The Long Way Home

I began writing this blog entry in mid-April from the floor of our empty apartment in Minneapolis, and kept postponing writing it until I felt that I could provide some closing words of wisdom on the meaning of our travels. As you can imagine, this proved difficult for more than one reason. Writing the final blog post means coming to terms with the end of travelling (at least for the moment), it means conveying in an eloquent way the decision to return to Minnesota, and insightful comments on how I have changed through my experience. At this moment in time, I cannot provide those to you, my dear reader. Because I do not even know them myself. I will, however, tell you all about our Long Way Home.

We left sunny Texas in Early April, headed for home the long way through New Orleans, and Asheville, North Carolina. We had one day in NOLA and spent it on a classic tour starting with two orders of french beignets and coffee at the Cafe du Monde. We caught the trolley to ride across town and see the above ground cemeteries, ate fried alligator and catfish po' boys while drinking cold beer on a patio, shopped in vintage stores, walked along the Mississippi, and heard jazz drifting through the streets all night. In the morning we took off driving again, and ended our night camping somewhere in the woods of Alabama (only $3 a night for a campsite!) and listened as hail pounded the aluminum topper of the truck- while we remained miraculously dry as the storm passed overhead.

French beignets (puffy fried dough)

 


 

Above ground cemetary

Alabama camp site

Asheville, NC

We stayed with a generous couch-surfing host during our time in Asheville, which allowed us to eat out and enjoy the town without feeling guilty about our dwindling budget. My absolute favorite meal was brunch at the Tupelo Honey Cafe, where I had a big southern vegetable breakfast bowl complete with beans, greens, salsa, bacon, cheesy grits, and eggs. They even gave us a free biscuit and honey! It was great fuel for a full day exploring record shops, breweries, and artsy-fartsy galleries. Asheville definitely reminded me of Minneapolis, but smaller and much less developed. Our plans to camp and hike in the Smokies were snuffed out due to 20 degree weather in the mountains, so we just packed up and left for home!

  

Tupelo Honey Cafe Breakfast (free biscuit & honey!)

  

  

Reilly in a fruit tree forest

  

  

Glass blowing demonstration

  

Wall art commemorating small family honey & chicken farms

WWOOFing for nearly six months was not all roses, even though I tried my best to record the most positive moments of the trip. We came to a point in our travelling that the prospect of having access to a western toilet, laundry, a kitchen, and a clean fluffy bed all the time was all that I could think about. I day dreamed about canning homemade pickles, sleeping in the same spot every night, and free time to see my friends and family. It was time to come 'home'.

Reilly and I were both welcomed back to our previous positions in Minnesota. I will be working on a contract from April-November at The Food Group as their Farm Manager and Produce Program Assistant, helping to establish additional giving gardens, creating educational programming, and running their 3 acre organic farm. Reilly is returning to Green Earth Growers (full time with a raise!) growing wholesale transplants during the off-season and managing their CSA during the summer. We found an apartment and signed a lease for a year close to our old neighborhood in uptown Minneapolis.

I plan on writing a reflections blog once the impact of the trip has revealed itself to me, and also a post for prospective WWOOFers for advice on how to choose farms, what to bring along, and tips on what worked well for us and what I would do differently. Feedback on what you'd like to read, or have questions about, is appreciated in the comments section below!

Thanks for following along with us,

xoxo