Our first major stop was in, drum roll please… Russell, Kansas. Trinity just had to stop in the town of her family name, so we wandered around town for a while in the car, looking for a good brunch spot. As we were driving through the square we kept hearing a weird noise coming and going through the cracked windows, so we slowed down to see what it was, and lo and behold it was Meat Loaf playing on the Russell, Kansas Square integrated surround sound system: “Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night/I can see paradise by the dashboard light.” We drove around a bit more and found Trinity United Methodist Church, so Trinity had to go take pictures of the church named Trinity in Russell, KS. As we swung back around to the square to ask somebody where the heck we could find breakfast, Meat Loaf was still singing, “Praying for the end of time, It’s all that I can do-oo-oo!” Not exactly what you expect to hear while you’re driving around the prominently proclaimed hometown of Bob Dole.

Finally, we found someone who directed us back towards the interstate to Meridy’s Restaurant and Lounge. I had seen it before, but for some unknown reason I have a subliminal aversion to the word “lounge,” especially after driving by the constant back and forth between billboards for strip clubs and porn shops, and those that warn of the danger and evil of such places with Bible verses attached. Missouri and Kansas seem to have more of this billboard debate than any other place I’ve driven through. “Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.” Anyway, does anyone else think lounge sounds dirty? Trinity thinks I’m crazy. Turns out, Meridy’s is of course just the local diner, which was exactly what we were looking for. So we started off the trip with a low carb (not) breakfast of pancakes for Trinity, and biscuits and gravy for me. If you’re headed through Kansas, this place is worth a stop, but only if you make the short trek over to the square to see what's spinnin’.

After brunch at the lounge, back on the road. Our original thought was to stop for camping pretty soon after crossing into Colorado (at Bonny Lake) , but since we woke up and left hours ahead of schedule, plus time change of an hour, it was only 1:30 or so local time when we got there, so we decided to keep going. And if you do a little math, guess what time that puts us into Colorado… Yep, you guessed it, rush hour. There are two state parks in the Denver area, at least that seemed to make sense for our camping needs, so we had a hint of a disagreement about which way to go, but we were practicing our vacation attitudes so it wasn’t too bad.

We started creeping towards one, but traffic was really slow, and we needed to get a few more supplies, so we took a break to shop at a Target (our one and only national chain stop the whole trip… well, other than for gasoline). After gathering a few things we needed and heading back to the interstate, traffic in the direction we had been going had not changed a bit, but back toward the other camping option looked more promising, so Golden Gate Canyon State Park won our patronage for the night. And we were both glad it worked out that way. It was a beautiful drive, if not a little nerve racking in our four cylinder Scion xB, curving and climbing through the mountains to get there. Between Target, traffic, and twisting tardily through the turns, it was getting dark quickly, and raining a bit too, and it was our first night camping in a while, so we were rusty at getting things out and up.

We cooked and ate dinner in the dark, and shivered through the cold night (we were prepared for a cool night at Bonny Lake, but the rain and clouds up in the mountains put us about ten degrees cooler than expected), but it was a beautiful night and morning warming up by the fire before the second leg of the drive on Wednesday. And the best part was, it was all going shorter and sooner than expected. It’s amazing what having a leisurely attitude can do. Usually when we make trips I get all frantic about when we leave and annoyed about how much we have to stop, and we still end up later than expected, but tone that down a little, or a lot, and it turns into an enjoyable jaunt and we’re there before we know it.

Earlier this summer we had decided, even though for the first time we both actually had paid vacations, we would spend that time here in KC, chipping away at our ever-growing list of open projects at the Honse homestead. While in many ways it would be nice to have had some more extended and focused time to work on some of these projects, I think deep down inside we both knew that we needed a break from those very same things! Our list is going to ebb and flow, but it is not going to ever be finished, so if we’re waiting until it is, we’ll never leave the house. So, we put that list aside and made a new one of places we could go and how we planned to pull it off.

I am serious about making a list. Trinity has been a list maker for as long as I’ve known her, and in fact it was probably the first thing she did when she learned to write! And now she’s got me doing it. Every time we start to talk about something I say, “Let’s make a list.” I do it mostly because I have a horrible memory for details, and I think we both think pretty visually, so if we don’t see it with our eyes it doesn’t really click in our brains. So, our camping road trip started with a list, specifically, a Google Doc list so we could both edit it and access it from our computers since most of our research was being done online, only during lunch break at work of course.

Years ago when Trinity and I were just dating, I went to the Grand Canyon on a long road trip with Justin Gross and, you know, I was so enamored and in love (talk about sappy!) that the whole time I was thinking that I wished Trinity was there to see this amazing place with me. (I am happy to report I still feel that way. It is rarer that I take a trip like that without her anymore, but in Honduras in January I wished many times that she was sharing the experience.) So while I was at the Grand Canyon, I bought Trinity a little map/log book about the National Parks and said I wanted us to go visit as many of them as we could together and fill out this log of our journey. Trinity’s AH intern Kari suggested that we check out Arches National Park, and I am so glad she did. It was the perfect place to begin our journey of visiting the National Parks, and it is close enough to Canyonlands National Park that we could start off by visiting too parks in one trip.

As we made our list, we decided that a big part of this getaway would be an exercise in patience, flexibility, and not having too much of a plan. We mapped out our driving route and researched a few different camping options along the way, but we didn’t make any reservations or plan to push our driving time too far. It’s about a 14 hour drive, which splits nicely into a two day drive at a pretty leisurely pace.

The original plan was to leave on Wednesday, but as we sat at work on Monday with half of the stuff packed already and the Wild West calling our names, we decided we couldn’t make it through another day at our desks, so we finished packing Monday night and went to bed excited about heading out early. We woke up and some ridiculous time like 4:30am and tossed and turned, trying to get back to sleep. Finally around 5:30 or 6 we gave up and decided we might as well just get going. Our first opportunity to be flexible and have fun doing it!

Renewal, Utah

Monday, August 3, 2009 (Trinity is 26, Tim is 28)


You might not think of the desert as a place of great renewal – windy sandstorms; twisted gnarly juniper trees; prickly cacti; scorpions and rattlesnakes – but that is exactly what the canyons and mesas of the eastern Utah desert was for Trinity and I last week: Renewal.

We had no idea how much we needed this retreat when we began talking about a road trip just a week or two before leaving. Sure, vacations are nice, and we got excited planning where we would camp out and what sites we would see, but before long this quickly planned vacation became for us so much more than that. I am not sure how well either of us can describe the depth of our experience, we’ve already had a hard time telling others about it, but I need to write about this for myself, and so, since I am putting it on (digital) paper, I figure I will share it too.

Part of what made the experience so momentous for us was that we read The Time Traveler’s Wife together during the trip. We have enjoyed reading together, and/or listening to audiobooks, since our long drives back and forth from Georgia to Missouri to visit family when we lived in Atlanta, so as soon as we began planning the trip, one of our questions was, what will we read together? I’m sure I will say much more about this beautiful story later, but for now, an introduction:

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this, but the thing that got me interested in this wonderful book was seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation. I had judgmentally (and wrongly) assumed negative things about the sappy romantic nature of the book when Trinity had picked up a copy of it at a rummage sale, but the movie trailer made me rethink the book. The book is certainly romantic, but not even remotely sappy. It is romantic in a genuine and profound way, at least to me as I have experienced life and love.

Another way I would describe the book, which is what got me interested, is subtle science fiction. Again, not hokey sci-fi, but natural, believable, lifelike, and extremely intelligent. The characters inhabit a world only slightly different from our own (in which one of the main characters is plagued with chrono-displacement, or uncontrollable time travel), but the book is actually a timeless story about the people who live in this world, their relationship, personal journeys and struggles, love and commitment. It is a deep and moving story that I have been thinking of since we read the last page in eastern Colorado on the way back on Saturday. Something about the combination of being on the open road, and then the spacious and awesome Utah desert, without a schedule, just the two of us, at this present moment in our relationship and individual lives, made this story reach inside of us and grip us in a way neither of us have experienced for a long, long time. We are so thankful, and almost speechless about it.

Reading this sweeping life story of these two best friends and lovers has reminded me how much I love to write and tell stories, and so I am inspired to record this incredibly meaningful and reviving road trip to Utah. This week as we get back to work and routines and slowly unpack the mound of campfire scented supplies, air out the tent and sleeping bags, and sweep the left over terracotta colored sand from the living room floor, I need to do the same kind of careful unpacking of our experience. This is it.

I made it into a New York Times article today about going without air conditioning. Check it out!

Summer is flying by

I can't believe it's July already!

Most of my work ends up happening on the computer, so when I'm not at work I don't feel so much like computer stuff, so the blog is suffering. Especially with so much gardening to do!

There has been a lot going on in our lives though that is worth blogging about. June was a busy month. I went to Jefferson City for the Missouri Poverty Summit, for stimulating discussions and presentations about the issues surrounding poverty and ways we can continue working to end it. We drove out to Parker Farms for the annual CSA get t0gether, and then one more time to fulfill our delivery duties. (CSA means community supported agriculture.)

Last week (the week that was 10 or more degrees over the average for June) I got to get out of this office for the week and paint houses. Jewell and the Center for Justice & Sustainability sponsored the Matthew 25 Project for which we partnered local groups from different racial, economic, and religious backgrounds from throughout Kansas City to join together and paint houses for some folks who couldn't afford it, thus preventing them from getting ridiculous fines from the city. Yes, the city writes citations for having chipped or peeling paint. I know because we currently have an outstanding citation on our record! We'll let you know how that works out for us.

Last weekend Trinity and I headed to St. Louis for my 10 year high school reunion. It was great to see so many old friends from high school and catch up with what everyone's been doing.

The highlight of the last few weeks has been the KC Center for Urban Agriculture's Urban Farms Tour. We went to a couple of seminars about different aspects of urban gardening/farming, and visited a few city farms too. Our wheels are spinning with crazy ideas of turning our backyard garden into a working farm business, and we've even been looking at empty lots in our neighborhood for expansion! Just to whet our appetite a bit, we have planted way more sweet potato slips than we could ever eat on our own (if they do well), so we might have some sweet potatoes for you to buy this fall. We'll see!

I Need a Break!

I am taking some vacation days this week and am very excited! This is the most days I have taken off in a row - I know I need help =)

What do I plan to do with my time? I have thought of a few things so far:

• Blog
  
• Make jam with our homegrown strawberries
• Read "In Defense of Food"
• Clean out our third floor room of crap
• Take naps
• Paint the outside tables and chairs (maybe if it doesn't rain)
• Drink coffee on the front porch in the mornings
• Go to the neighborhood meeting
• Volunteer at Cherith Brook
• Go to a farmer's market
  

I have a tendency of making lists beyond what is actually doable but this is fun list that doesn't need to get done. Those are the best kind!

This weekend we took it a little easier than we do sometimes. Trinity went to a conference about medical missions Friday & Saturday and got a lot of inspiration for working toward her nursing degree. We had a great time celebrating Matthew's birthday over a bonfire Friday night, and then went to the Parker Farm's meat CSA picnic with the Sweetens on Saturday. I made some progress on the yard and garden Saturday & Sunday, but didn't push myself too hard. (I even made time to watch one of my childhood favorites Crocodile Dundee Saturday morning!) Sunday morning we went to the Quaker meeting and participated in our first Quaker wedding. Afterward we stocked up at the library, did some housework and then layed out on a blanket in the yard with our new books. We rounded out the weekend by watching a new favorite movie: The World's Fastest Indian, based on a true story about an old man from New Zealand who came to the US in the 50s to break the land speed record for motorcycles. The story is that for the small size of bike that he customized so well no one will ever beat his record!

Earthquake in Honduras

We woke up this morning to news of a major earthquake in Honduras. The 7.1 earthquake had its epicenter about 80 miles off the coast of La Ceiba - one of the cities we have visited many times during our Jewell trips. Because of the severity of the quake, the effects were felt far and wide, killing one boy so far, and knocking down bridges. Many of the cities and places mentioned in this AP report are right where we were just a few months ago, and where a few folks from Jewell are scheduled to head tomorrow morning.

We do not have word yet how this has effected our friends at Proyecto Alcance or at the village of Embarcadero.

6 years!

Yep, that's how long we've been married. So far so good! After reflecting upon it, Trinity and I are glad to report we're both still happily married and planning on many more years together.

And, that's also how old Twister is. He's getting up there... but still going strong. He's not as hyper as he used to be, Allison & Wes can probably attest to the difference (and I must say, thank goodness), but he still just loves having company over, especially when there's food to steal. And I think Agnes keeps him feeling young.

Inside Joke

We just got a great forward from someone in our neighborhood that I thought I'd share with the blog.

Grilling tip

Spring is here, so it's time to get ready for that time honored cooking technique of outdoor grilling!

I have just found out there are many stores where you can get a FREE Bar-B-Q grill! In these tough economic times free useful items are very welcome. You can get a free BBQ grill from any of the following stores:

A&P
Albertsons
Costco
Dan's
Food Lion
Fry's
Home Depot
Big Lots
Brookshire's
Lowes
Publix
Safeway
Sam's Club
Tesco
Target
Vons
Trader Joe's
Wal-Mart
Winn-Dixie


I especially like the higher rack -- which can be used for keeping things warm!
Just make sure to get a metal one... The plastic ones don't do so well.

We're big fans of reusing things at our house, so you might see one of these next time you come over!