time+effort+love=beautiful beer

Our kitchen is now a brewery. Jones is working on this third batch of beer. batch1 - a pale, just bottled today. Batch2 - an amber, primary fermentation "tank", batch 3 a cherry-vanilla mocha stout mid-brewing - WHAT?! Last night we went out and tasted an old recipe he brewed years ago for an asheville brewery - a vanilla, cinnamon winter ale. It was delicious!! I loved the way the vanilla added to the smell and taste.

Life in NC - update

We've been in NC for a couple of months.  I'm working on my carvings (www.kjwright.etsy.com), jones-y's brewing beer, and we're both building "earthship" homes.  For some information on how these are built - http://www.earthship.net/buildings.html.  The current project is out in the sticks.  Here are some pictures.  We usually stay in a cabin on the property during the week, making it back home once or twice a week for a couple of days.  I'm looking forward to flying out to Oregon for a month to snowboard and hang out with Dagan.  Life is pretty damn good . . .  

Day 8

Headed down into Ohio and Kentucky. Will be in Tennessee shortly and if all goes well, Asheville! Cleveland, Ohio is sure a gem. One big dirty city with a big ugly nuclear plant puffing welcome "steam". Kentucky is really pretty, heading into a more hilly area now just before Tennessee. Will head into Knoxville and should hit Asheville 2hrs later. Had a blast with Reuben's family last night. They're just good ol' Indiana folk. Had discussions of interpreting horse-kissing dreams, the importance of John Couger Mellencamp, beer and where the farmers hang out for breakfast.

Day 7

Tough night last night. Slept in a rest area and all night my stomach was killing me! Didn't quite feel right heading out in the rain and darkness by myself since this was a busy rest area near chicago, so I woke poor Reuben up around 3am for a security escourt. Ugh, hate being sick on the road. Slept while Reuben drove the first 1/2 of the day and felt much better by early afternoon. Finally crossed the great Mississippi river. Officially in the East. Stopped at a truck stop after Indianapolis and showered. Oooooo buddy I was never so happy for a shower! Made it to New Castle, Indiana, the birthplace of the infamous Reuben J Jones. Hung out with Jones-y's uncle Rod & Danny, his aunts Ellen and Ruth, cousin Kendra, and of course his grandma Frost.

Day what?! What's today?!

Oh boy, if you love corn. . . this is the place for you. Not only are there fields and fields and fields of corn (with a few soy beans scattered in between) but there's even a corn palace. Yup, a corn palace. World's only infact. Lucky us, we got to see it up close and personal. We've become storm chasers today, finally gave up any hope of sunshine and stopped in Des Moines area.

Day 6

Woo buddy! Close to the end of our $, the end of our gas. . . but goin' strong. Hit Sturgis, missed the bike rally by a week or two. Crazy little town has a bar on every corner, and a few every other store front. Excuse me, a Saloon, not a bar. Enough tattoo and piercing joints to choke a pony. There is this crazy bar called knuckles that is tiered and looks like a biker-good-time.

Standing inline at the post office a crusty ol' biker type walks right up to me, puts me a little off guard by the little personal space he gave me, "you are so beautiful!" . . . pause . . . stare . . . "my goodness", then walked out the door. Crazy bikers! Explored Sturgis a bit then hit the road. Stopped in the middle-of-no-where-south-dakota at a rest stop to take a breather and noticed (thanks to a passer-by) that we had a flat tire on the trailer. Ugh. Took the tire off, threw it in the truck, disconnected the trailer, drove to the next town, had an ol' farmer at the farmer's union oil fix it for us, then drove back, put the tire back on. . . . and we're off. Minus extra funds and gas, still smiling. Found lovely Al's Oasis, parked out-back, and smiles are much bigger. Hoping for Indiana tomorrow or the next to visit Reuben's gram and other relatives.

Not only are we still talking to each other, but we're having a lot of fun. Who'da' thought?!

Day 5 8/24/09

Hard to leave Wyoming high country. It's incredibly beautiful. We both want to come back and backpack and climb. The cliffs, mountains and meadows are unreal. It looks like something from the movie Heidi, in fact Jones-y suggested we yodel at one point.

Then moved into the boring part of wyoming. Flat, flat, flat, flat. Will stop near sturgess, SD tonight probably in the bad lands. A few bikers passing us on their way to Sturgess for the big to do. Charging up cameras now at the truck stop so we can get pictures of the biker spectacular. Got all kinds of inaudible advice from a crazy ol' cajun trucker.