Final Chapter in Crones on Wheels 2010

Fortunately I promised to turn our thorough trip documentation into a series of artworks that I'm still working on or I'd be sad that the trip is over. It was really a two-part adventure, the first four days, Chicago-Tulsa we were a threesome, Natalie, my 92-y.o. mother-in-law and Virginia, my 68 year old sister, and me. Why mention their ages? Not every woman with that many decades under her belt would have jumped at the chance to sit in a car for all those miles, the thought of pee stops alone is daunting (by the way, stay tuned for "Crone Tips For Car Trips" coming soon). Though we didn't plan it on purpose, it was surely a wonderful synchronicity that Virginia and I had so much crazy fun time with our favorite mother right before Mother's Day. Our own Mom died many years ago and Virginia's mother-in-law passed away last year. Both of us have been extremely blessed to have our mothers-in-laws in our lives. Both Nat and Nonnie have inspired us to take what life offers and savor the flavor.

Our relationship with Nat goes to show that your family is who you love and who loves you. This truth was amplified in Tulsa where we visited with Tom, Laura and Thomas, all Nat lovers, too.
We felt the spirit and guidance of all the special women in our lives who have passed over into the realm of spirit as we drove along. The other thing we felt was a deep and abiding awe at the Mother of us all, the land over which we traveled. The breathtaking beauty of the mountains, the endless western sky, snow capped peaks in the distance and of course, the magical gardens waiting with abundance here in Ojai fed our souls as well as our bodies.
Virginia and I continued on after Nat returned to Chicago and we had many more adventures and deep conversations, continually setting a daily intention for the driving to be safe and enjoyable and giving thanks for this opportunity to spend time together and appreciate this amazing country. I found myself also appreciating the technology that has provided us with roads that we can travel on with ease, cars that carry us safely over enormous distances, the rest stops in each state staffed with helpful folks eager to share their knowledge with us. We were blessed with perfect weather all along the way. At the Petrified Forest a ranger shared with us that the day before we arrived the winds were so strong it was impossible to get out and walk the paths at all the beautiful sights.

We arrived in Ojai in time to celebrate Mother's Day by getting fresh veggies at the Farmer's Market and making homemade raviolis. Here's a tip: don't stack your raviolis even with waxed paper between them. We were bummed to discover that error but pulled them off the waxed paper after a stint in the freezer and fried them up like kreplach. Though unsightly, they were delicious (correct handling of ravioli as well as recipes will be included in Crone Tips). We worked in the garden a lot, making an entire meal out of the thinnings from the beets, arugula and mizuma. I took Virginia to visit Gozo Farm, where I volunteer.  Steve Sprinkel, the farmer, gave us some beautiful radicchio and several heads of lettuce. We ate very well, indeed between homemade pizza, sumptuous salads, and fresh fruit oh, and the orange muffins that Virginia dreamed I baked, so of course, I did.

We also shared many discussions about God, faith and the Bible, which Virginia is studying. We even listened to several CD's of Prof. Lawrence Schiffman of NYU and compared his Jewish perspective with the Catholic view Virginia is getting in her class. Not much difference, it turns out. Mostly, though, we laughed.
For those of you who might be wondering about the logistics, we stopped twelve times for gas, for a total of 118.295 gallons (Virginia is a retired math teacher and solely responsible for all calculations). The lowest gas price was in Tulsa, OK at $2.679/gal. and the highest was $3.499/gal. in Ludlow, CA. The total outlay for gas was $350.56, considerably less that two one-way tickets to California but nothing to sneeze at.  You might find it odd that in this time of concern over natural resources, climate change and natural catastrophes, that we chose to take a road trip. While I duly noted the apparent paradox, I believe something else is at work here, something I intend to write about in my Earthbound-Ojai blog when I resume that next week. Join me there. And if you are a Crones fan with a little over ten minutes to spare, check out our slide show complete with music. And if you get the chance, get together with women you love, have some fun, and don't forget to smell the flowers!

Mother's Day in Ojai

Although the rest of our families were far away we enjoyed our Mother's Day together relaxing, going to the Farmer's Market and cooking a delicious meal. I decided Mother's Day was a good time to purchase a pasta maker at our wonderful local department store, Rains; we got one imported from Italy. Virginia had seen Nonnie, her mother-in-law, make raviolis many times. We made two fillings: mushroom and pesto and proceeded with genuine semolina flour to roll wads of dough through the pasta machine until we could "see the shadow of the hand" through the sheet. Some kind of cooking omerta or maybe just an odd translation. We also picked and steamed some of the artichoke abundance and served it with garlic butter. Virginia spent quite a bit of time in the hammock (Thanks, Jeff!) talking on the phone with her kids. We ended the evening in the hot tub; fortunately no photos were taken...

Crones Pull in to Ojai!

We skirted the edge of the Mojave Desert on our route, I40 to Barstow to I15. We shared the road with truckers and drove long stretches of open road all alone. Guzzling our last few last few bottles of water we stopped in Grand Terrace to visit Michael and Cindy Allen, John's brother and his wife. After knocking Michael to the ground on our way to the bathroom, we chatted with these two, a landscaper and kindergarten teacher extraordinaire respectively,  both avidly anticipating retirement in a few weeks. Cindy and Virginia traded teacher stories and compared Cindy's  'California Compassion' laid back approach with Virginia's New Jersey Italian "Break Their Kneecaps Early and Often, the Little Bastards" methods. Fortunately, Cindy only has a few weeks left so its unlikely any Grand Terrace kindergartners will end up in cement overshoes swimming with the fishes. Cindy is our newest Crone recruit and definitely likes the idea of joining Crones on Wheels for some future trips. Virginia and I practiced our meditation energy while in the L.A. vicinity traffic and didn't freak out at all when we witnessed one slow down that was due to the cops giving a gentleman the 'Walk a Straight Line' test on the shoulder. Let's just say this fellow's eyes were spinning in opposite directions. We decided not to try for a photo of that.

Then it was on to Trader Joe's in Ventura to stock up on some provisions. We decided on homemade pizza and salad, and of course, a glass of wine. It is so great to be in Ojai, spring flowers are blooming everywhere and the gardens are exploding. We were greeted by the sight of my artichoke plant, fully fruiting and crazy large. We decided to hell with a restaurant for Mother's Day, we're going to steam up a bunch of these babies and make some raviolis. We're off to the Farmer's Market now. We'll write more about our adventures for the rest of Virginia's visit, which ends on Wednesday. See more pics on Facebook!

Awe and Wonder at the Painted Desert

We set out for a trip to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest State Park after our breakfast at the Econo Lodge where we were pleased to meet another pair of Traveling Crones, Sadie and Betty Ann, (the "Dixie Chicks") college pals from Georgia. The Painted Desert is full of glorious rock formations and is in pristine condition. The weather was perfect, after two days of high winds today the air was still  and the light clear. With few other visitors we were able to view the petroglyphs to our heart's content and got a grizzled biker to take our photo next to "Old Faithful" the largest piece of petrified wood in the Rainbow Forest, which looks like a giant dried out penis.
We switched off driving at more frequent intervals and were able to make it to Needles, CA in time for a relaxing dip in the spa and an early night. We had to forfeit our last apple at the California border after an inspector from the Dept. of Agriculture informed us that no fruits or vegetables from east of the Mississippi can be brought into California. Fortunately we forgot about the other bag that contained dates and figs but since they were from Trader Joe's and originated in California, maybe that's okay.  Check out some amazing pictures on my Facebook page including some great ones from the Painted Desert.

Virginia Proves to be iPhone Savant

We planned Thursday as a mostly driving day and motored from Amarillo to Albuquerque enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way as well as the recent stimulus $$ induced road improvements. The interstate system has beautiful wrought iron and state-themed decor which I was so mesmerized by that I didn't take any pictures. Using the Google local feature on my iPhone Virginia managed to get us off the highway to a local restaurant for lunch. We learned about Sadie's Mexican Restaurant from a fellow Crone in the restroom at a McDonald's where we stopped to pee (Crone Tips for Road Trips is being prepared for publication soon). Upon hearing that we were planning to go to Gallup she warned us that there was no good food to be had there. She concurred with our plan to feature lunch as our main meal and steered us right. At Sadie's, Virginia practiced Crone magic on a waitress who we overheard having a row with a fellow server. As she swooped by our table, Virginia remarked "You have a beautiful smile." She did and it was awesome to see her energy transform as she smiled widely and said "Thank you, you made my day." We continued to practice energy medicine throughout the day and had delightful encounters with random people that made our day. We stopped at various places including an Arizona official welcome center where two lovely women in charge counselled us  to back track a few miles to Gallup for lodging. In my zest to get close to the Petrified Forest for our next day's trip, I assumed there would be motels nearer the park, but alas, no! We bedded down in  an Econolodge, checked in with family and friends and conked out for the night. Next: Petrified Forest State Park!

Oklahoma City is Oh So Pretty....

The Buoye Crones pushed westward, with tears in our eyes, while Natalie flew back to Chicago. Outside Oklahoma City we stopped in Goodnight at a charming rest stop where we chanced upon a traveling exhibit authored by retired general, Tommy Franks. Gen. Franks led the invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Towers and led the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. With a typical liberal bias, I expected his exhibit to be a jingoistic tribute to American might. Instead, I learned General Franks is committed to the development of the next generation of thoughtful leaders: "Leaders know that complex issues resist elegant and easy solutions.
They must consider the views of others and recognize that disagreement does not mean disrespect."
Inside this "roadside classroom and grassroots museum" was a fascinating display of cultural artifacts that General Frank and his wife collected from many of the twenty-five countries over the course of his career. In addition to beautiful embroidered garments from Pakistan, toys, including a Barbie-type doll with a headscarf and her own burqka,  a ceremonial sword from Afghanistan, Gen. Frank displays many pictures depicting folks from all these countries engaged in study, family activities, farming and other peaceful pursuits.

We were so excited to think of kids visiting this museum and learning about these countries and their people in a respectful way that emphasizes both our common humanity and the richness of other cultures. The exhibit is driven around to community celebrations, parades and veteran's events, so far in Oklahoma, where Gen. Frank is from, and eventually throughout the country. After resetting my electromagnetic field with a sojourn on the grass, we drove on to spend the night in Amarillo. For the full album of todays' photos, see my facebook page. FYI, steer clear of the hotel chain "Fifth Season Inn and Suites."

Crones Visit Gilcrease Museum

The Crones left the Mayo Hotel after giving them a blistering critique of their handicapped facilities and proceeded to the Gilcrease Museum ostensibly to view the art and artefacts of the American West. They were also planning to give their manifesto for Cronation to the citizens of Tulsa. Under cover of visiting family, these wily women are all about the liberation of all people. The Gilcrease was chosen as the site to disclose the manifesto provisions since it has an enormous collection of art depicting the oppression of Native peoples as well as housing many ritual objects taken from tribal peoples around the world. The Crones have been spending their time on the road researching the manifesto to reflect the issues of the day plaguing humanity and how to solve them. Later they took the Tulsa sleeper cell out to dinner and discussed integration in Tulsa among other topics. Our oldest (92) and youngest (4) members shared their perspectives as we composed our views.