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Bird Nesting and Island Timing. The Birds Have Flown the Coop

Hello and Happy Summer! There was indeed a small hiccup in the birds' departure from Vancouver, but alas the four Birds are together again. It feels good. It feels oh soo good! We spent some decompression time on Mayne Island..sleeping with sheep, roosters, and three cows (Rose and Oliver were my favourites).  A lovely man named Manny generously let us pitch our tents in a patch of wispy young trees near his King apple orchard. Gorgeous land!
Manny and his wife Alexis had met at a cob building project down in Baja, some time ago on a bike adventure of their own! It so happened Jurgen and Judith, or "The Tinkerers", also lived on Mayne Island and they were the founders of the cob project in Baja. So,..we called them! We said, "Hello, we are the birds on bikes..can we speak with you?". Four hours later we were all close to tears rolling away from their house on our trusty steeds. They were full of wisdom, travelling tales, inspiration, and some of the best life advice I have yet to hear.
Love, Elkmother.

Pre Trip Bike Workshop/Pizza Cook-Off/Tyler's Awesome Cram Session.  Intense concentration mixed with three delicious beers equals excellent and reliable bike mechanic knowledge.

Elkmother gathering her vitamins for the trip. ..just kidding;)....except the chocolate. The chocolate is allll mine.

Look wayyyyy back, past the ferns and the grass and the box with the names. Past the fence and the king apple trees..and there! That is the place where the birds lay their heads:)

The entrance to night one on the adventure. Tres inviting!

Hunter emerging from her slumber to find Rose and Oliver enjoying some greens for brekkie. We fed them and Haley rubbed their heads. I decided I was happy I don't eat them or their friends. 

With the help of our crash course bike mechanic workshop, Josie and Elkmother attempt to fix some tight ass brakes! ...oh, and this was about hour 4 of the trip. 

Edith Point, Mayne Island. On a mission for ocean-side espresso. Meeting Goocher in T-45 minutes. It's tight. Very, very tight. 

Jurgen, Hose, Elkmother, and Judith. The Tinkers use the herbs behind us for their medicinal and healing concoctions which they kindly share at markets and personal encounters. Brilliant souls, these two. Just brilliant!

Aaannnnd, the birds must fly again. Spot nombre uno! Bon Voyage!
Love, Elkmother.

3 birds afly, one bird down

The big day commences, June 1st, 2011.

This morning 3/4 of the birds departed to Mayne Island to begin the journey down south! However, trauma strikes and just before the big journey begins, we have one bird down. That would me, Hailey (Gooch) at home, on June 1st, with an ice pack, a bottle of T3's and two extracted wisdom teeth at my beside table. I had to have emergency oral surgery to remove one hell of a wisdom tooth (teeth, actually there were two) which were disrupting my other chompers. There was debate about whether to perform this surgery now, or in some back alley  in mexico, needless to say i chose the former. SUPER bummed, lonely and sore, but i will meet up with the birds on Salt Spring Island on friday june 3 regardless. the show must go on. this is life and (soon) i will laugh about it.
i know you are anticipating sublime photos of coastal elegance, but i will grace you with this lovely photo of what was once in my mouth- they will be strapped around my neck for good luck. i am not in contact with the other birds, but as far as i know, they are visiting Starry Meadows Farm tomorrow June 2nd, we'll hear more soon. lotsa of love to those who are listening and will be sharing this journey with us for the following three months. until soon.x

We are Connected

Generous family concerned about our well being pitched in for a wonderful device called a SPOT. It's a GPS locater thingy. Now you can follow us as we make our way down south.

BIRD NEST IS HERE

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Two Weeks

So, we've got two weeks before we head off on our trip. Yeah. Two weeks, twooooo weeks. Besides trying to solidify a trip itinerary, fixing up our bikes, finding the money needed to fix up our bikes and preparing to leave the country for 3 months, we are all on schedule.

I thought about making a paper chain date counter, the type your grade four teacher had you make to count down the last month of school before summer, but then I realized it would stress me out too much. Instead I wrote at the top of my calendar- "everything will be OK, maybe not great, but definitely OK." That was a week ago. Now I've hidden my calendar from view under a pile of denial and moving boxes.

I cannot wait to be on my bike with nothing else but my four panniers of life and my three Birds riding in formation around me.

Bike trips and tempeh tips

And suddenly its April. The cherry blossoms have popped, Hails is dying from allergies, Josie is in her last week of classes and Lauren is up to her knees again in landscaping. Spring is here. Apparently. And that means summer is right around the corner, which means 56 days until June 1st. 56 days until we leave! Ah! A realisation that fills me with dread with the thought of all the things that we still need to do before we leave, but also sheer giddy pleasure, the kind that creeps up the back of your neck and finds its way to your mouth, in a smile you can't quite wipe away. Oh man. Stoked and freaked.

This weekend, because we like to live on the wild side, us birds are heading over to Victoria for a weekend excursion, gear trial run, film/interview practice, and you know have general good time.

We are very excited because we will be visiting the Wayward School. It is a cooperative school all about thinking, making and doing. They offer interdisciplinary workshops, lectures, seminars, and community gatherings. This weekend they will be hosting workshops on tempeh, knife sharpening and lactofermentaion. Cool huh? We're looking forward to getting a chance to catch up with Heather Cosidetto and Stephen Morales, the folks behind the Wayward school, and to learn about the history of fermentation and friendly bacteria. Wahoo!

Stay tuned to photos and footage from the expedition.

-Haley