Boone – Finally!

Even though it had been a cold night, it was still bearable since we were able to run our heater for a bit to take off the chill of the night before we climbed in.  Kim’s house is out in the country and has a stream, small waterfall and a pond that is apparently inhabited by a 3 ft. copperhead.  Needless to say, we haven’t explored that area! Kim is so welcoming to all four of us.  Her big dogs, Pipa and Toby, have been great friends to Leo & Gemini and have played well with them in their awesome enclosure out back.  Not even Gemini can escape!

Kim and Libby went into F.A.R.M. (Feeding All Regardless of Means) Cafe first thing this morning and Brad stayed back at Kim’s to do some computer work and catch up on banking and such.  Brad got to explore the “neighborhood”.  The natural beauty here is so hard to capture in photos.

Libby got to put on an apron and even got to make her famous sugar cookies.  She had to do math though because F.A.R.M. doesn’t have a huge mixer like SAME.  For as many times as she has made that recipe, she could not remember for the life of her how to cut it in half but the cookies turned out great!  She spent some time in the dish pit with Maggie of Raleigh’s soon to open, Place at the Table Cafe.  She drove up to Boone just to visit with all of us.  I love this wall paper!!

Brad joined the gang for lunch.  We had pumpkin risotto cakes, local sausage and cabbage, roasted veggies, and an apple chickpea salad.  This cafe serves buffet style with customers selecting the size meal they want with a small plate for a suggested donation of $7 and a large plate for $10.  They serve 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday – Friday.  After eating, Brad got to cut onions and Libby rolled silverware.  We even got the super secret tour of the basement.  There is so much space there!

Again, we got to experience first hand the beauty of community cafes.  We sat alongside a gentleman who upon hearing of our recent trip to Asheville, whipped out his phone and showed us video he’d taken of a busker playing awesome music in an alleyway in Asheville.  We met Sarita, a woman who has volunteered at the cafe almost since the very beginning.  She has permanent housing but due to mental health issues carries around a very large backpack chuck full of all of her important papers so no one can steal them while she is gone during the day, even though she lives alone.  Marcus and Brie (two totally different people from two totally different walks of life) had a lively dicussion about the original purpose for public education.  The magic that happens in these cafes is indescribable.  They make people feel safe.  They make people feel connected.  They make people feel seen and heard. Community cafes feel holy to me.  Each one a place for dignity and wholeness.  

Once the cafe closed for the day, we all headed over to Booneshine Brewery Company then eventually back to Kim’s amazing house to visit and eat more pizza because we had ordered pizza last night.  Rene brought out 2 enormous pizzas, salad, and beer out to Kim’s and we ate and visited until we couldn’t eat or visit any more.  So we tried to finish off a few more slices tonight while all four dogs wore each other out.

Kim is so great to open her home to us. We were able to connect to wifi and spent a couple hours on her couch snuggling all four puppies. This is Toby. Pipa didn’t want to be photographed.

Johnson City, Tennesseeeeeee

We woke up on the morning of Day 9 in the parking lot of a major microbrewery in Asheville, NC.  Thankfully it wasn’t because we had been overserved and needed to sleep it off!  We slept there because we found out they didn’t disallow it – and it seemed a way cooler (and quieter!) option than finding yet another Wal-Mart parking lot to park in.

Once again it was cold! So much for heading south to avoid the cool temperatures — it seems that the cool temps are following us everywhere we go.  There’s only been one day so far above 70 degrees, and each of the nights has had temperatures somewhere in the 40s or lower.  Good thing our teardrop doesn’t take long to warm up with 2 humans and 2 dogs inside.

The goal for today was two-fold – we wanted to make it to Johnson City, TN to have lunch at the One Acre Cafe.  This would be the 4th Community Cafe we’d see on this trip, and the 14th one we had visited overall.  Then after lunch we wanted to push on towards Boone, NC to spend the first of several nights with the friends that we have gotten to know over the years that run another Pay What You Can called F.A.R.M. Cafe.

One Acre was a really fun stop, and the food was wonderful!  The cafe is located on a main artery road a little outside of downtown Johnson City.  Their lunch offerings come in 3 different plate sizes, with suggested donations of $5 (small), $7 (medium) and $9 (large).  Between the two of us we managed to sample most of the items on the menu, and every one of them was very good.  Michelle Watts, the Executive Director of One Acre, spent quite a bit of her valuable time with us throughout our visit.  She gave us the full tour of their large building, including the attached garden area that was still producing a variety of veggies including tomatoes, eggplant and herbs.  They have been open to the general public since December of 2013, and as of their 3rd anniversary had already served in the neighborhood of 75,000 meals!  They serve lunch from 11am-2pm each Monday-Friday.  With 4 employees they do a great job of keeping the cafe running utilizing plenty of volunteer helpers.

After lunch we loaded back into the Narwhal (that’s the official name of our car if we haven’t mentioned it before) and headed towards Boone.  It was only a little over an hour’s drive, but the scenery was overwhelmingly beautiful!  Boone is a mountain town that they compare to Boulder, CO because of the climate, the attitude, and the university presence (Appalachian State University).  F.A.R.M. Cafe (more on that in tomorrow’s post) is located in the middle of the business district and very close to campus.  We pulled into town, and after circling the block once and not having any luck finding parking, our friend Kim jumped into the back seat and guided us to a nearby lot a few blocks away. After our initial greetings we ended the night by following Kim back to her house in the country (actually located in Meat Camp, NC) so we could park our car+trailer in her driveway and use her electric outlet to power our heater since the temperatures were dipping into the low 40s once again.

 

Progress Map

This map shows our progress so far.  We would include the path that shows our plan for the next stops — but we have no idea where that is yet!

Hello Asheville

We have been so excited to see this city since we started thinking about this road trip.  We have heard all kinds of great things about it.  When we drove in it was overcast and cloudy but the views were awesome. It is a beautiful area – mountains and trees everywhere.  The sun did finally come out but it was still colder than we expected. Not surprisingly, Asheville is definitely geared towards the tourist population. There are lots of high end restaurants and shops, but most of them are locally focused instead of the ubiquitous chain stores. We had a bit of trouble finding a parking spot for our car+trailer combo, but eventually we succeeded.  After finding a good cup of coffee from a double decker bus and doing a little exploring, we went to visit Rosetta’s Kitchen.  It offers a pay what you can dish on the menu. It was awesome to see a for profit business creating space for access to good food.  And it was good!  Brad had a grilled cheese and fries and I had a veggie burger and carrot sticks!  They even served local beer! 

While exploring we checked out a local outdoor gear shop and got advice on where to hike.  We even found a local co-op grocery store.  

We had to hit up a few breweries and taste some local craft.  One World Brewering was in a basement that reminded Brad of his college bar hangout.  We also got to taste a beer from Wicked Weed, Bhramari, Hi-wire, and ended up at New Belgium’s Asheville brew house.  It was a little taste of home.  

We also got to walk a labyrinth today which was a special bonus. We have a goal of finding one way each day to do a little self-care.  Yoga isn’t really an option if you are sleeping in a tiny camper and waking up in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  Meditation, hiking, writing, and labyrinth walking have been our favorites so far. 

Knoxville a.k.a. Emoryville

Emory was in bed when we arrived in Knoxville at Josh and Mary’s beautiful house.  They are gracious hosts and had dinner waiting for us and allowed our dogs to run amuck all over their house!  Dinner and conversation was amazing.  It feels like old times with these friends.  They moved from Denver to Knoxville months ago and it’s so good to reconnect.  We stayed up and visited until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.

Today we got to wake up to Emory’s noises from the living room.  He wasn’t that excited to see us even though I was his first official babysitter back in the day. We had pumpkin scones and scrambled eggs-both delish!

Mary, Emory, Brad, Leo, Gem and I loaded into her car and drove to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It was about a two hour drive in Mary’s new car.  We parked at the visitors center and walked the Gatlinburg Trail.  It’s one of the only trails in the park that allow pups.  It was relatively flat but had this great river that ran along side of it. We saw foundations and chimneys of several old homesites along the way.  We thought we’d see the leaves changing colors but they were still pretty green.  There was evidence of the recent fire in the forest with burned trees down every few feet.  It was interesting to see the difference between a burn area in Colorado and this.  In Colorado, burn areas are sparse and every tree is affected.  This area had many trees still standing with no evidence of the fire whatsoever.  Maybe because this area isn’t dry like Colorado, fire doesn’t cause as much damage here?

We had a great chance to decompress with Mary on our hike and drive.  Mary was involved with the cafe from the beginning and even worked for SAME as one of our very first employees.  She worked Saturdays for us for a good long while.  She shared many of her favorite stories and even still uses a leather key chain a guest of SAME custom made for her.  We talked about Carol S. and John just how much we have learned from so many amazing people.

We had dinner in downtown Knoxville at a brewery.  We got to try all different kinds of beer.  Emory was a trooper even though we kept him up past his bed time.  We ended the night with another round of visiting in the living room.

After another restful night, we finally made a plan to check out Asheville today.  So we spent the morning visiting with Mary and Emory and packing up the car.  Sam dog has been patiently hanging on out the sun porch this whole time.  She is not so happy to have to share her house with dog visitors but she handled it well.  I am sure she was glad to see Leo & Gem get in the car this morning.  

Hot chicken!

Our first stop in Nashville was great.  We found a pay lot that could accommodate our trailer (a big worry for us since Memphis).  We had a suggestion from a volunteer before we left Denver (thanks Bev!) that we needed to eat at Biscuit Love.  When we walked to the place with the dogs the line was down the block.  Our plan was to take turns in line while the other person walked the neighborhood with the puppies. As it got closer to our turn, we’d take the dogs back to the car.  Luckily, we have these amazing grates on our car, thanks to Mary Marinac, that allow the back windows to be down and air to come in so even on a warm day the dogs can hang out in the car.  Libby took the first shift and while she was walking the dogs near Vanderbilt University, Brad discovers Biscuit Love has a dog friendly patio out back – total jackpot!  Brad got his hot chicken and he ate most of my sandwich too.  I also had bonuts- biscuit donuts that were out of this world and somehow my Uncle Bill is famous here😜

After lunch we headed to the Southern Festival of Books where we saw some interpretive dancing performances and got to look at lots of interesting books.I then walked through the library which was beautiful and air conditioned (It is finally hot! We’ve been cold pretty much since we left Denver). We had the dogs with us and everyone wanted to pet them.  Someone even took their picture.  We saw 2nd and Broadway, where tons of bars and music venues are, and walked along the waterfront.  We heard live country music out of every bar we passed.  Nashville was a fun stop.  Each time we get in the car we try to do fun things to keep the adventure going-even while driving.  We have spent 38+ hours in the car so far.  We have made A-Z lists of guests from SAME Cafe who have impacted our lives.  We have been typing stories up so we don’t forget them. I have been reading aloud from a book that we got as a gift.  We have been playing “Bingo” – the yellow car game – right now I am winning.  We even figured out how to play Yahtzee in our cup holders.  This is so ridiculously fun! Now – on to Knoxville, TN to see our friends!

Jackson, TN

Upon leaving the State Park we weren’t really sure how far we’d get.  We wanted to make it all the way to Jackson but we were all exhausted from that crazy hike.  We decided to set a goal like I do when I am running – I pick out a landmark ahead and say, “you can walk at that fence post”.  Usually what happens is I get to the fence post and realize I can still keep going.  Or if I do stop to walk, I feel good about it because I accomplished my goal.  So we did that and set the goal of Memphis.  We looked up BBQ spots in our path and found Central BBQ only realize that we couldn’t park the car+trailer anywhere close.  Luckily they have a take out window where Libby went and ordered. She even got to taste a local beer.  She really ordered it for Brad but soon realized she couldn’t leave the ordering area with the beer so she had to drink it😜 Ribs and pulled pork with onion rings and macaroni & cheese in the car!  Delish!

We felt good and forged on to our friends Amy & Jim Crenshaws house.  Amy started ComeUnity Cafe four years ago and we were excited to see it.  Knowing they were closed on Saturday and Sunday encouraged us to keep on going.

They own a farm outside of Jackson with alpacas, chickens, dogs, and a bunch of kids.  We pulled in late and parked the trailer next to their renovated Airstream and house.  They were kind enough to have beer and warm showers ready and waiting for us.  

On Friday morning, after a great night’s sleep and a load of laundry (these guys are amazing hosts!), and feeding the chickens and alpacas (Polar Ice and Zima were our favorites), we got to head in to town to have lunch at ComeUnity.

Amy first showed us the garden just one block away that is still producing food for them.  Someone was harvesting radishes when we arrived.  We then went to the side door of the cafe because the front sidewalk was being torn up and redone by the city.  Apparently a tree had cracked the sidewalk.  There are probably 60 seats inside at 4 top and 6 top tables.  The table tops were crafted by Jim – Amy’s husband who is a very talented woodworker in his spare time! (Mom – he made this table at the farm from their old swing set! you would have loved their house and all the handcrafted furniture!there is a story for each one of the tables at the cafe of where the wood came from.)

We had a Grouper Rueben and a loaded potato grilled cheese, Caesar salad and chicken & dumplings.  Brad also tried the Cajun bean salad and the pork and sweet potato stew.  They do a suggested donation at the counter $7, 9, or 11.  They had tea, infused waters, and coffee to drink.

We got to sit through the entire meal service and see and meet all kinds of folks who work, volunteer, and dine at ComeUnity.  We met Tim, an ex-Olympic caliber boxer who has been volunteering there all four years. He welcomed a new fellow and showed him the ropes while busing tables.  Another elderly couple dines there almost every day and when the wife can’t come down the husband comes and picks up lunch for her.  A woman walking by our table said, “Doesn’t this place just make your mouth happy?”  Indeed it does and we’d add hearts to that as well.  It was a beautiful experience.

We were also able to hop on their wifi and get some more research done for the next phases of the trip.  We thought we’d hit a few more cafes this weekend but I think we have decided to head towards Knoxville and spend some quality time with Mary, Josh, and Emory.  With our plans somewhat finalized and our work done at the cafe – we got to sweep and mop- it felt good! We were off to pick up kids from school.

Our drive home was eventful with 4 kids from middle and high school.  We had some down time by the pond at Amy’s house where we fed the fish and tried to introduce Leo & Gemini to the chickens but that didn’t go so well!  Don’t worry – the chicken wasn’t physically harmed but he might have some nightmares.   Leo & Gemini got to hang out with Jed, Lulu and Rosie

(This is Jed and Rosie)and watch the alpacas and chickens from afar. Amy made an amazing pork stew with cranberries and oranges served with rice for dinner. Andrea, another ComeUnity Cafe friend, came out and visited with us around the campfire and we had s’mores and some tasty Seersucker Gin.  It was a beautiful night of sharing stories and dreams for community cafes.  We are so lucky to have such amazing friends in our lives.

We left Amy’s house after packing up the camper and saying good-bye to the menagerie of life at the farm.  I am writing this post from the car on the way in to Nashville to have lunch.  So far our crazy road sightings include 2 large tarantulas, 2 armadillos, a leaning water tower, and just now the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile!

Cedar Falls

We woke up next to the beautiful lake.  By the time we got up, there weren’t many campsites being occupied.

We registered at the Visitor Center and paid our $15.44 fee for a site with electricity and water!  We found that to be cheap especially since there was no fee to enter the park.  Most parks in CO charge at least double that and a fee to enter the park itself.  We grabbed trail maps and went back to the campsite.  The start of the trail was over 3 miles away so we packed up and headed to the lodge in the car.

We were able to hang out in the lobby of the lodge and use the wifi for the first time in a few days.  We got caught up on emails and uploading photos.  (We added new photos to some of the old posts and fixed it so that the pics aren’t double- sorry about that!). 

This park is beautiful.  It is between Ozark and Ouachita Miuntain ranges-tiny mountains compared to what we are used to.  It is very wooded and rocky with some awesome rock formations.  The lodge is rustic and built from stone. Most trails were created by the CCC and have been beautifully maintained.

We took a trail to Cedar Falls which was marked strenuous and we’d say it lived up to that marking.  In skiing terms we’d label it a blue run.  It was popular though.  We met lots of people who were surprised by Leo and Gemini’s skill level hiking.  The first half descended down quickly through rocks cut by the CCC more than 60 years ago.  It was a long switchback of tall steps.  Leo & Gem scaled the rocks like old pros.  After crossing a crazy single bridge (Leo had to be carried – he hates walking on things that can be seen through-sounds a lot like someone else we know but she did walk across the bridge).  The creek was on our right for about a mile to the falls which were very pretty but apparently not as pretty as they are with full water running through.  It is a very dry season which was obvious by the later of dust we are bringing along with us.  Leo & Gem met a butterfly there too!  
At the crazy bridge we saw a sign marking a trail to Blue Hole.  Our last Blue Hole was a disappointment so we had to see if this one made up for that one (although it was fascinating that it was really deep and clear).  After seeing the falls and making it back to the crazy bridge (which from this direction had a sign that read  in big red letters “limit two people on the bridge at once” – yikes!  Maybe this sign should face both ways.  Libby took the dogs on to see if this Blue Hole could redeem the last.  Brad went back to the campsite to pack up because we had to check out by 3.  We debated staying another day but really want to get to Jackson, TN to have lunch there tomorrow.  They are not open on weekends.  This Blue Hole was nothing special either!!!  Disappointed but well exercised – we met up with Brad back in the parking lot only to break the glass of his fancy GPS watch-sadness!

We then drove to the overlook where we could see the falls from the top.  It was a beautiful way to exit the park.  I wish the pictures could do this park justice.  

Day 4 - fifth state

Another night in a Wal-Mart parking lot! This one in Enid, OK. We slept next to a small cluster of trees that, unbeknownst to us, was the night roosting spot for approximately 9000 blackbirds. They tried to sing us to sleep but after a while we resorted to earplugs to shut out the noise.

We woke up to the first humidity soaked morning of the trip – though I’m sure there will be plenty more of those. After packing up we headed back over to Five80 Coffeehouse where we got to sit and chat for a couple hours with Sarah, the organization founder. We got to hear about many of the programs that they have and the driving forces that made them want to start such an impactful endeavor. 

Once we were inspired and sufficiently caffeinated, we hit the road and headed East towards Tulsa and eventually Petit Jean, Arkansas, our next designated sleepover spot.

After hours of flat land, we drove up a winding road through beautiful trees.  This is the park that we heard about from fellow campers in CO and decided to add it to our list.  It is so pretty here.  We arrived to find the campsites full but luckily there is overflow camping.  We found a site near the water and unhooked the camper for the first time this trip.  Brad set up the spot while the dogs and I explored.  We went for a late afternoon hike and met lots of dogs and their owners.  Leo & Gem met there first white tailed deer friends.  They were in too much of a hurry to pose for a photo. There is a beautiful paved trail that we took for about two miles.  We are  excited to try and bike it with the dogs tomorrow and maybe do a longer hike, too.  We ended the day in our new double camp chair at the waters edge watching the sunset.  Following the sunset we played a game of Rummikub in the camper (Brad won!) before lights out.

Day 3 – more driving than I like!

Last night we went from Santa Rosa State Park where we were originally going to spend the night to Portales to have dinner with Brad’s Aunt Joy and cousin Gay Beth.  We would have enjoyed seeing Steve as well but he was away with work.  Gay Beth made us spaghetti and veggies and chocolate chip cookies.  It was fun to hear all about the great grand baby and have the dogs play with Sam and Chunky.  We parked the camper under the carport at Aunt Joy’s house and snuggled in.

In the morning we got up after a chilly night in NM and showered and packed up.  We drove to the Critter Camp Bark Park in Amarillo which was awesome (and we were the only ones there!)  and then did some “hiking” on the Rock Island Rail Trail with the dogs.  We expected more scenery – it was pretty much a sidewalk on the side of a major road.  We did our first real walk with the backpacks.  My neck hurts but it was fun!

We got back in the car and started toward Enid.  We found the leaning water tower and a rest stop with a small dog park for Leo and Gemini.  Now we are just cruising along and are ready to be out of the car!

This part of OK is much prettier than I expected it to be.  There is tons of trees – evergreens!  And rolling hills.  I had no idea there would be a pretty part to OK.

We just left Five80 Coffee.  It is adorable inside!  They are open until 8:00 at night so we had hot tea and coffee.  They are located in the downtown area and the building is awesome!  Just what you picture when you think of old downtown areas, high ceilings and apartments upstairs.