Journeyed to the Center of the Rogue Valley

Figured it was time for a new post. So I'm sitting at our Rent-A-Center table, drinking some Richmond coffee, listening to Local Natives, and contemplating our first 2 weeks in Medford.

Well, Medford is definitely no pacific northwest town in a lot of ways... the first main way being, of course, that it's almost in California. We are nestled in the southern Oregon wine country, surrounded by orchards and mountains, which catch some beautiful cloud developments and double rainbows! Definitely not lacking for beauty around here, but also not lacking the rain that you would expect out here. Which, superficially I don't mind because it helps my hair curl, nor emotionally, because I can sit on our big porch, watch the rain, drink some tea, and channel some "Ashley Curl" for some interpretive dancing to my favorite spirituals. Uptown girls know what I'm talking about :)

I've explored the city and surrounding areas quite a bit, and here are a few snapshots of our lovely scenery:

Now, as for the day-to-day setting:

Leslie works. She rehabs and lifts (mostly) sweet old folks at a nursing home all day and occasionally gets the inappropriate pick-up line that is immediately texted to me back at home. She's doing great as the breadwinner and keeping the ship a-sail out here.

I, on the other hand, have busied myself with the following activities so far:

- Broadening my culinary reach through "The Pioneer woman" and "The Barefoot Contessa" as well as haunting some local food hot-spots, like the farmer's market, the Ashland Co-Op (which is where I am basically begging to work), and occasionally stupid Safeway when I need that one ingredient I forgot.

- Throwing goldfish crackers in a ziplock baggie for Leslie's lunch, kissing her on the cheek (in my mind) with a "have a good day sweetie" to get her on her way in the morning.

- Obsessing over which climbing shoes are going to be best for our newly established rock climbing hobby... I have my father's genes when it comes to chronically researching products.

- Nursing rock wall wounds such as: achey forearms, achey shoulders, achey quads, achey toes, okay just achey body everywhere.

- Craigslist-ing like its my job... so I can find a job. I have emailed randos for the following "gigs" so far: Doing a teenage boy's Zombie makeup for halloween. Moving a lady out of her house (she called back and said, "You were the only girl to respond to my ad. So I had to call and tell you that you must think you're incredibly buff." I said, "Oh I'm tiny. But I'm willing."). Babysitting/Nannying. And I even posted my own ad about being a personal grocery shopper/nutrition consultant.

- Reading a lot. And contemplating: The concept of "home." Grad school options. Intentional communities. New monasticism. Why I'm on this adventure. Glorifying God where I am: right now. Wanderlust vs. community immersion. Relationships thriving. Relationships lost. Desires. Humility. Sacrifice. Thankfulness. [I have a lot of alone time]

- Sweating over my halloween costume. I really wanted to be a character from Arrested Development. I know, I know. The show's been off forever and it's "sooooo mainstream" now. But whatever. I love it and considered the options of: 1 - Tobias. But I'm not gonna "blue myself" and wear only cut-off jorts. 2 - Lucille. But I don't have a Chanel suit or a mainline of vodka. 3 - Lucille 2. But I think my hair is too long to make her characteristic "points." 4 - Lindsey bluth. But a shirt that says "slut?" really??? probably not. 5 - Rita (aka - charlize theron). But then I'd be technically going as a mentally retarded female and that's just a bit offensive. 5 - Marta. but it's just too generic. And there were 2 of them.

hm.

so I'm going with the partial peacock costume I got at this sweet vintage store around here. Except that I have to make my feather tail, which is no small feat. We're heading up to Portland tomorrow... where we'll hopefully see Ben Lambeth and head out to a party with our friend (and maybe yours), B. Cole.

That is all for now. Because that is a lot. And Mandy Moore's "Candy" just came on my itunes and that is just not acceptable at the moment.

Love and love and love.

~slt

Daily Lamentation.

When Oregonians say "Intermediate Salsa Class," they really mean "No Deodorant Party."

I mean, it was so bad that I even ran into the bathroom to check that it wasn't me, and the real irony of the situation is that the following are samples of directives actually listed as "dance etiquette" on the studio's website:

Shower the day of the dance or lesson, a shower or bath is a requirement.

Wear deodorant if you are going to a dance and or lesson, deodorant is a must. It is a good idea to carry deodorant in the glove compartment of your car or your dance bag.

Colognes and perfumes are often times very nice and attractive and if you like wearing these please do so.

If you are the type that perspires a lot while dancing a good thing to do is bring a "Clean" hand towel with you to wipe the perspiration off in between dances

Women should wear Brassieres and if wearing a Skirt or Dress that may fly up on spins or turns, undergarments are a must with the undergarments on the outside of the panty hose if panty-hose are worn.

And that is just a sampling. Other important issues touched: Apologizing on the dance floor, correcting others, "over-asking," sneaking in to a club, drunken dancing, and carpooling.

I had no idea that people had to be told to be clothed, hygienic and decent human beings. But based on last night, they should hand out hard copies of the etiquette guidelines before/after each class, and read them aloud together.

The Book Burning.

I didn't include this in my last post... mostly because it deserves one all to itself.

On our way from Seattle to Portland, we stopped in the logging capital of the world... a sleepy, quaint little town on the outskirts of Olympic National Park in Oregon... a little town called Forks. For those of you who have been sleeping under a rock for the past 4 years, Forks is none other than the setting for the Twilight series. It is the famous town where Bella blinks, grunts, shrugs, bites her lip, and mutters; it is also where Edward looks like he's constipated all the time.

So, naturally, we had to visit.

Now, I am a Twilight fan. I say this knowing you may judge me. Go right ahead, because the books are so entertaining and I spent countless nights awake until the wee hours pouring over those pages. (But yes, the movies are lame.) Before we moved from Richmond, we had a big yard sale and one thing that did not sell was our extra series of the Twilight books. Our friend Doug had the brilliant idea of destroying these books in a ceremonial, dramatic gesture while driving through Forks... So we ran with the idea.

We burned them.

In a grill.

At a public park.

Evidence:

Warshington and Moregon

what up! what uuuuup!

Thanks for all of the comments on the last post - oh wait, there were none. For those of you who don't blog [yet], those of us who DO put our entire self-worth on the # that comes before "comments" link on the bottom of each post. So read/respond accordingly. Also, I never exaggerate for dramatic effect (or use sarcasm. or blatantly lie.), but in all seriousness - I do kind of enjoy the fact that I have no idea who all reads this. Even if its 10 people -- awesome. Glad you're here! Also -- someone named Bert commented on a post. And we don't know a Bert. Identify yourself to kill our curiosity!! :)

Okay. So. October 20th. 18 days since we left. You should update US on what has happened in your life over the last 18 days -- please?

But you're reading this to hear more about our trip... and here we go:

After Glacier we drove through the desert of Washington (nothing. there is absolutely nooooothing in Eastern Washington) and got to Seattle, where we stayed at a great hostel called "The Green Tortoise" which is right across the road from Pike Market and the original Starbucks. We didn't drink their coffee, but we did drink local beer. We didn't go on a boat tour, but we saw a boat and a tour. We didn't go up in the Space Needle, but I did use the bathroom in its gift shop. We didn't see a concert or show, but I did sing my famous childhood "Who are my friends?" song in a chipmunk voice at the Music museum (can you say "highlight???"). If you've never heard that song, I made it up when I was 7 and would love to sing it for you. It immortalizes the inner very-pre-teen angst of not knowing who your friends or enemies are and facing the world alone, as Jesus is the only one who really knows the answer (can you say "drama queen???").

Portland was just a quick trip and we stayed with a friend of a few friends, B. Cole, who showed us a good time in his neighborhood Sat night and Sun morning at some local places. We're in fairly easy driving distance from Portland, so we didn't want to spend much time there yet. The plan is to head back for Halloween and a few other weekends. Portland is suuuuuuper cool and is very "Stacey" if I do say so myself...

Now. Medford. We got here Sunday morning and I'll have a new post tomorrow or Friday about life here so far! Teaser: our time here so far DOES involve a hotel secret admirer. Come back for more!

Lastly - weird observations du jour:

1. Subway serves breakfast. Ew.

2. Chic-fil-A doesn't exist out west. Pout.

3. Roads change names every block out here. Lost.

4. I have no job right now. Yay.

5. If we ever sleep in the same bed, my feet will sandwich yours during the night. Love me.

Grace and peace to you guys!! So much love from afar...

~StaceyLynn

Oh my gosh, oh my goshhhhhh! I'm so behind on posting. I will neglect the fact that Leslie and I are at our final destination in Medford, and pretend like I just left Glacier National Park to tell you about that! Hereeeeee we go.

So! We made it out alive from Yellowstone, weren't eaten by bears or gored by elk... so you could say that was a plus. We drove up through Bozeman, MT which is a mountaineer's dream (App. folk I'm talking to you). Rivers and mountains and sky and rugged gear everywhere. We were able to stay with a friend of a friend named Keith who showed us around and let us crash his wonderful couches. We've made a point of sampling local beers across the country as we drive across it, and Montana's "moose drool" was delectable.

Then, on to Glacier National Park. I don't quite know how to put it's beauty into words (and hopefully you already looked at Leslie's pictures). We did a lot of lake/mountain gazing and creative jumping for pictures. If you ever make it to Montana, don't miss Glacier National mmmkay? One highlight was when we were driving from East Glacier to West Glacier and stopped at the ONLY restaurant that was open in like a 30-mile radius... I ate local bison (much to my stomach's disapproval) and we stopped at a wooden spoon shop and wand maker. Yes, wand. Like wizard/witch's wand. Dozens of them and a crotchety old man selling them to boot. It was a little strange, but obviously, I wanted to buy one. If they hadn't been over $50 for the awesome ones, I might woulda done that.

We were going to camp in Glacier... but got to the camp site, which had NO humans and NO firewood. Not ideal. So we risked our lives by staying in a motel with a hand-painted sign that had "you will get murdered here" written all over it, but turned out to be a fairly okay place. I'm here, so that's a good sign at least...?

Anyways, the next night we stayed at a sweet lil' log cabin that soothed the soul and gave great rest. Thank the Lord for that!

Seattle and Portland was next but come back in a day and I'll have a post up about those. Promise!

Until then - Au Revoir!

This Neckulous Life - Part 1

To know me is to know my chins. Whether I like it or not, they enjoy some indecent exposure and have a sneaky way of getting into photos a bit too often. Knowing this, I have emotionally embraced my friends, the chins, and have decided to consciously take them along with me on this big adventure.

In case you didn't already know this, Testers have a way with words: blending them together, mixing them up, evolving names into new names again and again... And collectively, we have coined some very important phrases.

One of which is of particular importance today. And that is... Neckulous.

Neckulosity is a gift, really. Not all are able to attain the vast spread of neckular activity that the Testers are capable of. We are of the Neckulous species, a family of Neckuli who suffer (yet ironically rejoice) in our neckulosity. In sum - we have necks. chins. pancakes of skin. not all the time. but always on command and sometimes on accident.

Now, to get to the point. My neckulous existence has traveled across 16 states and I felt I should highlight a few poignant moments in the adventure of Stacey's face (and neck) across America.

1. When Neck met Buck in Darlington, PA.

2. When Neck met Honest Abe in Chicago, IL.

(I had 2 more to upload on here but the last two took over an hour to upload sooooo just wait!)

Surely, my neckulous nature has and will take me to new places. You will have to stay tuned to see where they fold over next!

Do you know where you are in your journey?

Well hello there, friends! Man. A lot has happened since I posted last... I will try to catch y'all up on The Grand Adventure's happenings for the last few days and have a few key moments to highlight. Get excited! [get get excited!]

From South Dakota Lez and I hit up Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Mt. Rushmore was worth seeing but not worth describing (4 faces on a rock and $10 to park to see it) but Crazy Horse was super super cool. If you ever make it to South Dakota, please go there and support the ongoing project! It's privately funded and honors the struggles of the Sioux tribe with English settlers, immortalized by Crazy Horse's words, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

After the monuments, Lez and I settled into the luxury of a Best Western: took 9 hour showers and slept in an actual bed. GLORIOUS. Then of course I had to hit up the hot breakfast bar and stuff my face (and pockets) with cream cheese danishes and Kashi cereal. mmmmHM.

Ok now on to Yellowstone. Before I say anything - let me just preface my experience with the assumption that Yellowstone was the absolutely most wonderful, beautiful, exotic, scenic, magical, unique place in the entire world... where Grizzlies give high fives and buffalo really do roam all over your space.

Yeah, it really wasn't quite like that.

It was overcast. Cold. Rainy. And believe it or not, it was really just a big park with mountains and trees. Who knew??? I mean, it was beautiful but that first day we were there I was not sold on the place. THEN to top off a day of mild disappointment, Leslie and I bonded over the worst night sleep of our entire lives. Firstly, you should know that when we camp, we share a queen sized sleeping bag. Which is usually fine. Except that I'm a cuddler and Lez isn't and I tend to take over whatever space is alloted to me while I'm sleeping. Now, not only were there spacial issues, where I found myself sleeping completely diagonally across the sleeping bag (assigning Lez to one corner of the sleeping bag) but Yellowstone National Parks provided us with a luxuriously comfortable BED OF ROCKS to sleep on in the campground. Now when I say rocks, I mean actual rocks... not pebbles or sandy debris that blends together to cushion the blow of joints on the earth in the middle of the night. I maybe slept an hour that night and spent the rest of the night nursing my massive bruises from the rock war and wondering how it was possible that 5 layers of clothing was not quite enough to keep me warm. I woke up the next morning, gave Leslie the vulture (which means, the death look) and said - "that was the worst night of my life, and I know I was hellacious to sleep with." We laughed. And that is why Leslie and I are friends and travel well together.

ANYWAYS. the next day at Yellowstone was much better. The sun came out. The geysers were freaking sweet and we saw (about 25 yards away) a momma Grizzly bear and her 2 cubs!!! Leslie took about 200 pictures and all I could do was restrain myself from going to hug that sweet lil mini bear, knowing that the momma could gouge me to death with one swipe. Other Yellowstone highlights: Elk, Buffalo, big horned sheep everywhere! The general consensus is -- the park is probably awesome almost all of the time. We happened to go the 1 day of out the last 30 that wasn't 70 and sunny, and we'd need to go back and do some backcountry hiking/exploring to really get the full effect.

Yesterday we made our way into Montana, but not until we had stopped at the Boiling River hot springs in Yellowstone. Okay seriously. Hot springs were on my bucket list of things to do in my lifetime so I was stoked and they did not disappoint. We stayed in Bozeman last night with a friend of a friend named Keith who took us out around the town last night and provided some fabulous couches for us to crash on. One of the best things about this trip is networking and connecting with people that we know and living off of the extended community that God has blessed us with. If any of you end up in Oregon, we will return the favor ten fold! :)

We are heading to Glacier National Park today, which is at the very top of the USA, almost in Canada, and we are camping again tonight. dun dun dunnnnnn. Sike. Camping is great and tomorrow we have a cute little mountain cabin with an outdoor hot tub that has our names written ALLLL over it. WOOT!

So yes. That is the update. I am not going to re-read it for typo's so deal. Also, I will say it again, but you should ask Leslie Priddy to be your friend on FB so you can see pictures.. (they are set to private so you can only see them if you are friends with her).

On the next post: The much anticipated segment entitled "This Neckulous Life: Chronicling My Double Chin Across America" - once again I say.... get get excited!!!

Love to all. I may lose cell service again for the next few days but I'll try to catch up on phone calls today on the road.

Peace and blessings. PEACE AND BLESSINGS.

~Stace

wait, what day of the week is it?

I'm in South Dakota and I've lost all sense of time and date. It's wonderful. I am finally finding myself able to let go of the scheduled time slots that had previously segmented my day (8:30 coffee, 10:30 15-min car nap, 1:00 30-min car nap...) and just be FREE! It's wonderful.

The last few days have been... hm... well... I typed about 5 words there and deleted them all because none do them justice. The weather seriously makes me want to cry. It's been about 70-75 with abundant sunshine everywhere we've been for the past 4 days. Lez and I have driven through quite a few states lately and here are their descriptions in 5 words or less:

Illinois - Besides Chicago, too much corn.

Wisconsin - rolling hills, friendly folk, CHEESE.

Minnesota - Cows, Harry Potter, and flat.

South Dakota - Badlands are cool as crap.

After Minneapolis where I split my jeans and slept in a college dorm suite with strangers (who win the sweetest 20-yr-olds ever award)... Leslie and I had an 8 hour drive to Ft. Pierre, SD. For this leg of the trip, I chose to drive it while my fabulous domestic partner, Lez, read Harry Potter (the 7th book) to me aloud while I gazed out the windshield. In between chapters of tense moments in the wizarding world, I watched farm, after farm, after farm pass by. I found myself contemplating things like whether or not Monsanto was responsible for the identical miles of corn rows racing past the Saturn on either side... and whether or not the farmers were allowed to save their seeds between seasons or what they would say to Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma." I think too much...

After camping out in Ft. Pierre last night, we drove through The Badlands. Now, I had no idea what "badlands" were supposed to be or why they existed. But I just have to say: they BLEW ME AWAY. Please - if you haven't done so already, ask Leslie to be your friend on FB so you can see a glimpse the beauty that we took in today. It was creation at it's finest. We even ran into (almost literally) some prairie dogs and big horned sheep just chillin' on the side of the road... so naturally, we stopped and Leslie took their pictures while I desperately tried to coerce them to let me get close enough for a little touch. The peanut trial to the car almost worked with that prairie dog, dangit!

Anyway. Despite the rain outside and the acute realization that I am over 32 hours from home in a car, tonight I just feel so blessed. I am blessed with the means to drive across country and to have eyes to see it's beauty. I am blessed to have family and friends who care enough to read this blog, to pray for me, and to get excited on my behalf for what's to come. I will post more after Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and when we make it to Wyoming.

Phones work in South Dakota and beyond - so feel free to give me a ring! If you're reading this, I probably miss you.

~staceylynn

the timing for these posts is way off.

Heyo00oo! So, Leslie and I are currently sitting in the lobby of "Xpert Auto" where her car is getting a lil somethin' somethin' done before we head to South Dakota and leave most of civilization behind... This blogging thing takes up more time than I thought it would, so I'm a few days behind on the updates. Either way --

Chicago was great, and the weather was painfully gorgeous. Jean was a fabulous hostess and showed us all around the city, where we ate some very "chicago" food (by the way, pizza stuffed with 4 inches of cheese does wonders for us lactards), toured around downtown, and had an unexpected run-in with a drag queen at "the kit kat lounge" (details upon request).

After Chicago - Lez and I stopped through Milwaukee, then on to Bethel University near Minneapolis (not Minneanapolis, it turns out) where we pretended to be 20 again and blend in with the college folk in the dining hall. In case you were wondering, Bethel's dining hall ice scored a 10 on a 10-point scale. The pellets were just soft enough and I could have stuck my face under that ice dispenser all day and been a happy camper. For the record, a 10 is nearly impossible to achieve on my ice quality scale. Well done, MN. Well done. What WASN'T well done was when i tried to climb a fence on campus and split my jeans from crotch to knee. I bought them in 9th grade, and apparently they hadn't invented stretchy jeans yet... [SIGH]. I would post the pics because they were pee-in-your-pants-laughing worthy, but the rip wasn't so appropriately located. If you are a female and would like to see more evidence of my questionable motor/life skills - ask and I'll email you.

yeah so that's it for now. If you aren't already friends with Leslie Priddy on facebook, you should friend her because she posts lots of pictures from our trip and this blogger guy is taking forever to upload them.

Destination 2: Chicago, IL & Trip Itinerary

We're in Chicago!

But first -- some pics of the departure:

SO the car is re-packed and weight is more distributed so the concave roof is back to its appropriate shape and we've gained about 2 miles per gallon.

Yesterday we drove from Erie, PA through Ohio, Indiana, Michigan for a hot second, and Illinois. Pretty uneventful day other than the fact that I locked myself in a random bedroom yesterday morning in Erie, and Leslie had to throw her entire body weight into the door to rescue me. Sugar momma and life saver... I chose my traveling partner well.

As promised a couple times already, here is the rest of our trip itinerary:

Oct 5-6: Chicago, IL

Oct 6: drive from Chicago through Milwaukee to Minneapolis

Oct 7: Minneapolis to Ft. Pierre, SD

Oct 8: Badlands and Wall drug in SD

Oct 9: Mt. Rushmore and Crazyhorse - staying in Sheridan, WY

Oct 10: camping at Yellowstone National Park

Oct 11: Yellowstone National Park - staying in Bozeman, MT

Oct 12: Driving to Glacier National Park, MT

Oct 13: Glacier National Park - staying in Bar W Ranch

Oct 14: Drive to Seattle

Oct 15: Seattle

Oct 16: Drive to Portland via Pacific Coastal Highway (book burning in Forks, WA)

Oct 17: Driving to Medford, OR.

So there you have it!!

Destination 1: Erie, PA

Welp. Lez and I made it to Erie, PA and I feel like I've aged a year just based on today's events. Highlights:

- Our cartop carrier weighs approximately 2000 pounds, and Leslie's car roof just plain rejected that idea and we are going to have to do some re-arranging. Let's just say that I don't think the manufacturers of Saturn didn't intend their vehicle ceilings to be concave.

- I napped within the first hour of the trip. If you know me at all, this should come as no surprise.

- Visited Leslie's family in N. Springfield, PA and ate some delicious Momma Priddy food. I also took the first picture to include my upcoming segment "This Neckulous Life" -- which will be posted in a few days. A stuffed deer head may or may not be involved.

- Lesson learned: Even though a bike rack might actually hold 2 bikes well, trunks of small cars may not agree. We picked up Leslie's grandmother's bike (yes, you read that right) and put it on with mine... only to find that we couldn't access the trunk b/c of the weight. Thanks anyways, Grandma Ruth....

- I managed to dump apple pie sheet cake pieces all over Leslie's clothing. I'm hoping she finds a slimy apple wedge buried in a sock one day for a special treat.

- I have noise sensitivity issues. And one the hooks from the car top carrier makes a totally unacceptable sqeaking noise by the passenger door. I figured out that if you move it slightly to the left, the sound goes away (except that it comes back about 5 minutes later). SO, Leslie in all of her brilliance, found the perfect item to keep the hook in place so that I can ride in peace -- a tampon. See for yourself.

Tomorrow -- we head to Chicago to see the lovely Jean Schawaroch and will be there til Wednesday morning.

I'll post a general itinerary for our trip on the next blog... I'm ridiculously sleepy and over this.

Night!

My name is Stacey, and this is my blog.

Never really thought I'd do this... blog, I mean. But also never really thought I'd actually take a road trip across the United States (I tend to have big ideas that don't become reality). But this is NOT one of those. WOOO!

Leslie and I leave on Sunday at 8AM. Destination: Medford, OR with about 2 weeks worth of stops along the way. In my next post, I'll put up our route with what we'll be doing at each stop so you know where we are each day, but also because I keep forgetting and can come back and look at it.... ha.

Yeah. So this is my blog. I hope you enjoy wasting time on it. I have no idea who will read it or how often I will update it. But I'm hoping lots for both of those things... There will be lots of stories to tell and pictures to post!

The feeling at the moment is bittersweet. Richmond has been significant to me in a lot of ways and I do feel that I'm leaving a part of myself behind. But I MEAN -- Travel across the country with a bestie (also, sugar momma) for a few months?! HECK YES.

Peace to yous guys.

~ st