Consciousness On The Move . . . Again

We’ve got a working bus, two new crew members, and six months of an amazing year left – alright! Here are some of the highlights since I last checked in . . .

Although the bus was in the shop (or a few for that matter) for a chunk of time and we were consistently lost trying to navigate some of our country’s first roads much of the other, we did manage to make the best of our time in the Boston area. The upside to the bus breakdown was that I had coincidentally planned a trip back to South Dakota for my 10-year (whoa) high school class reunion, and was able to enjoy a great vacation seeing my family and many old friends without missing too much excitement on the road.

Before I left for home I said my goodbyes to Leo (miss you!) who left while I was gone and returned to a bus that was ready to roll. Will, Dani and I were excited to be back on the road again and headed down to some stores in Providence, RI before picking up our new crew members and hitting the last of the Boston stores – a big hello to Mark, Angel, Michael, Mosiah and David, some amazing new friends who made Boston excellent despite some discouraging days. Also a hello and thanks to Elicia, one of Dani’s friends from high school, who spent some time with us on the bus before she left for a year in Korea. Our new crew members, Garrett and Megan, have been another source of recent excitement. Change is good and their fresh enthusiasm has for sure brought an energizing new dynamic to our home and mission – welcome friends, it’s great to have you aboard!

It’s hard to believe, but our New Jersey and New York store visits are done! Jersey was good to us and NY was an expected total whirlwind. Our extended crew was with us in NYC, which made for a non-stop adventure. At some points we had Stephen or Zak, the Kopali guys and founders of the bus, behind the wheel with 20 of their friends with us exploring the city! Upon arrival in NY we spent a day at a Jewish day-camp outside of NYC where we had fun educating some entertaining kids about eco-friendly alternatives. We also spent another amazing day outside of the city at Camp Hill Farm, a magical biodynamic farm, where we were fortunate enough to be a part of a beautiful celebration of their summer garden’s bounty. The holistic philosophies of biodynamic farming are embraced at Camp Hill Farm and it’s a model for bringing back farms near urban centers, saving land from development, and giving back to the local community. The farm is also a learning center; an inspired outdoor classroom for all ages, where learning about farming and nature is an artistic experience. To learn more about Camp Hill Farm and biodynamics visit www.camphillfarm.org and www.biodynamics.com.

On the other end of the spectrum from country life, we soaked up the incomparable city energy of NYC! The same day as our Camp Hill Farm visit we made a late night appearance at an event hosted by David Wolfe and our sponsor, Sunfood Nutrition. We also hosted our own party to celebrate the bus’ mission at Zak’s beautiful apartment in the “greenest building in NYC”, as well as bringing the bus to all the Whole Foods in Manhattan where we connected with many forward-thinking individuals. I had the added enjoyment of being back in NYC as an ex-resident – until last summer I was living in Brooklyn so it was awesome to be back and see old friends (thanks for the showers Sascha and Alec!), as well as share my favorite parts of the city with my new friends (aka bus-mates).

While in the area we also got some great press (thanks to Stephen’s cousin Matt - a big thanks to Ellen too who so graciously welcomed us into their home!) on NY’s Fox News. To check out the footage please visit: http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=4187720&version...

After leaving the city we heading out to Long Island for more store visits and some needed relaxation/re-energizing at Nickerson Beach where the full moon made it all the more perfect to be there! Next it was back to Pennsylvania, which we all unanimously loved . . . the residents attributed our admiration partly to the break in the summer-long humidity, which admittedly has made us happy campers. Philly was our favorite – what a cool city! We had some great days exploring and met so many nice people. A huge thank you to Ruth and her family (hi Jacob!) for taking us in for a couple of days and for being the most enthusiastic hosts we’ve had yet! Lastly a shout-out to the Fresh Cut Salads and their PR master, Amanda, who showed us a great time Wednesday night – thanks guys and best of luck on getting your veggie tour bus on the road! Check out their music at www.freshcutsalads.com.

We’re headed back to NYC today for another wild weekend. If you’re in the area tonight join us and our friends from Sunfood Nutrition for a free event, Globesonic Sound System on the Hudson (The Pier on 68th from 7-11pm), otherwise catch us Sunday at Farm Aid(!) where we’ll hopefully be hanging out in Willie’s bus!!

Hope this finds you all with peace in your hearts!
Much love, Nikki

ps – happy 29th (not 28th) birthday Will!