Vicarious Nomads

You may not be in a position to drop everything and travel the world. (We might not either, but we're talking about you right now.) If you'd like to participate vicariously, your financial support of this adventure will help us to document it, and hopefully show that even today (perhaps especially today) a family can choose where and how to live.

We're not expensive folks. Even the smallest amount will make a very real difference.

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From Washington to Oregon in a Day

This morning we left Arlington Washington and drove down to Portland Oregon. We stopped in Olympia, Washington’s capital, and at the Farmer’s Market bought breakfast – great fresh fruit: peaches, apples, plums. We also bought lunch – cucumbers, grape tomatoes and a great loaf of garlic and rosemary French bread.

Upon arriving in Portland at 3 pm we went to the Starbuck’s we had arranged to meet some people at. Debi Leonard and Annette Pederson are virtual assistants who met with us to discuss their business and each got a copy of the action guide for virtual assistants. We also met Triiibes member Patrick Proethe. Fiona met a new friend – Anna.

Continue reading From Washington to Oregon in a Day

Heading Back to Washington Today - Still in Need of a Place in Oregon on Friday

We’re wrapping up here in Surrey British Columbia today and heading back into Washington. We’re sitting here in Canada knowing we’re going to miss it as soon as we cross the border.

Right now we’re at the Wired Monk Coffee Shop wrapping up some web work before we go make our lunch and then finish packing the van for the drive to Arlington to stay with Brad and his family for a couple of nights. We’ve really enjoyed being able to work at the Wired Monk; the people have been great. You can see some of our completed web work and web work in progress.

Many thanks to Renee and Rick for putting us up the last two nights!

Continue reading Heading Back to Washington Today – Still in Need of a Place in Oregon on Friday

Today in Arlington Washington

So we finally arrived yesterday evening at Brad and Kristy’s house. We had great salmon for dinner and our friend  from Triiibes Rex came over from Everett to visit. Joel played a little music and then we got a great night’s sleep.

By the way, the rest stops in Washington are great! You can get free coffee and yesterday Fiona got a free cookie.

So we’re catching up on rest, emails, etc. today. Fiona is still waiting for her tooth to fall  out and is carrying around a plastic baggie to put it in when it does.

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Finding Our Way

We’re really enjoying ourselves and finding our way from town to town is going just fine. Finding our way in how we manage things is a learning process. We’ve discovered that it’s not always convenient to find internet access when we want and that Joel’s laptop batteries aren’t worth much. So we’ll have to find a way to get better batteries or something.

At the moment we’re at a Borders Book Store in Tacoma WA. We had a wonderful breakfast made by Jenny Fisher in Hoquiam – potatoes, sausage, fresh fruit. Thank you Jenny for your hospitality! I’ve caught up on the most important  stuff. Fiona found a book or two to read quietly in the book store while mommy and daddy work on our laptops. Actually Joel’s getting ready to have his over-size cup of Chamomile tea from the Seattle’s Best  Coffee shop. He needs it to relax after the frustrations of his laptop batteries dying.

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The Weather is Beautiful

It’s gorgeous! Sunny but not too warm and a very nice breeze. We just got back from swimming at the Y! Later we’ll take a little walk. We got a very good night’s sleep and had Joel’s ‘world-famous’ pancakes for brunch. Fiona’s made new friends – Nels and Phoenix. What a wonderfully relaxing day.

We’ll keep you posted on the adventures of the Canfield Family now in Hoquiam Washington with the Hogaboom family.

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The Long Haul

We actually drove away from the house at 10:41 pm. Our first stop was to the local store to pick up something to drink for Fiona and Frappuccino’s for Joel to help him stay awake for the all night drive. It’s amazing that we fit so much stuff in the van and nearly every piece of musical equipment we own. We even took Fiona’s school books, though school doesn’t start till August 23. And 5 bottles of paint for Fiona’s art -painting Caitlyn’s ceiling in Canada.

It’s nearly a full moon and Fiona wants to write the moon a letter to say thank you for shining on our favorite trip ever.

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We Couldn't Wait!

It’s almost 10:30 pm Wednesday night and none of us can wait! The van’s packed, Fiona’s in a hurry to get to Canada, and we’ll be leaving in a few minutes. Tomorrow we’ll arrive in Washington and stay 4 days there. Then – [...]

House Concerts Along the Way

Could I possibly end up performing in St. Helens, Oregon, Everett, Washington, and Vancouver? (Edit: St. Helens is out, this trip.)

House concerts beat coffee shops hands down. Coffee shops are really a place to go practice, knowing that absolutely no one is listening.

But show up to someone’s living room, where they’ve invited all their friends, and everyone brings something to drink and a snack, and you’re the guest host of a very cool party. When the hat is passed, literally or metaphorically, even a few drachmas from each guest turns into more than I’ve earned in every coffee shop I’ve ever played in.

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