57 miles to Lakewood, Cleveland and arrived at Charlie's Aunt and Uncles house, where we spent two nights. The whole family was very hospitable and we greatly appreciate all the love, food, company, and support which we received there. While in Cleveland we visited the Rock N Roll hall of fame, and also a magnificent Bike Co-op. Thursday is bike night at the bar Now That's Class. One of the bike co-op volunteers invited us to come out with them, because if you bike you can claim a FREE beer. Needless to say, Tina is not one to pass up a free beer. The rest of the crew didn't join, but Tina had a great time. She went to another bar with dollar beers for cyclists. This is where she met up with Ben who is starting a co-housing project in Cleveland. She also got to try his homemade mead.
We are now in Oberlin Ohio, and staying at a friend of Tina's tonight. Now that our whole bikemadic tribe is all together again, we are ready to leave our bioregion and venture into the midwest of this beautiful continent. We are learning wonderful life lessons every single day! We are giving and receiving encouragement everywhere we go. We wished probably 500 people a Happy Thursday yesterday, and we are very grateful to all the people and non-people who allow us to have happy days everyday. We received specific encouragement today from a woman who gave us free cookies at Hippie Cookies in Cleveland to "Keep doing what your doing, we need more people like you guys!"
Thanks to all readers and supporters. We all encourage you to have a happy friday and find your niche and live it to the fullest!
Sincerely, The Cultural Recyclists, Kevin, Tina, Will, Amanda, and Charlie
Friday, June 25, 2010
Chillin' in PGH
Happy Friday!
We have had some crazy adventures on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) since leaving the C & O trail behind in Cumberland, MD. During our first day on the GAP, we rode only 16 miles up to Frostburg. It was a nice short ride ending at a lecture on Wild Foods and Science by Mimi Hernandez at the Appalachian Experiment Station. After the lecture, Mimi invited us for dinner with Jesse and her. She also let us spend the night on her apartment floor. Her building was very colorful! All of our bikes looks hilarious in the hallway. Mimi has been practicing herbalist for over a decade! She gave us some awesome advice on herbs to take on the road.
We had one of our earliest morning leaving Mimi's just before 8:30am. Then we ventured around Frostburg to the Food Lion, where we diving a huge dumpstered feast! We found apples, oranges, cakes, muffins, ice cream, milk, silk, and all sorts of goodies. After we filled up for the day, we hopped back on the trail and rode about 40 miles into Confluence, PA. We were able to camp in the backyard of a vacant house right by the river. It was a sweet spot. Charlie was the first REcyclist to get the sickness about to overtake most our group. We made some easy mac that Mimi's roommate Rachel gave us for dinner. We knew Charlie must be pretty sick when he turned down food.
The next morning we chilled out for most of the day. We only had 11 more miles until our next stop in Ohiopyle. Will was beginning to feel sick as well. Before we left Confluence we ate at the Lucky Dog Cafe. This is an amazing all organic and mostly local cafe. We all split a Farmers Market Pizza, which had whatever veggies were around at the farmers market. Once we hit the road, it was quick ride into Ohiopyle. We were lucky enough to make friends at the House Cafe. The owner there let us camp behind her quest house and they gave us some FREE fries & chicken fingers!
The next morning we explored the town a bit. We found an 95% LOCAL store called The Backyard Garden. The owner Vici told us about how she got started from selling her amazing mustard to owning her own shop. While we were there, we found out about the Wilderness Voyageur's Beer & Gear Fest on Saturday.We started to think we might hang around for a couple more days. Vici also told us about the Spring Valley Church Community, which is home to 250 people who run an organic farm & a Forest Stewardship Council certified child play set factory. Charlie gave them a call and we were invited to check out the community. We also met Joscelin and Kathy at Oddly Enough who were amazing that day.
In the late afternoon, we biked the 6 miles up the mountain to Spring Valley. It was awesome to get a tour of the gardens and the grounds. Then at dinner, we got to meet the whole community. It was crazy to hear everyone sing in harmony before digging in to the tacos. A couple from the community just arrived back from Haiti so they told about their experience as we all ate. After dinner we were invited to stay the night. Each of us got paired with a "host" family. It was great to ask questions about their way of life and experiences.
The next morning we had our really early day, with a 6am breakfast with our host families. At breakfast they sang again and had a bible reading after the meal. Before we biked back down the mountain to Ohiopyle, we joined the morning gathering with more singing. At this point both Will and Amanda were getting pretty sick. Once we got back to Ohiopyle, they just slept on a hill for most of the day. Kevin, Charlie, and Tina checked out the natural water slide for a while. Tina met Matt who runs Outdoorsman Insight Magazine. He was also going to the Beer and Gear fest later that day.
Once the fest time rolled around, Will and Amanda decided to skip out for sleep. Charlie and Kevin played guitar and juggled by the line for the people entertainment and made $10. Inside the fest Tina, socialized. She met some awesome hoopers selling hoops. One of which saw her speak at All Good Music Festival the year before. She was able to hang out with Kathy and Joscelin. Kathy gave Tina a beautiful peace sign necklace for creating positive vibes throughout town. Lizayla with Friends of Ohiopyle also gave Tina a $20 donation to the group. After the fest Tina camped out with some of the brewers.
In the morning, Tina hunted down the rest of the group a few miles past Ohiopyle off the GAP. She found everyone getting breakfast together down on a beach off the river. Charlie and Kevin decided to bike the rest of the way into Pittsburgh a bit after breakfast. They made it to Kevin's parents house in Squirrel Hill close to 10pm that night. Will, Amanda, and Tina rode for about 30 miles before the finding a great camp site. They met this guy Scott who just got on the GAP and is headed towards Washington D.C. The group decided to just pass out instead of making dinner.
Prepping for the last 50 miles until Pittsburgh, Will, Amanda, and Tina made some curry for breakfast. Tina made friends with a guy Brian who stopped by the site on his way down the GAP towards Washington D.C. He donated $5 towards "beer money" for us. Once we got to packing up camp, Tina finished first. With a blessing from Will and Amanda she headed up the trail to meet them around mile marker 125 or 130ish for lunch. Tina stopped in Boston and waited for over 2 hours for Will and Amanda to catch up. She finally just rode with Tersea and Orion, Pittsburgh natives, towards the city. While she was waiting she got another $40 donation for the group and met a bunch of awesome people. Later that night Amanda was picked up by her mom and brother to go home for a family emergency.
Since the group has been in Pittsburgh, they have been running around doing a bunch of activities. Tuesday, Will spend most of his time trying to heal on the couch. While Kevin, Tina, and Charlie checked out a Transition Pittsburgh meeting and organized a gathering for the group this Saturday June 26th from 1pm until sunset at Frick Park by the blue slide. We also met the guys at the Electric Garage who are converting a Sicon and a Honda Civic in all electric vehicles. The group is showing Who Killed the Electric Car? tonight at 9pm at their shop.
On Wednesday, the group headed down to the Kingsley House to meet with Tina's fellow Penn State grads Mike and Jess as well as the Larimer Urban Planner Carlos to discuss the Summer Youth Employment Program. The REcyclists crew checked out the duplex fix up site with Mike before heading out to the East End Food CO-OP. Later on in the day, the REcyclists went had a vegan dinner with Claire, her friend Daniele, and her mother Ann. Claire is involved with the Transition Centre County as well as Voices for Animals.
Thursday, the REcyclists got to actually help get the duplex ready for the Summer Youth Employment Program kids. Kristin helped Jess cleaning up the inside of the recently vacant home. Kevin, Charlie, and Tina starting cleaning out the rumble from the caved in garage and pulling out the poison ivy in addition to other weeds from the backyard.Will got picked up by his parents before the group left for the Kingsley House. He will be away from the group for at least 10 days.
Today, Kevin, Tina, Charlie, and Kristin will be gardening, going to critical mass, checking out the farmers market, a music festival, watch the Who Killed the Electric Car? at the Electric Garage, and a bunch of other small things.
If you're in Pittsburgh join us tomorrow for our Gathering at Frick park from 1pm until Sunset!
peace & love,
The Cultural REcyclists
We have had some crazy adventures on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) since leaving the C & O trail behind in Cumberland, MD. During our first day on the GAP, we rode only 16 miles up to Frostburg. It was a nice short ride ending at a lecture on Wild Foods and Science by Mimi Hernandez at the Appalachian Experiment Station. After the lecture, Mimi invited us for dinner with Jesse and her. She also let us spend the night on her apartment floor. Her building was very colorful! All of our bikes looks hilarious in the hallway. Mimi has been practicing herbalist for over a decade! She gave us some awesome advice on herbs to take on the road.
We had one of our earliest morning leaving Mimi's just before 8:30am. Then we ventured around Frostburg to the Food Lion, where we diving a huge dumpstered feast! We found apples, oranges, cakes, muffins, ice cream, milk, silk, and all sorts of goodies. After we filled up for the day, we hopped back on the trail and rode about 40 miles into Confluence, PA. We were able to camp in the backyard of a vacant house right by the river. It was a sweet spot. Charlie was the first REcyclist to get the sickness about to overtake most our group. We made some easy mac that Mimi's roommate Rachel gave us for dinner. We knew Charlie must be pretty sick when he turned down food.
The next morning we chilled out for most of the day. We only had 11 more miles until our next stop in Ohiopyle. Will was beginning to feel sick as well. Before we left Confluence we ate at the Lucky Dog Cafe. This is an amazing all organic and mostly local cafe. We all split a Farmers Market Pizza, which had whatever veggies were around at the farmers market. Once we hit the road, it was quick ride into Ohiopyle. We were lucky enough to make friends at the House Cafe. The owner there let us camp behind her quest house and they gave us some FREE fries & chicken fingers!
The next morning we explored the town a bit. We found an 95% LOCAL store called The Backyard Garden. The owner Vici told us about how she got started from selling her amazing mustard to owning her own shop. While we were there, we found out about the Wilderness Voyageur's Beer & Gear Fest on Saturday.We started to think we might hang around for a couple more days. Vici also told us about the Spring Valley Church Community, which is home to 250 people who run an organic farm & a Forest Stewardship Council certified child play set factory. Charlie gave them a call and we were invited to check out the community. We also met Joscelin and Kathy at Oddly Enough who were amazing that day.
In the late afternoon, we biked the 6 miles up the mountain to Spring Valley. It was awesome to get a tour of the gardens and the grounds. Then at dinner, we got to meet the whole community. It was crazy to hear everyone sing in harmony before digging in to the tacos. A couple from the community just arrived back from Haiti so they told about their experience as we all ate. After dinner we were invited to stay the night. Each of us got paired with a "host" family. It was great to ask questions about their way of life and experiences.
The next morning we had our really early day, with a 6am breakfast with our host families. At breakfast they sang again and had a bible reading after the meal. Before we biked back down the mountain to Ohiopyle, we joined the morning gathering with more singing. At this point both Will and Amanda were getting pretty sick. Once we got back to Ohiopyle, they just slept on a hill for most of the day. Kevin, Charlie, and Tina checked out the natural water slide for a while. Tina met Matt who runs Outdoorsman Insight Magazine. He was also going to the Beer and Gear fest later that day.
Once the fest time rolled around, Will and Amanda decided to skip out for sleep. Charlie and Kevin played guitar and juggled by the line for the people entertainment and made $10. Inside the fest Tina, socialized. She met some awesome hoopers selling hoops. One of which saw her speak at All Good Music Festival the year before. She was able to hang out with Kathy and Joscelin. Kathy gave Tina a beautiful peace sign necklace for creating positive vibes throughout town. Lizayla with Friends of Ohiopyle also gave Tina a $20 donation to the group. After the fest Tina camped out with some of the brewers.
In the morning, Tina hunted down the rest of the group a few miles past Ohiopyle off the GAP. She found everyone getting breakfast together down on a beach off the river. Charlie and Kevin decided to bike the rest of the way into Pittsburgh a bit after breakfast. They made it to Kevin's parents house in Squirrel Hill close to 10pm that night. Will, Amanda, and Tina rode for about 30 miles before the finding a great camp site. They met this guy Scott who just got on the GAP and is headed towards Washington D.C. The group decided to just pass out instead of making dinner.
Prepping for the last 50 miles until Pittsburgh, Will, Amanda, and Tina made some curry for breakfast. Tina made friends with a guy Brian who stopped by the site on his way down the GAP towards Washington D.C. He donated $5 towards "beer money" for us. Once we got to packing up camp, Tina finished first. With a blessing from Will and Amanda she headed up the trail to meet them around mile marker 125 or 130ish for lunch. Tina stopped in Boston and waited for over 2 hours for Will and Amanda to catch up. She finally just rode with Tersea and Orion, Pittsburgh natives, towards the city. While she was waiting she got another $40 donation for the group and met a bunch of awesome people. Later that night Amanda was picked up by her mom and brother to go home for a family emergency.
Since the group has been in Pittsburgh, they have been running around doing a bunch of activities. Tuesday, Will spend most of his time trying to heal on the couch. While Kevin, Tina, and Charlie checked out a Transition Pittsburgh meeting and organized a gathering for the group this Saturday June 26th from 1pm until sunset at Frick Park by the blue slide. We also met the guys at the Electric Garage who are converting a Sicon and a Honda Civic in all electric vehicles. The group is showing Who Killed the Electric Car? tonight at 9pm at their shop.
On Wednesday, the group headed down to the Kingsley House to meet with Tina's fellow Penn State grads Mike and Jess as well as the Larimer Urban Planner Carlos to discuss the Summer Youth Employment Program. The REcyclists crew checked out the duplex fix up site with Mike before heading out to the East End Food CO-OP. Later on in the day, the REcyclists went had a vegan dinner with Claire, her friend Daniele, and her mother Ann. Claire is involved with the Transition Centre County as well as Voices for Animals.
Thursday, the REcyclists got to actually help get the duplex ready for the Summer Youth Employment Program kids. Kristin helped Jess cleaning up the inside of the recently vacant home. Kevin, Charlie, and Tina starting cleaning out the rumble from the caved in garage and pulling out the poison ivy in addition to other weeds from the backyard.Will got picked up by his parents before the group left for the Kingsley House. He will be away from the group for at least 10 days.
Today, Kevin, Tina, Charlie, and Kristin will be gardening, going to critical mass, checking out the farmers market, a music festival, watch the Who Killed the Electric Car? at the Electric Garage, and a bunch of other small things.
If you're in Pittsburgh join us tomorrow for our Gathering at Frick park from 1pm until Sunset!
peace & love,
The Cultural REcyclists
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