Posts filed under ‘On the Road’
“Unbreak my heart”
Our last morning of Wanderlust 2008!
Erin here- Kathleen is singing Toni Braxton (oh yes, she’s magically tonedeaf!) and we’re all sitting around the breakfast table musing on what these final hours of the tour feel like. Kathleen’s friend Mona (our fabulous SheBeast volunteer van driver for the day, i.e we all want to bike into NYC together) asked if we think we’re in the best shape of our lives. A whole slew of answers is given- not just a resounding yes. ( I would say my thighs have never been so girth-y and phat -a significant fact from a soccer player of 23 years). So yes on my last morning I’m musing on how strong (physically and emotionally) I feel and being reminded of how I’ve changed. At the start of the tour I rode fast!, pounding along the route. But by this point i’ve slowed my pace way down. strolling and dancing on bike (yesterday we enjoyed mad nineties tunes through philly- our Sound Can is fixed and restrapped to the back of Nora’s bike Rhonda- thanks again Petri!), trying to take it all in. i feel powerful, full, confident and able to stand back and pause thanks to Wanderlust. This makes me stronger as a leader, a group member, an artist, as a community organizer, a critical voice, and as a woman committed to anti-racist work . I feel more competent and find myself looking at experiences in a comprehensive manner- I’ve been forced to accept the glory and the flawed nature of something large, complex and ultimately satisfying b/c of the inherent beauty in the dialectic. My heart and head have been trained to work together in a whole new way. Yes! I return to another world and have decided the only way to re-enter is to ride into New York in the Amphibian suit!!!
In Philadelphia, and almost done
It’s Nora, bringing you, once again, some morning group blogging, this time from (k)notsquat, the fabulous collective that has been our home in Philly. We’re just two days of riding and less than 100 miles from New York City, and it feels strange and unexpected, to me anyway, to be so close to the end of Wanderlust. We had our last meeting in Philadelphia last night, and it was incredibly inspiring to meet the activists and educators who came out to talk with us. The meetings were an experiment – both in whether or not we’d be able to organize meetings in cities we weren’t from, in places we’d never been to, and an experiment in creating space. It always felt to me like I spent so much time working with people that I never got a chance to talk to them about why they were there. I don’t know what kinds of connections or realizations will come out of the conversations we’ve had, but I do know that I come out of every conversation feeling like there is a movement, a network of people working together to create a world in which women have the resources they need to make healthy decisions about their bodies and their lives.
Mel here, *drafting* off Nora’s thoughts (see bike nerds, I AM learning some lingo). Someone at last night’s meeting said they were feeling depressed by the state of affairs in Philly and they wanted me to tell them an inspirational story from somewhere with a “stronger” movement than Philly. I responded that the inspirational thing for me was not a particular place per se but the fact that people came out in each place we passed thro and opened themselves to meaningful exchanges. In every single meeting, people came to talk about their struggles to promote healthier bodies and lives for women, and they came open and willing to connect with each other as well as with perfect strangers from out-of-town (who on top of it all probly didn’t smell very good). In almost every place, people expressed a sense of isolation. I tried to explain to the group I was talking with last night the kind of feeling it gives me when I move thro community after community expressing the same sense of isolation and yet there are all these people at all these meetings, and they’re doing and thinking and going against the grain of their community’s espoused values. That’s the heart of it, for me anyways, and I look forward to spending more time thinking about Wanderlust and all the ways that it has inspired me.
Kathleen here!–I’m almost home to New York….its so close its as if I can taste it! The ride into Philly was really long….a 70 mile plus day of up and down hills IN THE RAIN and without food for the first 6 hours of it. I was soooo tired at the end of the day. I was a bit skeptical when I got to this place we are staying but then I warmed up to it once I found out more about what this house is about….Yesterday I spent part of the day checking emails and relaxing!!! I later biked thru Philly and visited a medical museum that was pretty cool….but overpriced. I then went shopping for a new outfit (all my clothes are so nasty…plus I needed an outfit for our New York welcome back party). Our meeting that night was jam packed with interested people from the Philly area who are interested in what we are doing. One of my mom’s friends, Ruth, came and it really meant a lot to me. Later we went to a bar and the chef gave the pizza to us to for free! That was really nice 
We were all giddy and I got up and started dancing and as Erin was spinning me I fell FLAT on my face and almost hit a table. Everyone at the bar stopped. Good thing I wasn’t hurt too bad. Only my pride was bruised a little, lol…. My knee hurts, I have like rug burn now! We met some cool girls from Drexel last night at the bar, and they danced with us and got caught up in all of the craziness of us wanderlusties. Wow…..I’m really sad…
More to come, from the rest of the crew, but now we’re off to Princeton!
hello from our last and final campground
This is Nora, bringing you morning blogging from our last morning in the great outdoors. We are all sad, says lizbrite. No we’re not! Says Shelby. We’re at Susquehanna State Park, hovering on the edge of Delaware on our way to Philadelphia and our last meeting.
Bugs seem to be our theme today. Mel is tired of bugs crawling her feet, and our breakfast has already been inturrupted several times by various species of bug. During the thunderstrom last night in our tents, the bugs decided to take shelter in our teents with us.
Speaking of thunderstorms, one of the reasons we haven’t written in a few days is that riding into Baltimore was a near death experience. We were late getting into the city because of spills and flats, and as we were riding into Baltimore city limits the threatening clouds opened up and suddenly we were riding through a deluge. It was the first time that any of us had ever biked upstream.
As we were riding through the city, sopping wet, a person on the sidewalk yelled out, hey, are you wanderlust? Once again, our fame preceded us.
We’ve been highly negligent in posting about wanderlust, and we have reflections about our meetings in chapel hill, washington dc, and baltimore, as well as stories from some crazy adventurous days of riding. Hopefully when we get to Philly we ‘ll have some storytelling time.
We had a shorter day of riding than planned yesterday because we had trouble tearing ourselves away from Sugar, Baltimore’s favorite feminist sex store. It’s the only place in town that has adult sex education classes and also provides information and resources about sexuality in a safe and non judgmental environment. If you’re in Baltimore or DC, you should definitely check it out – sugartheshop.com
Things we lost on the road
It’s Nora again, bringing you Monday morning blogging.
After a thunderstorm last night that turned out to be not nearly as severe as the weather advisories said it was going to be, we’re eating breakfast at Falls Lake State Park under a clear blue post-storm sky, and I’m eating salmon cream cheese, which is delicious. In honor of the fact that my tent (which has been with me for several years and many bike trips) almost got lost in Chapel Hill, this morning we bring you a blog about things we’ve lost on the road.
Before we begin, though, I would like to state for the record that I don’t think you get electrocuted if lightning hits the lake when you’re swimming. Any meteorologists out there want to chime in?
Because I’m writing, I begin with me. So far, I’ve lost one tent (recovered), shampoo and conditioner, 1 yellow sarong, and 1 diva cup (left in the hotel in Birmingham)
Mel hasn’t lost anything yet. Except her modesty. She is very lucky.
Becky so far has lost:
1 biking glove (1 day old)
3 towels
3 bike socks
1 rearview mirror
We hang our laundry on the roof of the van to dry every day, and apparently Becky’s towels were not such big fans of that. I did recover one pair of her socks on an overpass in Alabama – we’d ridden by, and my thoughts, as I pedaled, went like this: “Wow, that’s a nice pair of bike socks. I wonder what it’s doing on the side of the road.”
…
“those probably fell off the van.”
Heather doesn’t think she’s lost anything but sleep, so far, and Stacey claims to have lost one argyle sock, which we think is highly suspicious given that there is no good reason to even have argyle socks on Wanderlust.
There are also lots of things that get lost every day and refound – the van keys, the can opener, the bike tools box, the lighter for the stove. We thought we lost the bug dope box one day, but it turned out it was just in the van.
Elisa has lost the use of her camelbak because of – and there’s no other way to say this – cat pee. It may actually not have been a cat, but something definitely, emphatically, undoubtedly peed on her camelbak. She washed it in vinegar in Charleston, and now it smells like vinegar, and also still like pee.
Lizbrite claims not to have lost anything, and we’re thinking about looking in her bag for all the stuff we’re lost, because she’s got a suspicious little smile on her face.
Kathleen may or may not have lost anything, (we’re not sure because she’s still sleeping) but she did find her dog, Diamond, at the goldfish farm in Bunnlevel.
Vanessa and Elisa found a parrot at the Recyclery in Carrboro, but I’m relatively convinced that it’s actually my parrot which someone stole off my bike in New York City a few months ago. It was probably a traveling child caravan that then ditched the stolen goods in the woods of North Carolina.
Horses and Goldfish……
It’s Nora, bringing you Friday morning group blogging, from a goldfish farm that is also a horse farm.
No one is entirely sure how we ended up here, but here we are – in Bunnlevel, North Carolina, at the Little River Trails horse camp and goldfish farm. We’re sitting in an enormous square dancing pavilion with more picnic tables than we know what to do with, and we realized last night how drastically our standards have fallen when we’re excited that a place we stay has both more than one shower and more than one electrical outlet. We may never leave.
In our last two weeks, we are traveling through almost as many states as we’ve passed through in the first three and a half. More than anything, this trip has Abeen a lesson in geography, and it makes me think about the ways that physical space determines our reality. A shocking amount of the country is full of not a whole lot, and we’ve spent more time than not traveling down deserted rural roads through farmlands and past abandoned country stores. Over the next two weeks, though, we’ll be riding into the Eastern Seaboard and thickly settled suburbs, through almost a state a day.
So from Wanderlustland, our thoughts on geography and the places we’ve been.
Mel and Elizabeth here, who don’t like Fayatteville. We had to ride Critical Mass thro the city because the cars apparently didn’t believe it possible that single file bicyclists and two lanes of traffic could coexist. And even the fuzzy navel sno-cone that Elizabeth got was gross. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Grapefull Sisters Vineyard is a Wanderlusty favorite. It was located in coastal North Carolina, and could be described as Paradise. We REALLY wanted to stay there forever! Amy and Sheila told us about their adventures taking out cotton on the family farm to replace it with native Muscodine grapes, which they then used to make amazing wine. We know, we got to do a wine-tasting. Sheila is getting into the SLOW food movement, and told us about her efforts to support and promote locally grown wines and grape varieties (check out ncwines.org). Amy stood in her kitchen while we were sampling the Southern Charm variety, and told us how she had hammered nails and set installation in every wall of the house, although we don’t know who installed the Futuristic Robot Shower and Bath Tub. It was complete with flashing blue lights, music, a radio, a mysterious lady bug button that we never figured out, shooting jets in every direction, and at least three Wanderlusties at any given moment (to save water, duh!).
Elizabeth says we find ourselves so much in the moment from place to place and the trend is for us to feel so elated when arriving safely at the next destination that we say “this is the best yet. Let’s stay here!” This has something to do with the weird way we experience time here, which is as a continuous time warp. Heather says “every day is a full experience unto itself and unique from the previous.” When trying to explain the nature of time on the trip, Elisa joined us to say “It’s like time is inverted and making love to itself.” We don’t know what day of the week it is, or what hour when we arrive at camp at the end of the day.
Mel loves watching the moon, which looks a little different from every camp site. Because we’re outside all evening, we can even watch it move across the sky. Other natural phenomena enjoyed by Wanderlusties are the Atlantic Ocean at Myrtle Beach, the varieties of birds and their night calls, and the insects.
Becky now…We all have different feelings about the bugs. Every location has its own variety of mosquitoes, ants, bees, beetles, moths, spiders, and odd flying creatures. We’ve all been bitten by mosquitoes and ants and hardly recognize our own legs because of the bite scars. The South Carolina mosquitoes were fat and black and totally immune to DEET. The bumblebees in North Carolina are huge. Horseflies sometimes follow us as we bike, nipping at our backs. But some of the night creatures have been fascinating and beautiful.
Speaking of night creatures, we heard our first bobcat cries when we were at Jones Lake. They sound like screaming women and it’s pretty spooky.
Here at the fish farm, we’ve enjoyed watching beautiful eastern bluebirds who have taken to dancing around the mirrors of our van.
Because we each take a turn driving the van every couple of weeks, it’s become clear how differently we see the world on bicycle than in a car. From a car, one sees lots of billboards, but from a bicycle those are barely noticed. Instead, a cyclist notices the road, its bumps and curves and hills and trash. A cyclist notices flowers and trees and cows and dogs and ducks. When driving the van, we mostly see buildings and road signs and distant landscape. It’s fun to travel so slowly, waving at people on their porches and appreciating what a diverse country we live in.
Vanessa Renee here now. Watching the landscape change from fields to trees, from skyscrapers to old abandoned barns is my favorite part of each day’s ride. Arriving at Grapefull Sister’s Vineyard two days ago to a beautiful view of corn fields and grape vines is a memory that will stay with me for a long time. Amy and Sheila have created a little piece of paradise on the land that I can’t wait to return to some day.
Shelby Knox, chiming in this morning. I left Texas for New York City about a week after graduation, happy to leave behind the politics, some of the people, and the long, hot, never ending stretches of road that dominated my childhood. Riding through South Carolina and then North Carolina, I have experienced an unexpected nostalgia biking past farms with flags and people waving from the porch, and going into the only grocery store in town, knowing that the owner will relay our visit to his family over dinner because we were the only outsiders to pop in for the day. I find myself for the first time since I moved away starting sentences with “In Texas, we…” or “Because I’m from Texas…”.
I feel in my bones and heart the gentle hospitality, the willingness to help, some of the judgment and the same fascination with people whose reality is almost unimaginable, which I felt for the first time when two New Yorkers came to my small Texas town to tell my story. I couldn’t imagine their life, or what mine would be just five years later, but I suddenly saw that my reality did not necessarily hold true everywhere – and set off on a journey to discover as many realities as possible, intuiting that was the way to make the world a more just place in some small way. This journey led me to feminism, to progressive politics, to the reproductive justice movement, and eventually to Wanderlust, where my reality has coincided with that of nine other amazing women, each of whom has taught me so much already and who I am honored to pedal, discuss, disagree and grow with everyday. Just as the geography changes as we ride, I can feel the geography of my heart and mind expanding, becoming hilly and mountainous in some places and flat and calm as the old Texas roads in others. I want to thank each Wanderlustie for creating a space in which this is possible – and encourage all of us and every person reading to continue to look past your own reality and inside of other people and their worlds. This is amazing, and there is no place I would rather be.
Kathleen here! Geography…hmmm…. Myrtle Beach was a challenge for me. It was so busy and congested. We busted out about 25 miles or so in a urban area crossing over in dangerous traffic on highways and bridges. I never felt my heart beat so fast before in my life! I loved the difference in scenery when we made our way to the Grapefull Sisters Vineyard. It was all pure farm land. Though I consider myself an “urban gal” it kinda made me want to settle down some place quiet and live on a farm and bake pies! The journey to the horse farm was not so peaceful. I had an anxiety attack biking through the thick traffic. It seemed as if the drivers wanted to drive us off the road! Why can’t we all share the road?
Speaking of the horse farm….This nice lady pulled up on a golf cart with a little brown dog. I asked her what kind of dog it is and she said she had no clue but the dog showed up about a year ago. (I’LL UP DATE MORE ON THIS STORY LATER WHEN I HAVE MORE TIME TO TYPE….)
Today we are making our way up to the Chapel Hill vicinity and I’ll blog later on what the terrain was like!
