Our Eco Bus Project and Travels

Today

2012-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Staying Busy

2012-01-10T18:29:00.001-08:00

Warehouse in January

2012-01-10T18:29:00.000-08:00

New Year

2012-01-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Back in Miami

2012-01-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Art Basel Week

2012-01-10T18:26:00.001-08:00

Miami Images

2012-01-10T18:25:00.001-08:00

Miami Images

2012-01-10T18:24:00.001-08:00

Back in Miami Images

2012-01-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

Back in Miami

2012-01-10T18:14:00.001-08:00

In the behind I considered that the return to Miami might be anti-climatic, and in ways it was, but in other ways it was like a fresh perspective on a spouse or close relative. Someone you depend on for some aspect of your life, but sometimes feel like you desperately want to liberate your self from.

We are parked in the warehouse space I originally lived and worked out of when I moved to Miami and before I knew Nando. This is the place of Lucianos conception, the birth place of Gorda, the first home of Mona and the central social cause of Nando and I meeting. So it seemed right to return to this space.

Luciano has been going the Waldorf inspired homeschooling co-op on the Farm, also known as Earth N Us. He has enjoyed it and I spend the days there watching the strange world of childhood in a new age. The idea of over-thinking parenting and adult interactions. How to filter the world or not filter, how to resolve conflict, how to explain emotion, the hows and why's of adult and child life. At times I question what reality we construct for our children, because by every choice we make, we are constructing life for their eyes, we try to show truth, but it is simply constructions of.

Otherwise, production is starting it's season and again we birth ideas and projects for the future.

Magical Giants of the Redwoods

2011-10-20T17:13:00.001-07:00

Occupy Portland Debt USA

2011-10-20T17:11:00.001-07:00

Our piece happened to fit perfectly with Occupy Portland.

Image for previous post

2011-10-20T16:45:00.001-07:00

San Francisco

2011-10-20T16:44:00.001-07:00

It is a rare moment when everything is silent on the bus, the engine is running in rhythm and no one is crying or asking me for things. The sun is setting over the bay as we head west back into the city. It is so calming and rhythmic that one forgets that they are traveling, that you are in motion, speeding through time and that anything you do will not change your path, we are all just travelers, seeing and experiencing.

Sent from my iPhone

Stumptown Portland Oregon

2011-10-07T18:17:00.001-07:00

Leaving Missoula Enter Seattle

2011-10-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

Last Walk of Yellowstone 2

2011-10-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

Last walk of Yellowstone

2011-10-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

Fw: Untitled Note

2011-10-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

----- Original Message -----

From: bbutter

To: blair@artofculturalevolution.org

Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 11:24 AM

Subject: Untitled Note

From Evernote:

Untitled Note

Stopped at salt lake for injectors, doing laundry for cloth diapering and ec. Babies sleeping, spivey tacos, drank coke, feeling asleep and a little cabin fever, like the shining, lost faith in art, has reverted to craft or commodity but both are slaves to money and etc... Think I'll nurture my writing.

Leaving Utah

2011-10-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

Untitled Note

Stopped at salt lake for injectors, doing laundry for cloth diapering and ec. Babies sleeping, spicy tacos, drank coke, feeling asleep and a little cabin fever, like the shining, lost faith in art, has reverted to craft or commodity but both are slaves to money and etc... Think I'll nurture my writing.

Yellowstone

2011-09-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

We left Salt Lake City, Utah after we had our injectors rebuilt and decided that we were too close to Yellowstone to skip it, so through Idaho we entered the West side of Yellowstone and headed south through the park. Even though the sun was setting, we began to see the smoke of the gysers rising from the grounds. It was amazing, we wondered what sort of land we had entered.

We parked at Old Faithful and spent the night in the parking lot. We woke in the morning, had breakfast and headed towards the famous geyser to watch it boil and spout water. I can't really say that it is something everyone should see, but Yellowstone Canyon is something amazing and its falls, something everyone should experience.

Like another planet, perhaps it was the cold air,or maybe it is always like this, but the area was filled with rising smoke and holes from the size of tennis balls to the size of a pond filled with boiling water. White, blue and orange like the iron that would rust our showers, sink and toilet in Macclenny.

Day two Yellowstone: is it simply that we have over populated and killed every co-habitant that when we actually see an animal we all form a traffic jam, we pull out our cameras, video cameras,cell phones, and drop our jaws and become paralyzed with awe.

We saw a male elk and female elk grazing and you would have thought that people were witnessing the resurrection.

The Canyon

Third day Gorda lost at night, found her across the road, did some easy trails that led to nothing spectacular. Yellowstone makes me a bit sad today, the bison or American buffalo wear the face of history of survival of a people that we killed just a lot faster then the buffalo are dying. One lone buffalo stands, his head looks heavy, we wonder why he is alone, he crosses the cold waters and disappears into nothing.

Yellowstone Lake

Finally heading to Yellowstone

2011-09-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

Jackson Hole Day 2

2011-09-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

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Jackson Hole

2011-09-26T15:49:00.001-07:00

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Grand Tetons

2011-09-26T15:48:00.001-07:00

Dubois

Wyoming, Split Rock and the day we lost Mona

2011-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

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Heading to Wyoming

2011-09-26T15:35:00.001-07:00

Workin' on the blog

The bed

Mr.

Colorado- A place I'd like to live

2011-09-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I posted, but I'm writing everyday and publishing when I get Internet and time. I don't know if it was because we were coming out of Kansas, or if it was the start of the real West with rolling hills turning into the Rocky Mountains or maybe it was just the excellent hospitality we received from our friends and everyone we met in Denver, but we had a great time in Colorado. The weather was perfect and we entered refreshed.

Initially, I thought oh no because we arrived in Denver at rush hour and met a great deal of traffic. But Nando had a friend who use to work production with him in Miami who now lives in Denver and we called him up and were well received.

Denver was such a relief, the folks of Colorado or specifically Denver where super relaxed easy going and not at all with any of this distinguishable hang ups of the South or East Coast. Nando's friend Duncan use to work with him doing production. But now he has escaped the hot weather with his wife and they are now living in a beautiful converted carriage house in a great neighborhood with great neighbors. We parked the bus in front of his house and none of the neighbors complained or even raised an eyebrow, well maybe a couple eyebrows lifted.

The Bus in the neighborhood.

Heading to Red Rock.

We headed out to Red Rock which is a huge amphitheater built in to the side of red rocks. Reminded me a lot of some of the theaters I saw in Greece. Acoustics were good and someone took it upon themselves to perform for us and Luciano decided to jump on stage, to sit and be entertained.

Imogen sleeping through it all.

Giant tree.

Evening stroll.

Strange melon squash being dissected and eaten.

Colorado is one of the first states to have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes. Other states have perhaps decriminalized medical marijuana but they don't protect their marijuana businesses from federal prosecution. I don't quite understand it, but I know some acquaintances who were arrested for being employees of a medical marijuana farm in California, but in Colorado that would have never happened to them.

We got an opportunity to tour the medical marijuana operation from seed to dispenser. Commercial marijuana is grown hydroponically, we toured a warehouse where a few strains of cannabis had been cloned over and over by simply cutting the original plant, dipping it into a rooting hormone and placing it into a container and letting it grow.The warehouse had several rooms with plants at various stages of growth with different lighting for what the plant requires for that specific stage. There were giant tubs of nutrients that each plant was connected to with umbilical cord like hoses that were like veins throughout the entire warehouse. It sort of reminded me of when Neo wakes and discovers he was in the matrix.

Have you ever noticed the aurora of plants that are in a shopping mall or in an artificially landscaped parking lot compared to those that were grown directly in the ground? I believe that plants grown out of the earth don't have access to the history and mythology that their interconnected and extensive root systems provide them with. It is like nursery grown plants don't know what they are. They ask us, is this what I ought to look like, is this right? Probably could be applied to human beings too.

Maybe it was all the pot everyone was smoking, but Denver was like a European flavored West. Everyone was thoughtful, conscientious, mindful and relaxed. Not that it wasn't with it's American attributes of consumerism, franchises and burgers and fries. People haven't completely recovered their lives, but they are trying and teaching their kids to be good stewards of the earth. Also, the schools were amazing and I only looked into preschools.

We hung out with Duncan and his friend Mike, we drank locally brewed beers, ate ice cream, went for walks, cooked really good food and watched Luciano jump the neighbors fence repeatedly to go visit his first love, Mary.

Luciano's first kiss

We left on Monday and headed to visit our friend Ryan who lives in Boulder. He wasn't home when we stopped in and those mountains had been tempting us so we headed up to Rockey mountain national forest. We were going up hills and down hills and maneuvering this 40 foot bus through these rockey mountains. At one point I could see we were on a narrow slide, I could see the road below us and Nando saw a sign that informed him much too late that no vehicles over 25 feet since the road was so steep, so like any driver would, he went in reverse down a winding, narrow mountain road until we found a drive way which we pulled into barely and turned around. There was a little sweat dripping from my brow.

So we continued our way looking for a State Park camp that I found using oh!Ranger, but it lead us a stray and into Estes Park and into trouble. It was getting dark and we were desperate, in and out of the National Park we went, but no camping was found. We ended up in a Salvation Army lodge and trapped by complete blackness, Nando hit a tree and busted a fuel hose in the rear WVO tank. He patched it with tape and we just concluded that we should stay in the National Park and explain later. We spent the night and it got nice and cold on the bus. Nando made breakfast, Mona ran loose as usual and we all got prepared for a day out hiking and soaking in the landscape. So it was a shock to us when the old fellow in the toll booth was a complete jerk to Nando and called the park police on us. So I went out with the kids and had a sweet white talk with him, which seemed to dissolve the matter to a mere forgiven mistake. Yes, I'm saying he was racist. The park cop came and we chatted to him, he didn't seem to care at all, he was more interested in how the bus worked and our organization. He gave us a few recommendations of where to hike and what to see.

So we drove a little and went up the side of a mountain and followed a stream up to its fall. It wasn't particularly impressive compared to others that we have seen, but it was nice to be there, it is such a moderate climate and everything is green and lush. The water came crashing down over huge volcanic boulders that have been being polished by this water flow for thousands of years. There were the famous American cutthroat trout, fly fisherman in rubber pants and wicker baskets on their belts. we made a little mistake of deciding to carry the children all the way up. Which is not so unusual for me, but carrying Luciano for four miles up and four miles down left us all feeling exhausted emotionally and physically. So at the end of the day, we were starving and eager to retreat to somewhere safe and calming. So we headed back to Boulder but stopped in between to eat terrible Mexican style food and then headed to Boulder to visit our friend Ryan.

He lives in a suburban house in a suburban neighborhood,we knew for sure the neighbors would give us trouble, but his roommates Henry and Cookie were happy to move their cars and let us park the bus in their drive way. We caught up with Ryan, watched Mona and Dexter (Cookie's dog) play and run wild in their back yard and on the second night we cooked dinner, drank wine and finally heard the complaint from the neighbors about the bus.

So we left and went to where Cookie suggested up the mountain to Magnolia Drive, where there was free camping. However, because of this, it was like a parking lot. We met a family from Florida, ironically, who had an airstream and had been travelling as a family for awhile, but when the when the ATVs and dirt bikes pulled in for the weekend, we decided to ditch and headed towards another State Park.

Heart Shaped Rock

Wondering the back woods

Angel Warrior

Magic Plants

What was that

But to our forgetful travel bug minds, it was Labor Day weekend and there was not a single campsite available anywhere, The road curved and went up and down, until the mountains became walls of trees all around us. The sky grew dark and darker and suddenly we saw Denver in front of us like a UFO hovering in the distant sky. There was lightening just above and occasionally the city would light up in white and blue electrical strikes. It was beautiful. So we shrugged and headed back into Denver without complaint.

We ended up parking behind a large Goodwill and eating a pizza in a late night bar/pizzeria. We slept well, shopped the Goodwill in the Morning and played in Washington Park all afternoon. Later we met up with Duncan, Mike and this time Georgina and enjoyed a late night dinner, sipped wine and enjoyed good conversation. They had a Labor Day BBQ and we relaxed in perfect weather and watched the children run wild.

Monkeys

Imogen

BBQ

Duck Duck Goose

We parked in an abandoned school and enjoyed the rest of the weekend, visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and prepared to head to the Grand Tetons.

Flying Cloud

Lunch

Hiking up

Imogen Sleeping

Kissing Camels

Everyone except Luciano

Sleeping Babies

Balancing Rock

Kansas 8/24- 8/25 A very long State

2011-09-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

These parts of America are nothing but oceans of Soy and Corn, probably genetically modified by Monsanto. We try to take all the back roads and county roads and even then we see nothing but soy and corn plants. The bus is running good, although it still has its unresolved problem. I found an application for our phone called oh Ranger!and have located a few State Parks to camp in for the next few nights.

The first park we stopped in was called Clinton Lake. We thought since it was so hot, it would be good to find a place with water to swim. We arrived and it was pretty much a semi full RV parking lot with bits of wild grasses and forested areas. We parked and got our swim suits on and walked down towards the water, there were thousands of midges flying around and a steep staircase to climb down into the muddy forested banks of the reservoir. Luciano made sure to point out the giant spiders that were at eye level and Imogen and I made our way down very slowly. The forest smelt a bit like mold and urine and when we finally made it to the shoreline, it was composed of concrete pieces, rotten trees and the water looked absolutely toxic. So Imogen and I watched from the man made beach as Luciano and Nando walked slowly in and stood at shoulder height in the water. There are no pictures of this, as I expected to jump in as well. So instead Mona, Imogen and I headed back to the bus, where we hooked up water and took a shower. We kept the windows closed and ran our air conditioner since the midges were too much. We all slept sound, woke in a good spirits and kept heading West.

Good Night Kansas Clinton Lake

Kansas may seem so long because of the repetition in scenery, Nando and I imagined as some sort of survival technique, how would you escape those corn fields if you were dropped in their center. Then we speculated about crop circles, which led to aliens, which led to silent introspection on our spiritual evolution as human beings collectively. These discussions are always helpful when nurturing your own relationships. It makes the bonds between us as a family seem so much more rewarding. To be traveling together through this life, even though we all have our own separate experiences, we are bonded together, even Mona and Gorda our animal friends.

Sleeping Babies

Kansas is on a grid, the entire state has roads intersecting horizontally and vertically. I believe we took 40 pretty much all the way across. Which landed us in Kansas' capital of Topeka. It wasn't particularly memorable, except the capital building was being worked on . It was standard neo-classical with a gold dome, corithian columns and a hundred steps up to its doors. Juxtaposed to its state, it seems a little unbalanced. Kansas looked dusty, unfertile and impoverished with nothing to eat and no culture or education. But that said, folks were nice, some raised eyebrows, but generally good workin' folks.

The final night in Kansas we spent at Webster State Park. Another man made reservoir. Kansas is very dry.

We had a great breeze and no bugs. Luciano took a bath outside and Mona learned that she can swim. We chatted to a local who was an insurance salesman for farmers. He said that they insured crops, mostly soy and corn. I threw some questions at him, like what was the number one killer of corn crops, which turned out to be an insect that eats out the center of the stalk and causes the plant to fall. We asked him about organic farmers and how their insurance was particularly high and it was rare that they would even take out insurance against their crops. Farmers take out huge loans to get started, they have to pay for a huge amount of acreage to grow something like soy and corn, then they have machinery to plow the land, plant, spray pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation and harvesting equipment, then storage. It is a big investment. We then discussed the soil, which of course is very dry and contains very little nutrients at this point. This was confirmed as he informed us that the farmers think rotating corn and soy crops with each other on a piece of land with little then four months of rest between each. When we discussed other ideas with him about farming, it seemed to be that everyone is set in their ways and their own agricultural system that their could be no other way. I excused myself from the conversation after the explanation that pesticides and GM didn't matter since all these thousands of miles of corn was primarily for cattle feed. But Nando continued to discuss the ins and outs of insuring a corn crop, as I cut sweet watermelon for Luciano and watched the sun set.

At Clinton Lake Kansas

Our bus on the hill

View from the bed

Nando under the bed looking for something in our new storage he built in Macclenny.

Light Bug that Nando decided had a ticket to Colorado.

Later in the pale light of dusk Mona and Luciano discovered a box turtle, which never emerged from her shell once she saw Mona. We saw light bugs and when the sun was completely gone we saw the dust of the Milky Way and more stars then I have seen in a really long time.

We woke refreshed visited the shore one last time to look at a dead fish and watch Mona dive into the water for any size stick.

After a quick breakfast and securing of the bus we headed into Colorado.

Mona Fetching.

Enter Missouri

2011-09-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

We headed towards St. Louis, where Nando had lived before to meet an old friend and perhaps visit with a cousin of mine. We stopped and looked at the dirty Mississippi river, crossed the bridge and entered into St. Louis. I tried to imagine Louis and Clarke setting forward on their expedition to the West, I tried to imagine natives using the water and if it ever looked clean. So much industry must have used this river and now it looks exhausted and like mud oil.

We entered into St., Louis with moderate traffic as in any city, the buildings were old, made of brick and looked impoverished, as most of America thus far.

Mississippi River

Big Bark

Bridge into St. Louis

We were looking for some tubing or fuel line, Nando thinks that the fuel line for the WVO is too small, so we called around and found a place, that then referred us to another place. We got another fuel line, a quarter or an inch bigger,installed it but still had the same problem. But it was too late to go back so we ate at Nando's favorite fast food place in St. Louis, which was Crazy Bowls and Wraps, they served quinoa stir fry and brown rice wraps with organic free range chicken or fish and of course it wouldn't really be American if they didn't offer a Coke to drink with your non-gluten ginger stir fry. After Nando knew a nice place to go, where the dogs had muzzles, there were strict ordianances and even a curfew. So of course our dog ran around Forest park with no leash and we were out beyond the curfew and even decided to fill our water tank and spend the night in the park. We all took cold showers in the bus and at about 10pm we shut the lights off and hoped to get through the very hot night and leave early in the morning. At about 3A.M. I heard the clicking of a megaphone, and when I opened my eyes I saw bright lights coming through the bus windows and red flashing lights, I woke Nando, who went to the front window, returned and said with the most sullen face, it's the cops. At that point I got dressed and Nando and I went outside barefoot and in our pajamas, with white lights shown on us. As we approached the cars, it turned out to be a park security and a St. Louis cop. We explained the situation at which point the cop decided he knew where we could park for the night and escorted us to a hill in the park. We had a nice breeze and slept through the rest of the night. In the morning Luciano woke and ran outside to find we were parked at the horse stables.

We then went to meet with Nando's friend who manages a Mexican chain restaurant in St. Louis. He was also from Colombia and had been Nando's closest friend when he lived here. He promised us some WVO, but when Nando looked at it, it was much too dirty for us and full of animal fat. So his friend gave us brunch instead and off we went towards Kansas.

Georgia and WVO trouble 8-21-2011

2011-09-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in the Chattahoochee Forest. We arrived late at night and a local who worked at a 24 hour gas station told Nando that she thought there was camping there.

So we ventured in the dark into the cool forest night air and found a primitive camp site. Backing in was a little tough as it was pitch black and difficult to communicate verbally over the bus's engine.

Gorda ran out and enjoyed the wilderness and we all crawled into bed, windows open and were lulled to sleep by the forest's night life sounds.

We woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to keep moving North West.

However, our WVO system seemed to be clogged and Nando resolved to have the main tank within the bus opened and cleaned. So I found a radiator shop in Tennessee which we drove to in the night and waited for it to open in the morning.

Nando had suggested getting a hotel room, because it was so hot and he knew he would be working on the bus all the next day. I called the one of two in Savannah Tennessee and asked if they had parking for a bus and the price of a room. They said sure, our parking lot is big enough for a bus and a room is $40 for a double. So we drove to the Motel and when Nando went inside, the very same woman told him $50. So, we shook our heads, I vowed to report them to the Better Business Bureau, but I haven't and I can't even remember the name of the Motel. I even suggested to Nando that they would like him because they were Indians from India and would consider the diversity a silent brotherhood. But no, they laughed at our bus and wanted to over charge us.

So we drove around and found a Super Wal-Mart, the parking light was empty, the lights were bright like little flying saucers in the night, we parked on the side, closed the curtains, made dinner, even took showers. The night was hot, the fans were blowing and we all woke up early the next morning.

Savanah Tennessee fixing WVO- 8/22/2011

2011-09-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the radiator shop in Savannah Tennessee and consulted with the local, who advised us to go speak to another local welder, who advised us to go speak to someone else. So Nando resolved to do it himself and collected the materials he needed, of course there was a Lowe's or Home Depot, we parked the bus to look for a tap and dye set, Luciano, Imogen and I starred at a 4-foot spider web that had a faux Halloween spider moving back and forth. Under the spider web stood a skeleton dressed in a ghost's dress, when you walked passed the skeleton it began to sing in its zombie voice an 80's song, which if I remember I will add in my edit letter. Nando found what he needed and within a day cut a hole in our aluminum wvo tank and made a sealed lid for it, drained all of our WVO, cleaned out the tank and put it all back together. Meanwhile, Luciano, Imogen and I closed ourselves in the back, closed the curtains, watched movies while it rained outside and slept.

Exit Florida and Twin Bridges Herb Farm

2011-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Before we left Macclenny we visited Twin Bridges Herb Farm. It is located acrioss the street from the very place I grew up and remains the part time home of my grand parents. We use to walk across the street and down the road to what we would call Mr. Helm's store, we would buy Cracker Jax and Coke in glass bottles. But now it is called locally the "White Store", and my little cousins spend there chore money buying Dr. Peppers and spicy Cheetos.

Then after a few years visiting off and on, Twin Bridges Herb Farm popped up right next to the store. It is owned by Scott and Denise Francis. Scott gave us a tour of the farm, which they grow much more then herbs. They have heirloom vegetables, egg laying chickens, hand made soaps and are suppliers to some of the best restaurants in Jacksonville and also sell to the public at Neptune Beach market. They also run their delivery van, a Sprinter, on bio-diesel.

Luciano enjoyed seeing the chickens and Mona enjoyed meeting Midnight, Denise and Scott's dog. They sent us on our way with a basil plant, a variety of eggplants and peppers and also some homemade soap made of the glycerin leftovers from Scott's bio-diesel process.

Check out their web site: http://twinnbridges.com

Denise, Luciano, Nando Me, Imogen and Scott on the Twin Bridges Herb Farm.

The Hen House

Some of the peppers, chiles and eggplants

Beautiful and delicious eggplants.

Luciano in the hydroponic herb house

Luciano, Mona, Midnight and free range chickens.

With some new friends, good vegetables and some re-established family ties.

Luciano got to really meet his cousins, swim, play outside and really develop his palette for travel, adventure and new things.

The bus parked under the old barn.

James at Gear and Wheel Macclenny working on our bus.

Gorda just having enough of the heat.

Luciano and Eric

Sleeping under the stars in the early evening.

The engine

Pumps and lines

Mona's afternoon nap

The grape barb, Muscadine and a grandfather Florida Oak tree with Spanish Moss in my grandparents field.

A pond behind the the grandfather oak tree.

Mona exiting the lake.

Suburban exercise.

Driving in a car, Western style.

The bus at night.

Luciano's new play area.

Morning view.

The Joker.

The Stars.

Florida Pine.

Baby's view.

The Writer.

Our new filtration system.

Imogen in peace.

Kids

2011-08-22T11:50:00.001-07:00

Our new addition

2011-08-22T11:49:00.001-07:00

Imogen Tallulah

Outdoor Sewing

2011-08-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

Workin' Macclenny

2011-08-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

Nando has been working non stop trying to integrate our new Wvo filtration system, but has encountered some other obstacles. So we are stuck here in the pine forest.

Macclenny

2011-08-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

We stopped in Macclenny to do some modifications to the bus and build our own filtration system for the WVO, but have found some other problems that have delayed us here. Although my family is quite please with it, they get to meet our new addition Imogen.

The bus is parked under the old barn in my grandparents place, valve in the engine is clogged, we only discovered this after we replaced the fuel pump and the bus would not start. A new valve is coming by post. Also, we are looking for a welder, which seems to be impossible in this small county. It is all strictly by mouth. So we might be delayed quite a bit.

Luciano has been playing with his cousins, learning to swim and I have revived relationships with family members. At night we see an old Florida Oak tree bearing Spanish Moss on all its arms. At night we see all the stars and were sent to bed with a show of heat lightning. The bugs talk all night, the cats and dogs chase each other, there are toads, snakes and bitchin' mesquitos!

I'm trying to integrate my original Blog The Philosopies of Blair Butterfield into our travels and in a former post I described the situation of my hometown Macclenny, instead of describing it I'll simply post the link: http://blairbutterfield.blogspot.com/2009/09/north-florida-start-of-real-south.html

And this is where we are. Balancing two children, a cat, a dog, ourselves and a bus.

Leaving Orlando

2011-07-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

After visiting with my Aunt for the night we are off to my mothers. We are sorry we didn't get to say goodbye to all our Florida friends and family.
But we have lots of work ahead of us, a composting toilet, our own wvo filtration system and other modifications for the newest member.

Leaving Miami

2011-07-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Imagined things a little more difficult with two kids, a dog and a cat, on the bus....

Test

2011-07-03T13:29:00.001-07:00

Testing for upcoming trip.

Sent from my iPhone

Cat & dog

2011-05-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Driving to the Keys

2011-05-11T13:18:00.001-07:00

Bahia Honda

2011-05-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Morning Side Elementary

2011-05-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

We went to show the bus to all the kids from Morningside Elementary's Gardening Club. They got to learn about eco living and see alternative uses for a school bus !! After they checked out the bus, they showed us around their garden. Super cool day !! Photos by Jayme Gershen

On the Bus Again

2011-04-16T15:13:00.001-07:00

We are officially back on the bus.
We were parked with our friends at Transit Antennae's fun fair fundraiser (check them out here http://transitantenna.com) in the Palm Lot in the Design District for three days. We enjoyed all three bus families being together. It started to feel like a strong outsider community.

Now we are parked in Mid-Town working out details for the non-profit's upcoming projects.

Below is a video of one of the events we did, I designed an art installation for a few charitable organizations that was apart of a party for Sustainatopia in Wynwood Walls, see images below:

Also, we did an event called ReProcess at the warehouse we were working out of in Little Hait, see cideo and images below:

Pictures by Jayme Gershen:

We will also be doing a Re-Process event for Earth Day down in Nikki Beach with Planeta Feliz and company:

Simigo Gallery link from Bus Launch last summer

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http://simigogallery.com//Blog/Entries/2010/5/26_The_Eco_Bus_Project.html

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Old friend new place

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Sirius MA

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Garden Sirius MA

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Sirius Community MA

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New York so far

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Bus break down near Collinsville CT

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Tims house

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New York so far

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Worst chinese in the world CT

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I am famous in miami

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Sunset on NY

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To NY

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Back on the road

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Repairs needed

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The North Carolina asphalt

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Something is wrong

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Hitcher from NC

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Good morning nc

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Miami job

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Miami stop

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Sebastian Inlet Neighbors

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Golden Silk Spider or often called banana spider and her man. There were thousands of these this time of year. You could look up into the air and see hundreds above your head, in tree canopies, light posts, etc...
The small spider is the male and the large one is the female.

The ocean is sometimes very beautiful here. Like tourquoise glass, but usually it is raging with waves and attracts a great number of surfers.

FWC Friends

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Our new friends, Nicole and Chris, are interns with Florida Fish and Wildlife.

Rain Coming and Living Sebastian Inlet

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A half tree growing within a palm

Our outdoor shower

Luciano's Radio Flyer

The grounds

A storm brewing

Sebastian Inlet State Park

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Sebastian Inlet State Park

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We are still in Sebastian Inlet State Park until mid-September.

Although hot, we are still enjoying exploring the landscape and will be posting video as soon as our equipment has been repaired and shipped back to us.

We saw pieces of the Perseid meteor shower, but shooting stars are not uncommon on any night.

Every evening there are dolphins, manatees or rays fishing, viewable from the bus 24 hours.

Sea Grapes or Coccoloba uvifera, which is edible and I was told that one of the locals makes a jam out of it.

The Web Cams at Sebastian Inlet State Park

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http://www.sebastianinletcam.com/

Sebastian Inlet

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Night Time Turttle Watching turned into Blue Crab watching

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Sebastian our new home

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Sun setting from the beach

Aileen gave us our first State Park Volunteer job,which meanswewill be here at Sebastian Inlet for a month or more. We are standing in the Fishing Museum in the park.

Gorda only likes Luciano when he's asleep.

The pier at the Inlet.

The Beach at Sebastion Inlet

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The waves are pretty rough and tall, perfect for surfing, but perhaps not swimming.
I read that the Sebastian Inlet has every variety of sea weed / grass in North America. Everyday I see pieces that catch my eye.

Sebastian Inlet

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Orlando and Gas Stove ready

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July 2010

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Fourth stuck on a bridge Miami

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Fourth of July: Stuck on a Bridge with a State Trooper

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Finally cooking on the bus

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Fourth of July Miami

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Fourth of July

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Filling up in Stuart

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