Chez Cascadia Weekend

It was a beautiful, high energy weekend.
Our friends arrived Friday night and we descended upon a glorious Evergreen contra dance. The Bendite/Portlanders were in great form and added significant spice to the event. During breaks Brent had a large circle of intrigued Greeners watching his acro-antics with a few slender partners...

From there we brought a large gathering of revelers back to the hostel and had a music, dance party until four am. Saturday morning breakfast was late and fantastic... followed by an outing to the Evergreen forest where we played an intense game of capture the flag. Our backdrop was the mesmerizing Puget sound and a pebble beach covered with barnacles. Oh, and as with any proper semi-coordinated romping about in the woods, there was an accompanying handle of whiskey. There was high tech communication, cell phones being used to strategize and William, distracting his PBR guzzling prison guard with a tale of his birth in Arabia, and how he really is Armenian. The unsuspecting Olympian was nearly engulfed in the spell.....but Aisling brought him back in time to spy Travis just 5 feet away.

Thereafter we progressed to the Evergreen saunas and allowed our muscles to absorb the enveloping cedar scented heat.

Then of course there was the grand Chez Cascadia event. We had a bluegrass music jam (in the bunk room), firespinning (on the street), and a Talking Heads dance party (in the living room)....all at once. Sometime during the night we went from Talking Heads to an om circle after which a band assembled and a local caller called a series of Contra and Square dances. There was more...much much more..like multiple people taking turns wearing my bright yellow leotard with my gold speedo. Elise found my Grinch suit. She was incredibly adorable! The theme was Cosmic Cascadia Explorers.


By noon the following morning we were once again in the bunk room playing old time favorites... Josh was at the helm. Meanwhile Travis and his breakfast cohorts were preparing an amazing, honey chocolate, whipped cream, maple syrup covered french toast/scrambled egg extravaganza. All of this was supplemented with oversized mason jars of Mimosa, served in the bunk room which at that point had between 3-5 people on each bunk bed. Josh was officially served "breakfast in bed", he had not left the room all morning with the exception of a restroom visit.



It was classic, wonderful weekend. And for that Trav and I thank you.

Thank you all for being, for making community! And as William said during a pause in the om meditation:

"Oh, oh...god, please don't... stop!"








Rachel and Aisling, the best hostel Innkeepers ever!


Thank you Jonah, for manifesting Chez Cascadia.
Daniel's sweet guns!

Monica!
Peter!

Bunk room lounging
Robin Hood!
Tasha.

Goodness Collective Adventure: Exploration of the wild, Mysterious Northern Cascadia!

Greetings Beautiful Friends!

Travis and myself are inviting you all to spend a weekend with us here in Olympia. Our friends have offered their entire hostel to us from Friday until Sunday afternoon. It is a magical house with 10 beds and enough floor space to host a large group of friends. There are full kitchen facilities, and any other amenities that one might expect at a charming hostel!

The total cost of the accommodations will be $350 and we hope to divide that appropriately among those who choose to stay. Based on the projected number of attendants, we expect the cost to be quite reasonable.

Sleeping accommodations will likely expand out to the living room floor so please bring appropriate floor-sleeping gear if you can.

Weekend activities include but are not limited to:


* A Friday night Evergreen contra dance

* Exploration of our beautiful city on Saturday

* A melding of amazing Olympians and Bendites/Portland Folk at a Saturday night potluck.You can expect a healthy dose of the usual music and goodness* that accompany the community potlucks we all love.

* Sunday morning: Waffles and Mimosas? (We may need a waffle iron or two)

"I'm bringing costumes, I love costumes, is there a theme?": Yes, There is! Bring costume befitting of explorers. Cosmic, Cascadia explorers.

When: March 13-15 (Friday-Sunday)

Where: Olympia, Washington (Chez Cascadia Hostel)

Why: For the love of community!


For those of you who wish to visit Travis and I while we are still in Olympia, this is your opportunity!

We look forward to having you here!

Steve and Travis

P.s. Please let me know if you plan to attend so that Travis and I have a general idea of how many will be visit

Chez Cascadia
323 Milroy St. NW
Olympia, WA 98502
http://www.chezcascadia.org/

Reflects

And so it was...
That the new year came about, 2009. I have now spent nearly 5 months here in Oly. I still ride the Flaming Phoenix, Trav and I are still roommates (its been over 2 years now), and well, we still love potlucks.
Potlucks are different here. They happen every week and they rarely deviate in their presentation. Its Dinner with the Dead every Thursday, and Thelma's Family Dinner every Sunday on Steamboat Island. Good people there!

Trav and I are making plans to leave for Bali. He leaves in April and I'll be leaving in June.

I miss you all, and am inspired by your posts. I realize our experience in Bend as a glorious, and unique chapter. I had a flashback the other day: It was mid-July at the G.C. It was mid-morning and a few people were cooking a dank breakfast. The sun was shining, music was playing from the living room. All the doors were open and Beegs was standing on the back patio, pondering the state of his wigwam.

Below are photos of contra-dancing and a pumpkin carving party at our house. Trav is on the school contra dance committee. Its a glorious monthly event!

I also threw in a smattering of kitchen action and the inconic Wam.

Oh! Scotty and Amy's child arrived!!! I posted some photos below. Her name is Magnolia Roberta Rowles. Blessings to the new fam!

Much love and Pura vida!

More love from Alaska

Well, good people, it has been a long, adventurous trip but we arrived, safely, at the Clam Gulch Lodge late Friday night. The water heater has been repaired, the dogs are out on their first training run in the hills (I had to stay down here to do a meet and greet with some Tustumena sponsors and man am I ever wiped out?). We have been enjoying sit-down meals with our friends and the hot tub is nearly ready for use. We are so happy.
Now that I have a spare moment, which from now until March 18th will be a rare thing, I must tell you about the amazing people and goodness we encountered on our way up here.
At 7am last Saturday, Dad, Aaron and I loaded our 24 best dogs into our truck and left for a projected 4-5 day road trip. The plan was to meet our friend, Gary, in Portland and Caravan through Washington and Canada together. When we reached Tok Gary would turn south and head for Clam Gulch, to prepare the Lodge for our arrival, while we headed north toward Fairbanks where Dad would run the first race of the season.
The first day was wonderful, we were given two care packages and a dozen hugs before we even left town. We met up with Gary, as planned and when we got to Tacoma Aarons parents were waiting for us with soup, sandwiches and cinnamon rolls. His mom also hooked me up with a month’s supply of tea.
The next day or so was pretty uneventful, with the exception of some Canadian border guards who were seriously hug-deprived. We would drive for four hours, let the dogs relieve themselves and rive more. Dad and Aaron would sleep in motel rooms at night and I would sleep in the truck with a dog.
The adventure started when the gas light came on. Two hundred yards later we were out. Dad pulled over and we got sucked into a ditch. We climbed out, surveyed the situation and came to one conclusion: this sucks. No more than 5 minutes later, a huge rig of some sort pulled up in front of us. The driver got out and asked us if we were ok and his friend came back with a tow rope. We were out within two minutes. It was scary to watch but it was done. We thanked our new friends; they thanked us for the chance to help and went on their merry way.
Now, what then to do about gas? We had a can with us and Gary was willing to make the 50 mile drive to Fort Nelson to fill it up. Dad, Aaron and I resigned ourselves for a 2-hour wait in the middle of BC. What happened next was unbelievable. As Aaron was fetching the gas can another man pulled up to check on us. When we told him what had happened he smiled and said, “I’m your guardian angel. Look in the back” In his back seat sat 6 full gas cans. We were saved.
A mile down the road we had a blow-out. We were stuck again. None of us even had cell coverage. Fortunately, at that very moment, 3 vehicles pulled up in front of us. These men worked for a natural gas company and were caravanning to a job site. They tried to help us make the spare work but there was just no way- we had the wrong lugnuts. When we had tried everything, the man in charge pulled out his sat phone and told one of his guys, still in Fort Nelson, to find us a proper spare. Gary drove ahead to meet the man and bring the tire back to us and our new friends waited until they knew that Gary had the tire. We said our thanks once again and then we were alone.
We were stuck there for about 3 hours. We fed the dogs, bundled up and waited. Nearly every passing vehicle stopped to check on us and offer us food and water. The temperature had dropped from about 15 to -20 but good gear, hand warmers and the wonderful star-jumps that Stevo taught me, we stayed pretty comfortable.
We spent the night in Fort Nelson and told Gary to go ahead after learning that we couldn’t get a new tire until the next day. We spent the day watching the news and wishing there was some way to get out of there before the next afternoon. And there was. A guy at another tire shop made some magic happen and we were out the next morning.
As it turns out the old adage, bad things come in threes, is true; the rest of Canada went by very smoothly.
We stopped at Liard Hot Springs for a much needed soak. We escorted a smart car through a herd of bison. And of course we checked on every stopped vehicle, we saw.
We made it over the border with ease but black ice, cars in ditches and horrid road reports forced us to stay the night in Tok and call off our Fairbanks plans. The next night we finally made it to Gary’s thrilled and relieved to finally be here, we let the dogs out for their final romp hit the sheets!
Now as if all of this was not inspiration enough, a simple occurrence last night confirmed my feeling that I absolutely must share these experiences with my dear friends, scattered around the world. Dean, my racing partner’s dad, invited us over for dinner. We watched some boxing, talked a bit about the upcoming races, he volunteered me to help him cook and as we were finishing our delicious salmon dinner, I heard a familiar tune resonating from the next room.
You guessed it! I jumped up and bolted into the living room singing “Running form the cold up in new England I was born to be a fiddler in an old time string band…”
What a perfect ending to a road trip that screamed, “Goodness Collective”

greetings from Mexico!

Well obviously people are busy spreading the much needed Goodness vibe around their various local and global communities. I myself am painstakingly holding down hammock status and a very strenuous schedule of surfing and fish taco eating. Someones gotta do it. I am glad to see the People are doing well. I love each and every one of you!

A-hole

Everyone!

Goodness People. I am overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude for each one of you in my life. I am glad to know that even though we are spread across the map we are connected in some sort of way. Each one has had such a profound influence on each other and the world in which we are surrounded by. Thanks to everyone for being alive!

Jenna Jaunts

Hello from afar my friends!

I’m in North Carolina, thinking of all of you in Oregon, Olympia ~ scattered across the country and around the world…Maine, Montreal, New Zealand, Nepal…the list goes on and will keep evolving with this dynamic community of ours *

Having travelled 3,000 miles in “the little Toyota that could” I feel like you’re a long ways away ~ but in reality, it’s just 3 hours difference, and unlike Caldera and the long stretches of highway in Wyoming and Nebraska with no cell phone service whatsoever, the satellites are alive and well in Asheville and surrounding communities : ) I’ve had the chance to touch base with a few people back home and I appreciate all the love you leave in messages ~ I hope to stay connected despite the distance. I’m happy to be in a place that is more conducive for communication and to be taking life a lot slower out here…

Of course, lots of stories and exciting updates from the road, the recording studio, and most recently from Franklin, the little town where I’ve landed for a spell. However! Before the time slips by at my little post here at the library, I want to share what first inspired me to write you ~ scribbled in a ragged notebook over coffee this morning.

Sitting alone here in my little cottage, rain steadily drip drops on the roof and melts the morning while I scribble away and sing another song about the red bird out my window. Then, Old Crow Medicine Show comes on, track 10 ~ We’re All In This Together. I LOVE that song, and it was the longest time before I ever heard it because I’d always skip straight to 11 (take a guess…) aaaaah. So after it plays out, I pick up my guitar and sing Wagon Wheel, a tribute to our friendship, time shared, and the community we created. It’s so interesting now to be alone in this place that was in the heart of our music making… Johnson City is just across the state line, Shana (who I travelled out with) is in Raleigh, Roanoke - the Cumberland Gap, they aren’t just places on a map or romantic stops along a song anymore…Playing Wagon Wheel draws me close to you. It’s a way of bringing our energy back together. I really can’t describe it ~ I can feel us gathered close together in a circle like we do ~ and everybody’s got their instruments, guitar, banjo, and the most beautiful voices brought together singing “Rock me mama like a Wagon Wheel…” I play through a few rounds where Stevo does a fabulous run on the sixstring and Travis picks the banjo like he was born to, and then…slow it down a bit and we’re all back in it together again, singing
“Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke,
I caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke
But he’s heading west FROM the Cumberland gap,
Johnson City, Tennessee
Now I gotta get a move on before the sun,
I hear my baby calling my name and I know that she’s the only one
And If I die in Raleigh at least I will die free ~
Soooo rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama any way you feel…”

You are truly some of the world’s most beautiful people and I’m grateful to have you in my heart and in music no matter how far apart life takes us. Blessings.
I must be off now.

Take care and keep in touch ~ I hope your toes are tappin : ) Much love from North Carolina * Jenna