Organize!

Thursday evening we heard the most inspiring speaker, one of the most awesome community organizers, Lois Gibbs. She was an unsuspecting housewife in the city of Niagara Falls in the 1970s, completely dedicated to taking care of her husband and children, until both her son and daughter became extremely sick for no apparent reason. Long story short, it turns out her neighborhood was on top of a toxic dump site called Love Canal, which had completely contaminated all of the homes and schools in the area. She ended up organizing her entire community around the issue and ultimately, after a huge fight, the governor relocated all of the community’s families. The way she told her story was absolutely inspiring and brought everyone to tears. She was incredible! And she’s the biggest Green Corps fan! We were in the room with a bunch of other organizations but she gave us all kinds of praise. :)

Lois Gibbs. And look at that picture on the podium... LOVE IT.

The rest of this week in training has been awesome. We’ve had so many awesome speakers and training sessions. I’m learning a ton. We also got to hear more about campaign cities today. Turns out there’s a BUNCH of cities on the West Coast that we’re getting sent to this fall—Seattle (!!), Eugene, Santa Barbara, and LA. I kind of don’t think they’ll send me to any of those cities but it would be totally awesome if they did! I’ve decided I really would like to work on the Fish and Water Watch’s Fair Fish Campaign. I’ll tell you more about that later… So if I wasn’t in any of those four cities on that campaign, I’d be in New Brunswick, NJ or Portland, ME.

Well friends, that’s all for now. I’ll write back soon!!

Until next time!

Boston!

Hey friends!

I got to Boston on Thursday and just had my first day of training, so I’m going to take a break from road trip stories to fill you in. I’ll do some more road trip reminiscing when I have more time.

Derek and I arrived in Boston Thursday evening. Lots of traffic during the drive that day, unfortunately, but we made it to the hotel and checked in. It’s the same hotel that I’m in for the training so I got to check it out a little early. It’s super nice and seems pretty close to a lot of things, although I haven’t gotten explore too much of the area yet.

Derek and I were able to find the cutest little French restaurant nearby called “Petit Robert Bistro.” I thought it was perfect because as some of you may know I had the nickname Little Bob when I was younger… But it was an awesome, delicious restaurant and a perfect place to hang out on our last night before Derek took off.

Petit Robert Bistro

Then, yesterday was registration for Green Corps. I was SO nervous and also so convinced that I would have the most luggage out of anyone… But so far it’s been really great. The people I’ve met have all been really interesting and fun. I was also a little worried about sharing a tiny little room with three other girls (2 double beds! Ugh!) but so far it’s been fine. I really like all of my roommates and we seem to get along super well so hopefully it lasts!!

Today was the first full day of training. We had a little intro about what we’ll be learning in the training weeks, then we heard about the creation and history of Green Corps, and finally in the afternoon we had a 2.5 hour session on recruitment. I was terrified of recruitment before, but now it doesn’t seem quite as bad… This morning they also gave us a schedule of the training sessions… and a schedule of social events, which I thought was kind of funny… and awesome. ☺

I’m looking forward to the rest of the sessions and getting to know everyone better. It really sounds like it’ll be a fun couple of weeks at training.

I’ll try and keep you posted as often as possible!! We only have one internet chord in our hotel room (seriously what kind of hotel is this??? No wireless? What? And they also are supposed to charge $13 a day for internet!… ridiculous) for four people. Miss you everyone so much!!

Until next time!

Some good old Midwestern hospitality... and thunderstorms.

Once we finally made it through South Dakota, we headed into Minnesota and then north towards the Twin Cities and Wisconsin.

One of the better state signs of the trip if you ask me...

As we headed into the Twin Cities area we started noticing some ominous thunder clouds. I wasn't too worried until we started seeing lightning in the distance... And then some raindrops here and there... And then all the sudden it was a torrential downpour and there was lightning all over the place. Of course by this point I was driving. Just my luck! As if it wasn't terrifying enough, a HUGE lightning bolt came straight down on the highway about a mile or two ahead of us. In retrospect, it was really cool. But at the time it most definitely was not.

After a while the rain stopped and we headed into Wisconsin. The rest of the drive was cake after that and we rolled into Eau Claire around midnight local time. We stayed at my friend Nikki's house (from school in Seattle), who treated us to some good old Midwestern hospitality. Grilled chicken skewers, asparagus, and peaches were waiting for us when we got there! It was a very relaxing stay.

The next morning she showed us around the little city of Eau Claire. It was very cute. So cute, in fact, that they had music playing in the streets of the downtown area. It was very dramatic classical music. I felt like I was in the middle of an emotional ballet.

We also walked down near the waterfront where there was the most delicious looking farmers market going on. Dare I say it looked even more delicious than the farmers market in Seattle?

A cool bridge in Eau Claire.

Thanks again Nikki! We had a great little stay. I only wish we could have hung out longer!

Until next time....

Day 2: Avoiding helmet hair and getting stuck in Midwestern thunderstorms.

Day two of driving all day:

We set out from Gillette well-rested (yay best hotel ever!) and ready for another long day. This time with another ambitious goal for the day: Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Did you know Wyoming has red highways?? No, not from roadkill (but there was a lot). It's because clay in Wyoming is red and they use it in the asphalt! (Well actually, I don't know that for sure, but I decided it made sense.) Depending on what direction you're driving and the time of day, it's either more red in front of you or behind you. Pretty cool.

We crossed into South Dakota...

I realize these state line photos are not the greatest....

...and headed towards the Badlands. On our way there, we passed through Sturgis, home of the Sturgis biker rally (this year is the 69th anniversary!) We were really excited about passing through Sturgis, but were a little disappointed because besides all the bikers on the highway, we didn't see much. Seriousy though, I've never seen so many bikers in my life as I did in South Dakota. Literally they're everywhere on the highway and then you pass into Minnesota and they're instantly gone (although later in the trip we did see two groups of Hell's Angels on separate occasions... scary but awesome).

But more unbelievable than the number of bikers in South Dakota is the number of bikers in South Dakota that DON'T WEAR HELMETS! What are those people THINKING?!? Clearly they're not because they're driving 80+ mph on the highway with NOTHING. One guy didn't have a helmet OR a shirt. Maybe they prefer the wind-swept look to helmet hair? Those long white ponytails must be beautiful upon arrival to the rallies and the biker bars!

Anyway, Derek was a little hasty with the navigating so we ended up taking the long way around Badlands National Park. It was still scenic, but most of the time we were pretty far away. We didn't go straight through the park until the very end. If we had done the actual "scenic route" we would have gone straight through the park for about 60 miles starting in Wall, SD.

The Badlands were beautiful though. I highly recommend that everyone visit at least once in their life. If you do go, I just ask that you watch out for the plague. We found this cool sign when we pulled over to take some pictures:

Known plague area. Really? The plague?? That still exists?! Well, yes, apparently it does.

So far, I think we managed to avoid catching it. Phew.

Oh yea, and here's some other pics of the Badlands:

Our first stop was a little far away.

Much better...

Seattle representin'!

Because of our navigational mishap, we missed out on Wall Drug. According to anyone who has ever driven through SD, Wall Drug is strangely fascinating and definitely worth a stop. Apparently they have stuffed jackalopes. I was pretty devastated that we missed it. Oh well, next time.

The rest of South Dakota was really not as bas as everyone makes it out to be... Yes, it's straight, and flat.... but it's not THAT bad. And you can ogle at the bikers with no helmets. Or be terrified of them, like me.

Until next time!...

Gillette, Wyoming... And you thought the razors were good...

Besides the car trouble, the roadtrip has actually been fantastic. On day 1(.5) the scenery was gorgeous. Montana was beautiful... and they have AMAZINGLY cheap food in Billings (the capitol). We went to Montana Brewing Co. for dinner, exhausted after about 12 hours of driving and a couple more to go, and were shocked that our actually delicious pizza, burger, and two salads were only 20 bucks total!

Then, we hopped back on the highway and continued the next 3 hours to Gillette, Wyoming... Best. Hotel. Ever. It had a water park!! (Little did we know this would become very common in hotels from then on...but at the time it was awesome!) And wonderful mattresses! And perfectly firm pillows! And cool decorations! I've never slept so soundly or fallen asleep so quickly in my life. Fairfield Inn, Gillette. If you're ever passing through, I highly recommend it. They even gave us $20 bucks off for no particular reason at all! I almost went so far as to write a review online... Almost. And the complimentary breakfast was actually decent, minus the fact that they were playing Fox News.

Despite the 15 hours from door to door, day 1.5 was probably the most beautiful portion of the drive we've had so far. Soon, I'll add pictures and tell you about the rest of our days...

Until next time, friends....

Dear Corolla, thanks for your support

I realize I'm a little late here, but since we've driven 2,600 miles already, I figure it's about time I wrote a post about our road trip....

Let me begin by saying, my car has been fabulous ever since I got it. Fabulous. Not a trouble in the world..... Until the day I decide to start driving across the entire country.

As I mentioned before, the road trip got off to a late start... About 24 hours behind schedule, I finally finished moving and cleaning my apartment. I don't quite know if "finished" is the right word, but I was finally satisfied enough putting the keys in the kitchen drawer and closing the apartment door. #305 is sadly no longer my home. It still hasn't quite hit me yet.

Anyways, we hit the road around 8 pm on Wednesday. Clearly there was no way we were making it to Bozeman, Montana, as originally planned for day 1. Instead we drove to Spokane, where we stayed with Derek's mom. We got there around 12:30 am, and therefore were really excited when the roofers showed up around 6:30 to hammer about 5 feet above our heads.

Day 2, we set out with no particular destination. We just drove for as long as possible. Our final destination that day ended up being Gillette, Wyoming, but our goal was originally Rapid City, South Dakota. We would have made it there if my car hadn't decided to act up sometime after Missoula, Montana.

Let me tell you, my car has been fabulous ever since I got it. Fabulous. Not a trouble in the world..... Until the day I decide to start driving across the entire country.

So we started the day driving through Idaho:

I know it's super small and fuzzy, but there's the Idaho sign in the middle.

Then we made it to Montana:

Yippee!

And then we stopped in Missoula to get gas, coffee, and switch driving. I get in the car with my McCafe-- yes, McDonald's coffee (please don't judge me it was all we could find)-- and start driving. About five miles later, I notice my engine light on. At the time, I was terrified. Thinking that's pretty much the WORST POSSIBLE LIGHT the car can give you. Derek looked up what it meant in the manual: Go to the Toyota Dealership as soon as possible. GREAT. We're only 150 miles from the closest town that might possibly have a dealership!

I freaked out the entire 150 miles to Butte, Montana. Thankfully, there was a Toyota of Butte and they told us it was a minor problem. We would make it to our destination in Boston, I'd just have to take it in to a dealership when I got there. Assuring!! sort of....

Me with my "fixed" car at Toyota of Butte

They turned the light off, and then of course 100 miles later it was on again... And 1,500 miles later it's been on ever since. Love my car. Love it.

But thankfully the rest of the roadtrip has been fairly uneventful. More about that later...

Until next time, friends...

Moving: the bane of my existence

It's been a very eventful week. As of Wednesday, I am no longer a Seattle resident. And as it turns out, I'm terrible at moving. You would think that with 3 weeks to pack, I would have been completely ready to move everything to storage on Sunday. But no, only the furniture went in Sunday (with the help of my awesome cousin and his wife!) and I still had what turned out to be about 3 carloads of stuff left to move the next three days. NOT fun. Oh yea, and did I mention it was 100 degrees the entire time?

Our original plan was to hit the road for Boston on Wednesday morning. Thanks to my awesome packing skills, and the fact that I didn't finish removing everything from my apartment until Tuesday night, that did not happen. (Oh ok, fine, Derek also had an interview at 1:30 pm but even if he hadn't, we wouldn't have left any sooner...) Instead I spent the second half of Tuesday and most of Wednesday scrubbing my entire apartment in 105+ degree heat.

Oh, the beauty of a West facing, 3rd floor apartment with only one window!! I have never felt so disgusting for so many days in a row in my life.

All I have to say is, I better get my damn deposit back after enduring that hell! It was such a relief getting in that car on Wednesday night and knowing that the only thing ahead of me the next few days was the open road. Updates on that coming soon. I promise!

Until next time...