We spent two days off staying with Jess and Brent and their awesome Corgi puppy, Zelda, in Marina del Rey.

We stayed in my good friend Chris’ room while she was still up at Sara’s in Ventura. We had two massages in two days at a Thai place we stopped in on the way back from breakfast. I ended up with a therapist, Mark, who had been a bike racer when he lived in Thailand! He had also lived in Indiana and done the little 500. So he knew exactly where I would hurt. What a wonderful coincidence to have met him!

I also got a chance to go out to the Acrogreens near the Santa Monica pier on Sunday, where acrobats and acroyogis gather to play. I did a few hand to hands with Ernie, a stuntman who I have met there before. I also saw Jonathan, who owns TSNY, the trapeze school I work at, and met his wife, who is a champion acrobat. TSNY has a location right there on the Santa Monica pier, but I thought Jonathan was from New York, so I was surprised to see him.

Mostly at the Acrogreens, I chatted with Jon, a retired rocket scientist who is often there with his friend Larry. He is also a cyclist, so we had lots to talk about! Also, I taught him some basic acro. He he had been coming to the greens for so long, he thought he should get around to trying some eventually.

On Monday, I had lunch with my friend Nick. It was very fun because I met him in Chicago, and he mentioned he would be in LA visiting the neon benders he works with for his art pieces. He does the neon on the man at Burning Man, and it’s time to work on that for this year’s event. Originally, we thought we would just miss each other, but we ended up being there at the same time!

Later in the day, Sadie and moved over to our friend Charlie’s apartment. Charlie had been on Odyssey with Sadie and Ben, but it had been years since either of us had seen him. We were excited to hear that his girlfriend of a year or so had gotten him to eat vegetables, finally. He now thinks they are delicious, and says he feels much better now that he is eating so much more healthy food. He always used to wake up feeling like he got hit by a truck, but now, at 40, feels great in the mornings! (Ben Melnick, I hope you are listening!)

Sadie and Charlie

Also, Charlie works for Elektra bikes, and he outfitted us with new bells. We went out for a delicious Italian dinner, joined by his roommate Susie, who needed to be kept awake after a long weekend in Vegas with friends. She had great stories about a five week camping trip she took with a friend after they got out of college. I apparently horrified everyone by describing how a ten year relationship can quietly fall apart if you’re not paying attention.

Tuesday morning we were well rested, and actually left the house by 8:30, which was a record for us. We even left the overpriced but scrumptious smoothie place a few blocks away where we ate breakfast by about 10.

I don’t have too much to say about the long 80 miles that followed. About 40 of it was on bike paths.

I kept up with Sadie much more closely than any other day. I was making a concerted effort so I wouldn’t get left behind at stoplights, so I probably pushed harder than usual, but it still felt good. Much of the day was quite flat. It just took forever, between stopping at lights with the city riding, and winding around beach bike paths. Luckily, the paths weren’t too crowded for the most part. We still had to watch closely for small children wandering across and got stuck regularly behind groups of slow cyclists out cruising.

We rode for a while down the LA river, which is little more than a viaduct. It is definitely looking better and greener than the last time Ben and I rode down it for an organized ride. Much of the area around it still contributes to a view of LA as a dystopic wasteland, though. In one section, there was a tent city of homeless people clustered around an underpass, next to wall of graffiti. A lone man in black with scraggly hair strode away in the rubble, wearing thigh holsters that looked like they held long knives. I wish I had a picture of that!

Just past that strip along the river is a tidy suburban neighborhood. There are not many entrances to the riverside bike path, probably to reduce the transient traffic through the neighborhoods. We missed the first entrance, so we had to navigate past the homes for another mile or so before we could get on the path. We came upon this unsettling street:

We spent an hour or so in a cozy coffee shop in Torrance, which we found off our route because we’re getting good at recognizing the street patterns of downtown areas. The rest of the day saw only brief stops for water and power bars, and more riding. We were meeting Sadie’s friend Sue at Sue’s mother’s home in Capistrano Beach, which is right after Dana Point.

This meant we were retracing much of the route of the first day of the Odyssey ride, which ended in in Dana Point. Sadie hadn’t been able to finish that day of riding, so she was extra determined to have a strong finish today. Of course, this time, she’s been on the road for six weeks already, so it was no problem at all. Sue even met us in Dana Point and made a video of us arriving!

We left our bikes at Sue’s mom’s, took pictures on the beach,

and drove up several steep hills to Sue’s house. Sue is a photographer who travelled with the rodeo circuit and lived in the Marshall Islands, among other interesting things, so her house is like a treasure cave. You never know what you will find! She made us steak and baked potatoes for dinner, and I fell asleep before I even finished eating.

Wow.

I was joined by Mara, my teacher and dear friend from San Diego. There were also more friends from San Diego, Tucson, Pheonix, Seattle and Chicago, and of course amazing new friends and teachers.

Jesse and Eugene, of acroyoga.com, bring their creative dance background to the practice. It was such an incredible opportunity to study with them!

For Montreal style, we practiced both basing and flying all of the poses. Also, we held poses for a long time to develop strength and ease. Here, Mara flew me in free star for four minutes. We stayed in star for, I think, seven minutes overall.

Colin weighs eighty pounds more than me, so he made me feel like a strong base!

It can be fun to put a bunch of bodies together and see what shape you get.

I loved flying with Christoph when we played in the park!

We also spent a lot of time doing yoga around the city.

There was also a circus festival while we were there. We saw this tightwire walker in a park.

Wow!

Thanks to the amazing Rachel Dragonfly for taking the best of these pictures.

I got up and did some yoga this morning. It’s been so many days off the bike, I’m getting a little worried about just seizing up! Amy and Tim made a delicious breakfast of breakfast tacos, which presented a regional variation on Mexican food. In San Diego, we would have breakfast burritos instead. Basically the only difference is the size of the tortilla. But I have also had a number of tortillas here that are more like pita bread than the flat tortillas I am used to.

Amy said if there was one thing to do in Austin, it was to visit Barton Springs, so we headed there by bike after breakfast. We rode most of the way on dedicated bike paths, winding around the river in town. There were so many people out running and riding on these beautiful paths. Like San Antonio’s Riverwalk, they were at river level, which is below street level. It gives the city a layered feel.

Barton Springs is a huge, mineral-fed pool that is blocked off from the creek.

One side,

And the other.

It’s about 60 degrees. Unfortunately, I left my wetsuit in San Diego, but I still went in. It wasn’t quite hot enough outside for it to feel wonderfully refreshing, but my heart did not leap out of my chest either. Amy, Tim and I swam about one lap all together, then laid in the sun to warm up. Apparently in Austin, you can be naked in public as long as no one complains, and there are often topless bathers and men in thongs at the springs, but they were not out today.

The rocks in the springs are slippery with plants and algae, and there is a section with a lot of growth on the surface. Signs explained that the springs are also the habitat of a certain salamander. Amy said that they used to drain the pool regularly and keep it cleaned out, but they started leaving the plant growth alone in the 90′s, so as to not disturb the salamander habitat. It seems like this pool has plenty of room for people and salamanders to coexist, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing that people get used to coming into contact with plants when they’re outside.

After Barton Springs, we had lunch nearby at Shady Grove. Though they had a terrific shady grove to hang out in and enjoy a leisurely meal, it was super crowded. Amy swooped a table in the bar area for us, and I had a salad with actual green lettuce, not iceberg. Yay, Austin!

Then we rode over to Butler Park so I could meet up with the Austin acroyogis who play there on Sundays. I had been in contact with Tyrone on facebook since we both attended a Yogaslacker workshop in Tucson, and I was looking forward to finding yet another acro community!

They call their group ” Volve,” for “inVolve, eVolve, reVolve.” Tyrone has a 20-foot rigging from which they hang silks. Noah, who is working through a gymnastics training book by Coach Summers, brings a set of rings. There was also a slackline, and a lyra hanging from a tree branch.

Of course, the best part is the people. I met a woman named Shanae who is getting ready to travel around the states, and maybe the world, by motorcycle. She’s also just been accepted to work on a pyramid excavation in, if not Bosnia, then somewhere near there. I flew Markus, a minimalist and a rock climber and an electronic music composer. His family used to have a vegetarian restaurant in the hill country! He’s originally from Germany, and my German is so rusty it’s embarrassing to admit I even sort of speak it. I can still read and understand more than I can get to come out of my mouth.

Belinda had made fabulous earrings out of plastic cockroaches. She has scoliosis, like me, and has quite recently started the hard work of developing her proprioception. When you have scoliosis, you’re sense of how your body is moving in space is disrupted. Yoga has helped me so much in this regard! Belinda has been using breath practice, and something called egoscue, which I am very interested to look in to.

It was fun to fly with Tyrone, the enthusiastic organizer of this crew, and to meet many others! I wish I had time to get to know them better. Because of our interest in acroyoga, I know that we already have so much in common!

As the sun set, I headed back to Amy and Tim’s, taking the streets rather than the paths, so I wouldn’t get lost. I came upon a bridge where there were crowds of people lining both sides.

I realized this must be the bridge where everyone comes to watch the bats come out at night! I pulled over, and after a few minutes, clouds of bats emerged from under the bridge and disappeared into the darkening sky. They kept coming and coming for several minutes! They weren’t close enough to see individual bats, just black clouds. It looked like a lot of bats!

The full moon was amazing, large and yellow and low in the sky, as I rode the rest of the way. Amy and Tim had saved some dinner for me. What a great day! I know I would love to spend more time in Austin, but I felt like it was time to start acting like I really am going to bike to Florida on this trip.

After spending midday in the Aguila library, I headed to the Coyote Flats cafe at the edge of town for a late lunch. I had decided to head for Wickenburg starting around 3pm to get closer to my day off in Pheonix. If all went well, I would make it there before dark. The elevation profile on my map showed a small uphill, and what looked like a long downhill to a town by a river. I had called the campground, and they said they had a little patch of grass all ready for me! The wind didn’t seem to be blowing much at all.

I was to stay on highway 60 to Wickenburg, and so far it was a very low traffic road with a large shoulder and a pretty smooth surface. I was pretty sure I could get there before dark, but also felt reasonably comfortable about having to ride in the dark under those conditions if necessary.

Well, it was a terrific ride! I was able to stay in my middle chain ring for most of the flatter parts. Riding yesterday for a little while without panniers reminded me of another riding strategy. Even if I wasn’t climbing, I could change into a higher gear, stand up to pedal a ways, and then coast with one foot down, then stand up again and coast on the other side. It gave my seat some much needed time off the saddle. It also worked well because I feel much more comfortable handling the bike with all the gear on it. There were a few short, easy climbs, occasionally with the tiniest breath of a tailwind, and then the last eight or so miles I coasted downhill into the river valley.

I was at the CVS at the edge of town buying new sunscreen by 5:30, well before dark. The owner of the Aztec campground was thrilled to see I had arrived so early, and eat to show off “the only grass between here and San Diego.” I didn’t want to mention I had spent the previous night on a grassy football field in Salome. She also told me about the 23 neutered feral cats that lived around the tent area, who would likely scatter at the sight of me. I just wanted a shower.

As I was pulling out my camping gear, I knocked over bike. Setting it back upright, I noticed a strange bulge in the back tire. It looked most like a snake that had swallowed a mouse. I called Ben immediately. I can change an inner tube if I need to, but I’m lucky to have him as my mobile technical support. He explained to me how to deflate the tire and squeeze around it, to make sure the inner tube was even all around. I’d seen him do that a hundred times. They didn’t help, so that meant the tire was basically ready to burst and I would need a new one.

The campground owner’s husband and two locals were sitting around smoking, and they confirmed the diagnosis. They also assured me I couldn’t get “special” tires like that around here. Maybe a cheap one that could get me to Phoenix, 50 miles away, til I could get the right ones. They also thought they knew of a bike shop 30 miles away.

I turned to facebook. Maybe a friend from Phoenix could drive up and get me? Then I noticed my friend Levi was driving from his home in Vegas to Phoenix the next day. The locals said he’d pass right by here. Through the magic of facebook, I tracked down his phone number, and we arranged for him to arrive around 10am!

Saturday, April 2, 2011
Wickenburg to Pheonix
50ish miles in the car

Through a mis-set alarm clock, Levi arrived at 8am instead of 10. At 7:45, I noticed his text telling me to expect him earlier, and five minutes later he was greeting me while I scrambled to pack everything up, which really doesn’t take that long.

Levi and his wife Jaq are burner friends from San Diego. They moved to Las Vegas a few years ago to save money to start Jaq’s fashion business. He’s younger than me, but has had a long and interesting life so far, including the preposterous (to me) job of selling speakers out of a van at stoplights, basically. He dreams of someday leading his Apache people to create a sovereign state. If anyone could do it, I think he could! It’s so fun to listen to his stories! We drove through Phoenix to Tempe to have breakfast at one of his favorite places from college before he dropped me off at Jessica Ahl’s acupuncture office. It was a great and serendipitous start to the day.

Jessica Ahl and I have known each other since the 3rd or 4th grade. We both went to ISU, and recently reconnected through both facebook and last summer’s 20th high school reunion. She had generously offered her place to stay as I rode through. It was finally time for my day off!

I hung out in her cozy office with her Chinese Crested dog, Gracie, until she was finished seeing clients. Gracie looks like a little black dragon. She can’t walk right now, which is thought to be a reaction to vaccinations. She loves to sit in your lap and go places, though. Next, we headed out to Hudson Park to meet up with the local acroyogis for their weekly jam! I had spent the last few days playing “I think I’ll be able to get there! Oh no, I won’t make it,” with two acroyoga friends on facebook who I know from Jason and Chelsey’s workshops. In the end, I was able to be there, but Amber and Shana weren’t!

Later, Jessica gave me her quick tour of some cute neighborhoods. I love to see how craftsman homes are so distinctive in different areas! The ones in Phoenix have more Spanish adobe-looking elements, often with very large Southern-style porches. We also got locally made ice cream for a treat. Yum! We sat up talking late into the night, reminiscing as well as catching up on the intervening years.

What a joyful day, to not only have everything work out so smoothly, but also to connect with another welcoming acroyoga community, as well as two wonderful friends!

My campsite in Quartzite on Thursday morning. Good thing I went all the back to the tent area! I might I have been in the way, otherwise. As it was, I wasn’t sure if I was in a site or in the road.

Still no tailwind. I started out on interstate 10 this morning for about ten miles. there was no crosswind, either, so it made riding on the freeway more comfortable. The Wheelers had spent the night in Blythe, about 20 miles behind me, but I figured they’d start passing me by the time I got off the freeway. Ten, fifteen, twenty miles, and still no Wheelers. It was getting really hot and I was feeling tired and crabby.

On the way in to the “town” of Hope, I saw a sign for a section of highway that had been adopted by the Little Church of Hope. I bleakly read it as the “Church of Little Hope.”

This sign leaving town didn’t make me feel any better, either.

The scrappy desert landscape full of decaying RV’s was getting to me, too. All I kept thinking was, “Watch out, Arizona, industrious brown people are coming to disrupt your way of life! They’re coming for your dust!”

As I limped toward my 30th mile, I saw a large sign up ahead. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I just kept repeating, “Please let it be a restaurant that is still in business AND open! Please!” It was! Dos Amigos, a Mexican place. It had a lovely patio area with shade and fountains and pots for sale, but I just wanted to be inside. I drank raspberry tea and ate chips for a good hour, and I finally caught a glimpse of one of the Wheeler’s neon green jerseys passing by.

I left the restaurant, not really feeling refreshed. A few blocks up–imagine the distance, without anything in it–was another cafe. The Wheeler’s truck was in front and a number of bikes were leaned against it. I had to go around a very new and oddly placed roundabout to turn left. Perhaps they are anticipating rapid expansion from nothing to something in the area. I went in to sit down some more and say Hello. They were all pretty tired from the heat, too, and glad there were only 10 miles left. Coach agreed to let me camp with them again, this time in a high school gym.

Feeling beat, I also asked if I could throw my panniers in the truck for the last bit. They’ll get out ahead of me tomorrow, and I won’t see them again, so I figured I should take advantage of the opportunity when it was available. That was a treat! Though even without most of my gear, I still couldn’t keep up with Dan, and two self-supported riders from Germany passed me going uphill!

We couldn’t get in to the gym until after 4:00, so we all relaxed in the Cactus Bar since we rolled in to town about 2:00. It was cool and dark, and it was nice to be part of the group as more and more riders arrived. I had heard that there used to be an ice cream place next door, and I was a little disappointed it wasn’t there any more.

At the school, a few of us set up our tents on the grassy football field, while most put out bedrolls in the gym. I did yoga in the grass, which was delightful after so much prickly sand everywhere. I flew Dan and Betsey, the younger members of the group, and another one of the older riders, and they all loved it! I was happy to be able to give back a little acroyoga to this group that had taken me in for a few days. I taught Dan how to base folded leaf, too. Releasing the lower back is really helpful for cyclists!

The Wandering Wheels have their own cook trailer. Their set up is really great!

I’ll really miss this welcoming and inspiring group!

It was hard to leave Reno! I loved staying with Nathan and Marie and their awesome kids, Maya and baby Nash! I loved it even though my room was unheated and in their garage. I had layers of cozy blankets and spent most of my time in the house. It was fun to feel like part of the family. I got to take Maya to gymnastics lessons and I had a great sewing set up in the office where I could craft while Marie worked, as long as I stopped the sewing machine while she was on the phone. There was never a shortage of whipped cream for our hot chocolate in the Gilbert household! I didn’t even mind having to get an ice scraper to keep in my car for the first time in thirteen or so years.

But, the point of traveling is not to permanently stop at the first place you go, so towards the end of November, it made sense to move on.

I made plans to spend Thanksgiving in San Diego. At first I felt a little silly, seeing as how it had barely been a month since I’d left. But I really was excited about visiting my friends. So I packed most everything back up in my Corolla and tried to leave Reno.

Unfortunately there was a dramatic snowstorm the day I planned to leave. As the afternoon wore on, the sky seemed to clear, so I thought I would take a chance. It seemed like if I headed east on the “spooky desert route,” I would stay out of the mountains until I was far enough south to clear the snow. Ten miles down the road, the snow had returned and redoubled, so I turned around and headed back to the Gilberts at ten miles an hour on the freeway. Luckily I got behind a big yellow school bus. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to see where I was going. When it got off at the exit before Nathan and Marie’s, I had to follow it. I parked at the gas station just off the freeway until it was clear enough for me to drive the last mile to their house.

The next day I left with chains on my tires. The storm had ended, but chains were still required as the first part of my trip took me up into the mountains and over Donner Pass. As all California school children know, no one wants to get stuck at Donner Pass! I crept along, ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk, not going over 30 miles per hour, per the chain instructions, for about 50 miles over four hours, enviously eyeing the suv’s with 4-wheel drive and snow tires that sped past at normal speeds in the left lane.

As it turned out, the road was by and large clear of snow and ice, but the chain restriction remained in place. Worse than the road surface was the bright sun reflecting off my windshield, which got increasingly dirty as larger vehicles sped by and sprayed slush at me. It was still too cold out for my windshield wipers to work that well.

Finally, with relief, I pulled over behind a Subaru and some big rigs removing their chains. Chatting with the Subaru driver, we both concurred that, as far as we could tell from the signs and the radio, we were still supposed to have our chains on. But the roads had been clear for miles, and all the truckers were removing theirs, so we would too. I was thrilled to take off at normal speeds and drove ten more hours to San Diego so I would arrive in time for Thanksgiving. Whew! Thankfully, and surprisingly, there was no traffic through L.A.

I went to three Thanksgiving dinners, including one with a DJ, and got to see just about everyone I know in San Diego. Yay!

I turned around a few days later and headed north to the Bay Area with a co-pilot. My friend Mankx had several events he wanted to attend in San Francisco, including Santacon, on the same weekend I was signed up for an acroyoga workshop in Oakland. I was getting used to hours and hours of driving, but it sure was nice to have company for this stretch!

I had been to several of Jason and Chelsey’s (the Yogaslackers) workshops in Tucson, and it was exciting to be able to attend one in the Bay Area. Originally, I had heard that this workshop would review material from their Tucson events, introducing nothing new. I was really looking forward to this, because there’s no way I can remember everything after 16+ hours of hard acroyoga in one weekend. Their teaching pushes my limits, and I could have used the refresher.

Of course, they couldn’t resist throwing in some new material. So much for the review, but their creativity is part of what makes them great teachers. One thing they did differently this time was to work on progressions to prepare you for the “big” move. So if you couldn’t quite get the whole thing, you had something specific to practice that put you in the right direction.

For example, here they are showing a progression to prepare you for the London Spin.

video (I apologize. I am not able to post the video I would like to yet, though I am going to leave this here with the intention of figuring it out.)

Eventually, the London Spin rotates all the way around, with the base using no hands at all. Imagine this, but faster and without the base grabbing the flyer’s feet.

video (See above excuse.)

Sunday evening, after an exhausting weekend, Mankx flew back to San Diego. I got a good night’s sleep and drove back to Reno Monday morning to retrieve the rest of my stuff. (I had had to leave some things there, or there would have been no room for a passenger!)

Tuesday I drove to Eugene, Oregon, where I stayed with my friend Rita and her daughers, Hannah and Sabella. I got to join them for a choral concert at the girls’ school, but left early the next morning. I would have loved to stay longer, but I had to be in Seattle to start an acroyoga class on Wednesday evening.

So instead of leisurely exploring blue highways, (Sorry, Ellen!) I was rushing down the freeway to be somewhere on time again. That wasn’t what I expected from my travels. But I was excited about where I was going. Lux is an amazing acroyoga teacher, and I was going to be able to take his class for eight weeks!

As far as I could tell, I was missing a lot throughout Oregon and Washington, too. Everywhere looked beautiful! Trees, mountains, snow, rivers, and I was flying by. I’d have to find time to come back!

I did take the time to stop at the Mt. St. Helen’s Visitor’s Center. It was right off the freeway with a view of the volcano. I spent about an hour hiking around the bog there and practicing my artistic photography.

It was so nice to get out of the car and walk around, and I felt like I wasn’t completely ignoring all of the natural beauty between Eugene and Seattle.

This brings us to the evening of Wednesday, December 8, when I arrived in Seattle, in time to have a small dinner with the amazing Bernadette, who was going to let me stay at her house for two months, and to get to the first class of Lux’s 8-week Intermediate AcroYoga series at 7:30!

When I began to envision my travels, I did not at all expect I would be rushing around from deadline to deadline. It turns out I have no motivation to move on, really, until I have scheduled something in another place. And also that winter is not really the best time for exploring, even in the relatively mild weather of the west coast.

Doing acroyoga is a great way to travel. If there are acroyogis in town, it pretty much guarantees there will be like-minded people with whom I will enjoy spending time. And we’ll have something fun to do together!

It’s also interesting to see how acroyoga is a little bit different from place to place. For example, Anastasia’s classes in Reno often start with a wave asana warm up, where we have our mats in a circle and you don’t do the next move until it’s come around the circle to the person next to you. Like the wave. Mara does this often in San Diego, but in Reno they have really perfected the art of having some kind of noise to go with each pose, be it a clap, stomp or word. You’re not usually looking at the circle when doing yoga poses, so the audio cues really allow you to know when it’s your turn without craning your neck.

I loved going to classes in Reno and to impromptu morning jams. I was even able to go biking one day with an acroyogi and his son. I learned a lot from everyone, and enjoyed using what I know to help others work on their practice. I got a lot of practice basing!

Here are some pictures from a fun evening with Anastasia, Jacob and Jole. They worked together to teach the acro classes in Reno, and on this particular evening, no one else showed up for class besides me. So we played anyway!

Jole flying Jacob.

Jacob flying me.

Jacob flying Jole and Ana.

Jacob flying all of us, with Jole taking the picture as she flies!

Maya, the five-year-old daughter of the friends I stayed with, also loved doing acroyoga. I wish I had some pictures of Maya the circus star! Like all five year olds, she was tireless!

Thank you Reno acroyogis! Thank you Ana and Jacob and Jole and Jeff and Jennice and Lynn and Lara and everyone else! I so look forward to playing again! I miss you, Maya!

We lost Monday. At home right now, it’s 4:00 yesterday. We’re in the future, and it’s good, says one of my travelling companions.

On Sunday, July 4, I woke up anxious, which only got worse after Rebecca brought over chai to see me off. I drove in to Ocean Beach as a friend was just leaving, scoring the best parking spot ever right at the acrogreens. I had so much excess energy, I thought I might even go surfing. Of course I didn’t. After biking between Fiesta Island and OB, and flying at Ocean Beach (making progress on high hand to hands!), Jack drove me up to the Solana Beach train station, where I joined three other teachers heading to LAX en route to Shenzhen, China. I left him with vague instructions to keep the cat and the chickens alive until Kate and Monetta make it home from the Black Rock Desert, fiddled with my luggage, and started my journey.

Trains are a pretty relaxing way to travel anyway, but stress of the last few days became pretty irrelevant as we all agreed the teaching was great and all, but mostly we were excited about going to China. I tried not to think too much about the impending 14 hour plane flight.

We flew out of LAX about 2am, hoping to sleep most of the way. It was reasonably comfortable for having to stay in a seat for that long. I slept a lot, and also read a new book, an ethnographic study of the relationship between Burning Man and spirituality. Reading it while in what I feel I could now argue is another common form of liminoid space, the in-between world of airports and airplanes, felt appropriate.

As my first post, I mostly want to get something up. I hope to be more interesting in the future.