We finished our class about a week ago now. Dan’s working on another post with some reflection on the course, so I’m going to write a bit about what we’ve been up to since. We’ve been staying with our friends Cait and Zack, also on Orcas Island. Cait does design and landscaping work for clients here, so we’re shadowing her. The work itself is a lot of mulching, watering, and getting the feel for the physical parts of tending land, peppered with great conversation about plants, ecosystems, and design.
Gold Bluffs Beach
This set is from a walk we took at Gold Bluffs Beach. Definitely a favorite campground. We camped a few hundred feet away from the ocean. You could hear it all night. You get there along this long and windy road off Highway 101, driving down the height of the bluffs through an old growth coastal redwood forest. The morning we left, we took a walk and brought the camera along.
tahoe, toward and away
The first five pictures here are from Alpine Lake, on the way to Tahoe. The last three are from Lake Almanor, on our way out to Gold Bluff’s Beach. … And yes, these are from like 3 or 4 weeks ago now, but at least I’m starting to catch up! stephen
permacaptured!
Hi! We’ve been on a farm on Orcas Island since last Friday, and we just wrapped up week 1 of a two week Permaculture Design Course. Google says permaculture is “the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.” I think the people we’re learning from would go a little farther and say the intent is also to design systems that are not only sustainable, but also regenerative.
Real quick
Hi again - I’m posting a quick second update because I wrote the first one two days ago and am just posting it now. We are in Montana now, heading up to Glacier shortly. Stephen broke his glasses a couple days ago, which takes him out of driving commission (turnabout is fair play I suppose). Yesterday we found a Walmart in Oregon that would give Stephen a same-day eye exam so he could get an updated prescription, and today we found a glasses place in Missoula Montana that provides same-day glasses.
Greetings!
Woops! We’re on Day 9 (woops again, now it’s actually day 11!) of our trip and I’m well overdue for my first update. Always good to set the bar low right from the get go. Our trip started July 1, technically, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the day of Thursday June 29th. We went out to the American River to go white water rafting with 8 of our friends.
4th of July at the Cabin
Hanging out with the family at the cabin is a great way to unwind after all that moving stress. We’re officially on the road now!
the summer plan
We just finished booking out our plan for the summer. In addition to our July permaculture class, we’ll be visiting 5 national parks, 2 California state parks, and 8 cities, WWOOFing on 4 farms, helping out with a friend’s permaculture design business, and helping another friend on her farm. It’s set to be a packed summer! Itinerary Some of these plans are more concrete than others, but here’s roughly where we expect to go:
about the blog
Dan and Stephen are moving to Maine, roadtripping across the country, woofing at various permaculture sites on the way. This is our blog to write about our experience. Since it’s the first thing I’m going to set up, I’m going to write about how the blog works, where it lives, and why I did it this way. I suppose it begins with my ethics of technology, in no particular order: