Set a fire in your heart

Aloha!

Unfortunately we were evacuated from the farm in Escondido yesterday as large wildfires raged and swept across the county. Luckily, our home is on wheels. And we weren't taking any chances. So we drove up about an hour to meet our good friend Julian in Orange County. We were just in time for a full moon drum circle in Laguna beach! It was a beautiful celebration of life and a miraculous change to an eventful day. Today we checked out the Ecology Center where Julian has been volunteering, it was amazing! They are doing lots of great things there like educating children on food, water, shelter and waste management. Then we hung out all day on the beautiful beach of camp peddleton. We are definitely enjoying our time here and feeling a bit more like a vacation :) but we do hope to make it back to the farm to continue our work there, hoping everything is ok!

Peace and blessings until we speak again ;) 

Wildfire smoke from Sky mountain institute. 

Dancing to the beat of the communal heart! 

Geodesic greenhouse and the ecology center! 

From farm to table!

Artichoke blossom.

Tiki garden by the ocean ~ 

Buildadome

Sky Mountain Institute is doing some pretty amazing things here in Escondido! They offer courses in Expressive Arts therapy and workshops on many different fields of permaculture and sustainability like rainwater harvesting and earthworks. We were lucky enough to get to help build an Earthbag dome. It will be used as a temple when it is complete. The process includes mixing the materials, bagging them, and using the compass (pictured below) to correctly align the bags to create the dome. Eventually the dome will be covered in plaster and the bags will no longer be visible. The dome is so strong already its incredible! 

Building an Earthbag Dome! A sustainable home created with sand and clay found in the local environment. They can last 500 years with proper care. 

Community workshop day at Sky Mountain Institute!

So heres an example of sustainable, affordable housing. Unfortunately most states have laws against people living in earthen structures such as these... in California you are only allowed to build an earthbag dome that is 120 square feet. If these laws were to change imagine the possibilities! 

So we write

So we write about our journey, to share that when you jump into the cold water--things seem to grow out of it. While there have definitely been moments--like when I saw a flock of older folks coming out of the Fry's parking lot we were napping at in Yuma--the question floats through the mind -- who is our community now?  Why is there no one like us, this parking lot is full of oversized RVs and the only thing for miles is sand and asphalt. 

Have we fallen into the "retiree" category ? Are we just content with seeing, but not doing? We're now just on the Silk Road into the sunset, alls good and Rosie! 

Well, not quite. Romantic and all, but while we can use our bodies, explore them, the dimensions, float, wander unknowingly miles into the ocean...and think once we've returned to shore, or maybe even, the next day-- we were way out there! But why not float way out there, when you have the means to return? 

So we did and drove on up to Escondito California. Many thanks to Lynn, Laurie, and the awesome things they have have going for them in San Diego. Make sure to visit Art Produce on University ave if traveling through. 

We are here now, on a beautiful permaculture ranch, the Sky Mountain Institute. A fellow by the name of Alden has been kind enough to clear out a space for our trailer for the time being. After erecting a cloud of dust and thrusting the trailer and vehicle in reverse up the dirt driveway, we settled into our comfy little abode and began decompressing from action of the city. 

Alden is working on some extremely fascinating projects here, collecting rainwater through a few different techniques, settling ponds, roof catchment, and hoodoo structures. He's finding ways to use the water around his property that would of otherwise just wasted off down the streets or eroded other landscapes. Today we moved a few tons  of clay from the bottom of pond (it's currently dry, no snorkels this time) to a nearby earth bag dome structure that he's been working on. Without going into to much detail, it's a modern, simplified way of building adobe or ram earthed style structures. The bag acts as a form, as opposed to heavy and less appropriate technology based structures.  The only imported item is the bag itself. A book on the subject is Earthbag Building by Kaki Hunter & Donald Kiffmeyer. 

So far, our travels have taken us to some great places. It's a true blessing to be able to give back to the communities that we pass through. We hope it continues this way and our luck with crossing paths with such remarkable folks carries on! And on! 

Great beer at this archetectural masterpiece--Mike Hess Brewing in North Park, San Diego

Will we ever return? 

This is what I look like napping in Yuma (photograph was not taken in Yuma)

Books books books--the Rollin' readers, we are. Thankk youu Ms. Lynn. 

Cool shot out of our window-Escondito,CA

Candlelit dinner

Thanks for reading, check back soon for more exciting content--see ya next time! Adios now! 

Unsurpassed since 1931!

Kyle found this cool old ad for the Airfloat! Skipper is still going strong, ours was built in 1952.

San Diego, me encanta

Sunshine, surf, and sand. Southern California has been a pleasant surprise. Our first day here we went straight to Ocean Beach, a little piece of San Diego that seems to be stuck in the 60's. Since we missed that time period we were transfixed by this easy-going, laid back style. We hung out by the beach all day, and Kyle even took a dip in the freezing ocean! The city is so big and buzzing we weren't sure where to park Skipper. But we found a sweet, peaceful spot next to a small park and a community garden. The next morning we woke up to light-hearted humidity and birds chirping outside of our windows. We rolled out of bed and straight into the garden for visitor day. We were gifted berries and fruits from the farmers' plots and had a great time exploring the fertile landscape. The next day it was time to meet up with a friend of my mother's who lives here in S.D. Lynn lives in North Park, a hip, also relaxed neighborhood with lots of breweries, restaurants, and shops. The homes here are all beautifully designed, and are like viewing architectural history.  Lynn owns an art gallery/ garden called Art Produce on University Ave. this is an amazing place if you're even in San Diego you've got to check it out! She is an artists herself and a very inspiring person to be around. Lynn has made us feel right at home here and we could not be more grateful. She's even letting us use her sea kayaks today! There will surely be more pictures to follow that adventure :)

Awesome planters at art produce.

North park street art. 

Beautiful orchids in Lynn's backyard sanctuary.

Heavy metal in Ocean beach. 

Don't save us! 

Walking the beach in Encinitas after a lovely lunch with Kyles family! So nice spending time with Azmina and the Jims! 

Cool rock formations on the beach.

A flower tree! 

Hess brewery. Another architectural phenomenon. We had some great craft beer here. A pumpkin stout and a dark fig saison :) yum. 

This is an older picture of a horse smiling at me in Julian, Ca. I thought it needed to be shared for obvious reasons ;)

Off to kayak in the ocean! 

Much love from Madz and Kyle

Welcome home

Hello out there! We sure have had luck these first few days on the road. Yesterday as we were leaving Pine Valley we saw a sign for Organic Produce, if you know Kyle and I, you know we had to pull over for that. As we walked up a long driveway to a house on top of a hill we were surrounded by bright orange California Poppies. The land here is so fertile even in high elevations with pine trees. We met the farmer Tomás who showed us around his property. He had a few small greenhouses, raised beds and compost bins- we felt right at home. He was also a wood worker and nature photographer! We would have loved to stay and work on the farm with him but it was pretty small-scale, so we are still on the look out for a farm to work on. The mixed greens, Swiss chard, and Oyster mushrooms he shared with us were so delicious. Tomás reccommended we take the drive through Julian. I'm so glad we did. On our way there we stopped to watch the sunset and enjoy a glass of wine by lake Cuyamaca, which was like heaven on earth. There's nothing like high elevation lakes surrounded by pine trees and mountains :)

A cool garden in a canoe. 

Some starts to be planted after Memorial Day. 

A herd of deer crossing. We also saw wild turkeys on the side of the road. (Forgive the blurry cell phone pic)

View from the rear view :) 

Alright well we're off to San Diego and beyond! We'll try to update again soon. 

California

Well here I am doing another early morning post. Not much to report this far but I had the time so I thought I'd share. Yesterday we drove from Gila Bend to Pine Valley, California. Pine Valley is a small town close to Julian and about 35 miles outside of San Diego. We were planning to go all the way to the beach yesterday but we seem to have an affinity for mountain towns. Pine valley won us over as soon as we walked outside and felt the wind and warm sun in the air, the grass on our toes, and saw the pine trees above and mountains surrounding us. Its a very quaint and cool town so far! The drive through the desert to get to the coastal areas was intense! I've never seen such rolling sand dunes followed by mountains of rocks on either side of us while we were winding up a 3,000 ft. gradient. We passed through a part of the desert that began the elevation gain and saw a sign that said "Turn off A/C next 10 miles to avoid overheating". This was a little bit daunting because we were pulling a heavy trailer up a sharp long hill with very high winds. We made it, chugging along at a comfortable 40 mph. Japanese cars are the best. Anyway, when we made it to the top of the elevation change we were very relieved and ready to get out of the car for a bit. So we stopped at an observation tower at the top of the cliffs but it was closed due to high winds. Turned out the winds had been about 100 mph that day, pushing against us, and had knocked out all surrounding power. 

Here's the lookout from the observation tower deck. We drove from those wind turbines and beyond!

Here's us doing some much needed yoga at a park in Pine valley. 

Pine valley peaceful evening. 

Shine on you crazy diamond.