Week One in Iowa
We’re settling into things here in Iowa, that “good place to grow” (Iowa state motto). It’s been a warm week with some highlights here:

Highlights (as usual, after the first entry, the others are in no particular order):
1. Hanging with my dad, seeing the family, of course (both my Grandmas are still doing great, living on their own at 96). Grandma Edna (paternal side) lives on the family farm, and has been there since she was two. Grandma Weidler (maternal side) lives in town (four miles from the farm), and has been there since the early 70s, when she and my Grandpa retired from pastoring the country church my dad’s family attended.
2. Driving tractors. We all have been (Andy and Matt drove yesterday while we were picking up rock – see below).
3. Driving trucks (new and old). There are many opportunities to shuttle folks back and forth to the various jobs to be done, and trucks are usually involved (although my favorite farm “truck” is my dad’s new one – which is actually my Grandma Weidler’s 1987 Reliant K car - for those of you who listen to a fine Canadian band, you might be humming “If I had a Million Dollars”). Andy learned to drive the old truck out in the wide-open cleared bean fields, a very safe and soft place, with few things to run into (except rocks – see below).
4. Riding in the combine with Uncle David (my dad’s brother) – Uncle David patiently puts up with his city-folk kin coming out to ooh and ahh at the work of the big John Deere equipment (while there is a Case/International Harvester dealer here in town, the Drapes (pronounced “droppee” in Iowa), are a green family (which in Iowa means John Deere)).
5. Watching Grandma Edna mowing her lawn on her John Deere.
6. Eating Grandma Edna’s serious home cooking comfort food (she still cooks enough to feed the threshing crew).
7. Hauling beans (soy beans, of course… corn will be in a week or so). Uncle David drives the combine, which “picks” the beans, shells them, spits the stalks and pods out the back, and stores the beans in the hopper of the combine. When that is full, he’ll unload into a grain wagon. When the grain wagons are full (they hold 600 bushel of beans, which at 60 lbs/bushel makes a nice 32,000lb load), we haul them over to the grain bins (the auger moves all those little beans up, up and away), and leave them until they are sold.
8. “Harvesting” rock – Iowa fields grow a great variety of granite, ranging from the nice fist-sized 3 lb variety, up to the truck-sized versions. Most of the Drape (remember, say “droppee”) fields have been cleared of rock for years now, but a few years ago Uncle David and my dad bought Lorenzie’s farm (cousin to Grandma Edna). Lorenzie was not the careful farmer that the Drapes are, and there has been some work (ie harvesting rock out of the fields) to bring the ground up to good farming standards.
9. Watching the Wartburg College football team (my Mom’s alma mater, and the local college here in town - go Orange!) beat rival Luther College up in Decorah on Saturday.
10. Farm cats… There aren’t any farm animals on the farm any more (like hogs or cattle – cousin Adam raises hogs a few miles away, but that may be worthy of a later entry), just a dog (see #11) and a bunch of cats (who are supposed to eat the little critters of the farm). Grandma Edna’s cats are working cats – meaning they don’t have any time for humans. They eat her food, and do their work, but don’t wait for them to come and rub up on your leg, because they won’t. This is troubling news for Matt, but fortunately we have Uncle David and Aunt Phoebe’s cat kingdom to make up for this. They have lots of cats (a newish litter just arrived), and many are willing to enjoy some human loving.
11. Maggie, the dog – Uncle David and Aunt Phoebe’s loving black lab, whose car-chasing prowess is unmatched, though will prove to be her demise, as she “chases” from the front…. It’s quite unnerving, even when you know she is going to do it, as she bobs up and then disappears. She can go 25mph, and usually moves off to the side of the road when you’re driving faster than she can run.
12. The upcoming birthday party for Grandma Weidler (my mom’s mom) and her twin, who will be turning 97 on Oct. 5.
Thanks for listening. I’m sure there’s much more to tell (more than you may be interested in hearing). We’ll keep you posted….





Andy and Matt harvesting rock...

Chrissie and Chris unloading beans.

Grandpa Gene, Chrissie, Maggie and Andy.

Soy Beans!

arrival in Iowa

We made it to Iowa, and what will be our longest stay in one place (4 weeks) until we head back to Bend in March. We got here Monday evening, about 8:30 - after a solid 850 mile drive from Boulder. The trip went quite smoothly, given the almost 13 hours we were in the car together. We'd like to share here some guidance on how to survive such a journey:

Andy:

9/18/07 How to Survive an 850 Mile Car Trip:
1. Try to leave very early. That way you will sleep for the first 2-3 hours.
2. Bring a long, good book.

3. Try and occupy yourself not using any games, books, music, etc.

4. Bring video games. The really do help you pass the super long time in the car.

5. Good music. You will have to listen to it quite a bit.

6. Talk about a lot of stuff - the time will just waste away while you are talking.

7. Bring good car toys. They have to be small enough to fit in a backpack. They also have to be really fun to play with. If they aren't, you will get very bored.

8. Take naps. If it is only 30 minutes, that is 30 minutes of time closer to the destination.

9. Bring some sort of work. If you say, "I will write for 20 minutes," and you write for 20 minutes, you are 20 minutes closer.

10. Bring snacks. Sunflower seeds work very well. You start concentrating on eating, and the time flies by.
11. Take rest stops. They really help. You can stretch, eat, etc.

If you follow these guidelines, your trip will go by very quickly.

Matt's contributions to surviving were:
1. Sleep for 4 hours.
2. Bring 7 books.
3. Bring a Game Boy.
4. Sleep more.
5. Eat.

6. Radio.

Mom added...
-listened to NPR whenever we could
-listened to 3 hours of This American Life podcasts (on Andy's ipod) - thanks Steffen!
-ate our pb&j lunch at 9am

-stared out the window

We had a wonderful time in Boulder - enjoying Will and Beth's house and dog, while missing them, getting to spend lots of time with our friend Bill (seen here with us all playing Texas Hold'em using office supplies for loot),

cruising out to Erie to see Chrissie's college roomate, Sherri, and her family (Tim and TJ),

AND taking a Sunday morning drive down to Colorado Springs to see a statue dedicated to the grandfather of Mom Wilson, William Seymour, the first African American to serve on a jury in the El Paso County court house.

We found a CCDA church in Denver, Agape Christian Church, and made it back from Colorado Springs for the 11:00am service.

Here in Iowa we already started into the bean (soybean) harvest, but are on hold today on account of rain. We'll give you the skinny on the harvest soonly.

Be well!

Books We Are Reading...

Here is the ongoing list of books we are working our way through as part of our adventure. We welcome any additional suggestions any of you have for us. The names in parentheses after the book indicate who has, or is currently, reading the book. Please do not draw unkind conclusions from the fact that "Dad" appears after very few entries (I'm sure it is due to the fact that the books I am reading are really long and complex).

THE WORLD

Adventuring With Children, by Nan Jeffrey (Mom)

Family Travel: The Farther You Go, The Closer You Get, edited by Laura Manske (Mom)

One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind For a Round-The-World Journey With Our Children, by David Elliott Cohen (Mom, with lots read out loud to all)

How To Travel Practically Anywhere, by Susan Stellin

Rough Guides: First Time Around The World (Mom and Dad)

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time, By Jeffrey Sachs (Dad)

Lonely Planet series


THE UNITED STATES

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown (Mom reads aloud in car)

Nisei Daughter, by Monica Itoi Sone (Mom, Matt)

Takini: Lakota Boy Alerts Sitting Bull, by Kenneth Thomasma (Mom, Andy, Matt)

Soun Tetoken: Nez Perce Boy Tames a Stallion, by Kenneth Thomasma (Andy, Matt)

Amee-Nah: Zuni Boy Runs the Race of His Life, by Kenneth Thomasma (Matt)

The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan (Andy)

Billy The Kid, by Robert Utley (Andy)

The Company of Wolves, by Peter Steinhart (Dad)

Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama (Mom)

Under The Blood-Red Sun, by Graham Salisbury (Andy, Matt)


SOUTH AFRICA

Biko, by Donald Woods (Mom)

Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane (Andy)

Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela (Mom)

Chain of Fire, by Beverly Naidoo (Mom, Matt)

Cry, The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (Mom, Andy)

Journey to Jo’burg, by Beverly Naidoo (Mom, Andy, Matt)

No Turning Back, by Beverly Naidoo (Mom, Andy, Matt)

Out of Bounds, by Beverly Naidoo (Dad, Mom, Andy, Matt)

The Power Of One, by Bryce Courtenay (Andy, Matt)


TANZANIA
(suggestions...?)


MIDDLE EAST

Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East, by Sandy Tolan


CAMBODIA

The Clay Marble, by Minfong Ho (Mom, Matt)

Little Brother, by Allan Baillie (Mom, Andy, Matt)

The Lost Executioner, by Nic Dunlop (Mom)

First They Killed My Father, by Loung Ung


INDIA

The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy (Mom)

May You Be the Mother of 100 Sons: A Journey Among the Women of India, by Elisabeth Bumiller (Mom)

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai (Mom)

Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming) Highlights from Boulder, Colorado…

Well, we’re back in the land of connectivity, here in Boulder, CO. We rolled in last night at about 7:30, after a pleasant 500 or so miles from Cody – the 75 mph highways make a wonderful traveling feature - 300+ pronghorn along the way, not to mention more cattle than we can count.

We’re staying with our dear friends Will and Beth, except we’re not, because they had to leave (their house in North Carolina finally sold… so a little unfortunate timing… the saving grace being we’ll see them when we roll back through in October), so we’re hanging with Blondie (their sweet 14 year old lab who is currently sleeping by my feet) and our other dear friend Bill. But let’s play a little catch-up on our last week or so. There is way too much to try to explain, so here are some highlights.

Yellowstone highlights – in no particular order
-One 17-degree morning – a frosty wake up from our cozy little tent (the nightly condensation was frozen…our smallish 4 person backpacking tent did the trick, mostly) – It did warm up during the day, and most of the days were quite nice… in the 60s and sunny.
-All the animals
A gazillion bison
2 wolves
4 red foxes (though it might be a double sighting of the same one…)
4 coyotes
Some deer
Lots of elk (including the one bull elk that wandered into our campsite the first night, and sat down about 100 feet away while we ate dinner, bugling every now and then).
6 or 7 big horn sheep (female and young ones… so no big horns)
3 trumpeter swans in an early morning fly-by
2 pronghorn (see above regarding the real pronghorn sightings…)
Lots of hawks, osprey, eagles, ravens, crows, gray jays, magpies, a kestrel, some mountain blue birds, geese,
A few fish (none caught)
Lots of bear tracks

Lots of scat (including some mountain lion)
And 1 BEAR! (black, we believe… but we didn’t hang around long enough to make introductions)
-The hikes! From the heights of Mt. Washburn (10,243), to the grand canyon of the Yellowstone, to the petrified trees of Fossil Forest, to the bear of Clear Lake… Lots of miles of incredible things.
-Campfires out of necessity (to keep from freezing… literally)
-Wolves howling in the night
-Elk bugling all around
-Thermal features (the boys can tell you the difference between a geyser, a hot spring, a mud pot and a fumarole (steam vent))
-Fishing the Gibbon River
-Watching bison, elk and coyotes from our campsite

-Drape Academy in unusual places (everything is a field trip!)
-Opening our canned goods with a hatchet and pry bar (resourcefulness is a virtue…)
-… and… My simple pleasure - Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap – an all-purpose camping essential (wash your dishes, your body, shampoo the hair and brush the teeth!). I am very pleased to say that I went the entire week at Yellowstone NP without showering – just my daily stripped-to-the waist scrub downs with the Dr. Bronner’s J.

So these are my musings from the week. I’ll add some thoughts from the rest of the family’s journaling here.

Matt: 9-7-07
“We hiked Mt. Washburn today. We saw 4 big horn sheep, a red-tail hawk and a bald eagle. When we reached the top the view was amazing. When we were driving up to Mt. Washburn there was a bison in the road.” [editorial comment by the father – we were driving along the road, and saw a couple big piles of bison evidence in the road, which we were chuckling about, until we came around the corner, and there the author of such was, lumbering along the highway, quite content with that trail. He was playing a little chicken with all us drivers – walking right down the middle, and whenever a car would try to squeeze by on one side or the other, he would sidle along that direction. We joked that it must be his day to be out entertaining (teasing) the tourists….]

Andy: 9-8-07
“Today we saw a black bear. We were out hiking. We were on the Clear Lake trail. We had already seen a dead hawk, 2 red-tailed hawks, many paw prints, and lots of scat. At first we saw an animal. Then we thought it was a bison. Then we realized it was a black bear. We started making lots of noise. We got out of there in a hurry.”

Chrissie: 9-11-07
“It was cool driving through Hayden Valley at 6pm and again at 8pm. The bison had taken over the roads, we saw a bald eagle, an elk walking down the middle of the Yellowstone River, two bull elk “battling” on a hillside and a red fox crossed the road. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time, which means lots of time in the park.”

Back to now…
We’re here in Boulder for the weekend, then have a good 800-mile driving day on Monday to get us to Grandpa Gene’s in Iowa. They’ve already started harvesting the beans (soybeans), so we have to get a hurry-up on and get there. We’ll update you all from there (unless we get the urge before then). We miss Seattle, but are having a blast – so far we’re not tired of each other!

Blessings!

Boise, the first day of school, and onto Yellowstone

This will be a bit of a limited entry this morning, as I am working on very sketchy web connection here... so the pictures will have to wait until later.

We're heading into Yellowstone this morning, for a glorious week of adventuring (hoping that the highs will reach 60, the lows won't drop too far below freezing, and that the snow holds off... and I'm not kidding). We won't have internect connection for another week or so, so we'll update then.

The last two days have been quite wonderful. We spent Tuesday night in Boise, in the midst of a wacky dust storm, and got to have a Red Robin dinner (Tuesdays are Kid Night in Boise), complete with the weird bird thing and a nice old balloon man.... The real joy of Boise is that we got to take Kendra Kemp (friend, and sister of our former housemate Amber) along with us to Red Robin (she's a student at Boise State - go Broncos!)!

Yesterday was an emotionally complex day, if there is such a thing for us, as it marked the first day of school in Seattle. We are missing our Seattle friends and family, but wouldn't trade this adventure for anything. We'll add more on this, when we have more than a dial-up connection.

Peace!








The boys and their first day of school pic, next to their traveling classroom....

High Points From Shasta...

We're back from our week's adventure with the Austin clan at Shasta Lake. It was HOT, but the salvation was being on the water - always a chance to dive in and cool off. We'll each weigh in here with favorite moments from the trip.

Andy:

One of my favorite things about Shasta Lake was when I figured out how to water ski. I had been trying to water ski for quite a while. I finally water skied on the last day we had the speed boat. Once you get up, you feel really good about yourself. The first time I got up, I fell after about 12 seconds. Next, 20 seconds. Then, 45 seconds. Finally, I was up, and stayed up. Water skiing is very fun.

Matt:

Lake Shasta, CA. It's the first day on the houseboat. I do like having the ski boat. It is very fun when we attach an innertube to it, and when you hit a wave, you go flying. I got a good three feet out of the water.

Shasta Hot Spot, by the Mother:

There were many highlights of our time at Lake Shasta - good food (such as alphabet pancakes...), hanging out with my family, floating in the bays, learning to play Texas Hold 'Em, waterskiing. But what sticks out most in my mind is the funny night we slept out under the stars.

It was hot, hot, hot on the lake - in the 100s during the day, and 70s at night. The last night we just couldn't stand sleeping inside, even with the windows open, so we dragged our mattresses onto the deck and all four of us slept outside. Initially, the stars came out, and we pointed out the constellations that we knew. Then we fell asleep. The very full moon came out and was shining brightly on us all night long. At one point in the night, Matt woke up and said, "Why is the sun shining in my eyes?" Later, at about 5am, Chris and I both woke up. We were looking up at the sky and realized that a family of bats was doing fly-overs just a foot or two above our faces. We started giggling, which woke Andy up. He stood up to go into the boat to use the bathroom, and I yelled, "Get down!" Then we were all three wide awake and laughing. We didn't get much sleep, so it's good to be back in Bend where it drops into the 40s at night.

The Father:

I was going to write about our bat adventure, but my lovely wife beat me to that. I will add that yesterday morning, the Bend newspaper had a front page story about a woman bit by a rabid bat - it flew in her window while she was sleeping, and chomped away. Had we read that article BEFORE our little bat adventure, I don't think we would have enjoyed the show quite so much.

My contribution here will be the summary of those offerings we made to the Lake... I like to think of them as our payment to the Lake itself for the privilege of our use. Day 1 - Uncle Mike's expensive sunglasses - whipped off Andy's head by the tow rope (I don't really mean this, but it would have made me feel a little better if Andy would have at least ended up with a good scar as part of the story). Day 2 - Matt's goggles and Grandma Fran's walkie talkie - both gave in to the subtle and strong pull of the lake while someone was not quite paying close attention. Day 3 - Andy's goggles - as he tried to rinse them off in the lake while cruising at approximately 20 mph. Clearly, all of these things are replaceable, but it makes me thankful for dry ground, where I at least have the general opportunity to pick things up after I drop them....