Petaluma
Our plans have changed significantly since my last email, so I wanted
to let everyone know what’s happening. Instead of pursuing
conventional employment and settling down in Fort Collins, we’ve
decided to follow Melissa’s passion for organic vegetable farming. Our
search for farm work has landed us in Petaluma, about 45 minutes north
of San Francisco.
I was apprehensive at first about the prospect of manual labor, but
I’ve found that I really enjoy working outside and being able to work
together with Melissa. And there’s a lot more to working on this farm
than just field labor, as we have a stand at local farmers’ markets
and make deliveries to upscale restaurants in San Francisco that use
our vegetables.
There should be work for us here until mid-February, at which time
we’ll probably move on to another farm. We’re not sure yet how much
money we’ll be able to save, so we haven’t made any concrete plans
about travel and adventure for next summer.
In other news, we visited nearly a dozen national parks, monuments,
and recreation areas on the drive out to California. We managed to get
a hike or two in each day, and stayed at a developed campground within
the park each night. The places we enjoyed most were the five national
parks in Utah and the Grand Canyon, a tour sometimes referred to as
the Grand Circle:
http://eric.trailfaqs.com/photos/grand_circle/
Enjoy the photos, and wish me luck with my new line of work!