Friends

Rob Lenfestey has a lot of energy!  He is one of the amazing folks we've been getting to know at the Landing, playing on the slack line, making music together, sharing great stories of travels and community and doing.  He really embodies the kind of constant need to learn through experience, and varied experience at that, and to teach and give from that place as well.  Check out his website HERE for a collection of stories he's written, and thoughts about an active and sustainable lifestyle.  

The Bicycle Riders are experimenting with a similar travel intention as we are on our bus...though they move faster!  Jackie has been sharing travel and lifestyle ideas with Matthew over the past year as they've developed their personal dreams, and she's been having fun following his trip, empathizing and being inspired by his experiences with people and places and freedom.  This is just one more example of people trying ideas fearlessly, building community through travel, and nurturing their respectful relationship with the earth.  YAY!  Check out their trip journal HERE

The Landing is a circus commune in West Asheville, who hosted us for the end of June while we wait for the veggie conversion. 
 Here, we've been spending our time learning on an intimate level just one way people are managing to live creatively, collaboratively, and sustainably.  Many that live here are acrobats and circus performers and yogis, but there is a LOT more than that going on every day.  Eddie has been making bavarian pretzels for twenty or thirty years, and has been teaching many of his neighbors his secrets and letting the rest of us sample.  Calen and Erica take care of goats and ducks and organic gardens, though most of the members help with this work.  Liam seems to love the tomatoes as his children, and is an amazing drummer.  I've seen a lot of beautiful dance from Liam and Carla, Joel has been producing kinetic sculptures that involve motors and fabric and LED lights and waveforms, and Maddie paints these intricate spiritual images of the earth and its magic.  Tree has been teaching us acro-yoga.  Iz makes some pretty provocative work from found and repurposed materials, and on the side is campaigning for Ringmistress of the United States.  Peter is really into electronic music and his keyboard, and just about everyone loves hiking, swimming, and adventuring around these mountains. Check out their facebook page for more info!

Gwyn is a fellow bus-lover, owner of a school bus named Elsie which she converted to waste oil herself. Gwyn was our bus neighbor at Snaggy Mountain, parked next to us on the other side of the barn. She is a wonderful guitar & harmonica playing musician with an incredible voice. Gwyn radiates love and light with her presence and smile, and has a habit of warming hearts. She is currently touring with her all-female band, kicking ass and being awesome.

 

    Jared McQueen is just starting his organic farm in Burnsville, NC.  He invited us to stay on his land for the first two months of the project, where we had the opportunity and space and materials to pursue many creative projects.  Jared is an incredible force in his community, a talented musician, a painter, a warm heart.  His determination to live sustainably and encourage others to do the same was inspiring.  We look forward to seeing where his plentiful and varied visions lead him and what comes of his farm and community in the next few years!  Check out his website for Snaggy Mountain Farm here.

     Jeff Polgar and Kelly Rothe are two incredible healers, gardeners and parents living in Celo county, NC.  They took in the Loki crew on their mountain homestead for two weeks and taught us about small-scale organic gardening and landscaping.  Their practice in Burnsville is Mountain Medical Arts, and they are calling their growing gardening operation Mountain Edible Arts (the sign in the photograph was hand built during our stay by Max and Joe.)  It was a treat to be welcomed into their home as family; we loved eating big home-cooked meals together at the end of the day, spending time with their daughters Lily and Katherine, hiking together and getting to know their friends in the community.  We would absolutely recommend WWOOFing with them if you have the opportunity...they have so much to share and teach.

     The kids living at Nestled Utopia in Durham, NC were amazing hosts, tourguides and instant friends.  If you ever get a chance to stop by and soak up some love and creative spirit, DO IT.  Esteban the neurotoxicologist photographer will build you a welcome fire with his butane torch, and Andy the butcher/charcutier might whip up the tastiest jambalaya you've ever savored.  We became fast friends with Mamie the glassblower and cookie chef, Alyssa, poet, storyteller, community-instigator, Toby the German chemist, Byron the farmer and Erin, crafter-extraodinaire and Indian food specialist.  Mica came by one night with his homemade raw chocolate, too.  And can Esteban cook you some hot dogs! http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/nestled_utopia/

 Andy Futuro bravely navigated the first two weeks of our trip with us, wowing the Loki crew with flexibility and enthusiasm and always a positive attitude.  He is a writer and musician (wait 'til we get the link for his "Sexy Minds"...it's really upbeat and energetic electronic music) with a killer vocabulary and a constant stream of ideas.  Here's the first link he gave us for your listening pleasure: My Coffee (original song by our first road friend!)  More tracks are available at http://andyfuturo.bandcamp.com/