{"id":2813,"date":"2015-03-25T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeteaparty.org\/blog\/?p=2813"},"modified":"2015-04-03T15:35:38","modified_gmt":"2015-04-03T22:35:38","slug":"spring-update-austin-tx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/freeteaparty.org\/blog\/spring-update-austin-tx\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Update – Austin, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Almost<\/a>

Almost 10 years on the road, 9 years of free tea, 7 years of Edna, 2 years of the North American Tour.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hello, friends and family!<\/p>\n

Two years ago on March 20th<\/sup>, Edna Lu (the tea bus) and I started a 2+ year North American Tour<\/a>. This tour was imagined as a journey around the continent with no itinerary, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the places that we visit, be of service, and share conversations with the broad spectrum of people around this part of the globe. And I\u2019d like to say, it has been a success\u2026
\n<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

…but, we\u2019re not done yet!<\/i><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly why we phrased this journey as a two or more<\/i> year tour. In the past two years, we\u2019ve only visited 7 states (WA, OR, CA, NV, AZ, NM, TX), so inevitably, our journey continues. And I\u2019m happy about that!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve put in many years of time and energy to create a lifestyle that\u2019s nomadic, low-monetary input, low-environmental impact, creates positive social change, and makes me and many others happy. So, why stop now? I\u2019m not sure how long this tour will last, but it goes on for now.<\/p>\n

I guess the main reason that our tour has been so slow is because we really like to take the time to do things right, to dig in to communities, to allow for flexibility in our plans, and to do things that help us continue this lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\"Edna's<\/a>

Edna on her (re)birthday<\/p><\/div>\n

Some tea serving highlights of the past two years are:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Serving tea at the Procession of the Species Parade in Olympia, WA<\/a>.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Serving tea at 7,000 feet in the Sierra Mountains on the Pacific Crest Trail<\/a> to through hikers.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Creating a week long free tea caf\u00e9 at Blues Recess Massive<\/a> in Placerville, CA
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making tea at a Portland, OR fire station<\/a> for all the fire fighters.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Helping revive and serve alongside the only other mobile free tea house we’ve ever heard of, the T-Horse, at the Village Building Convergence<\/a> in Portland, OR.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Serving tea without permission on Reed College campus<\/a>, and getting invited back by the head of security.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making tea at several Free Herbalism Projects<\/a> in Eugene, OR with Mountain Rose Herbs, where we served our 20,000th cuppa free tea.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Serving tea on Hollywood Blvd.<\/a> \u2013 where it all started 9 years ago.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tea at the Tera Vita Herbal Symposium<\/a>.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making tea with free Yoga on the Bluff in Long Beach, CA.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making tea at Soka College for their Garden Party<\/a>.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Serving tea alongside The Herb Bus at The Ecology Center<\/a> in Orange County.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making a tea zone at the Herb Folk Gathering<\/a> at Mormon Lake, AZ.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sneaking onto the Balloon Fiesta launch field<\/a> and serving tea on my birthday in Albuquerque, NM
\n– \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Getting our first health permit for the Texas Tea Festival<\/a>, which made us rethink parts of our moral framework.<\/p>\n

Some creative\/community-building highlights:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Working with the Shook Twins at Bear Creek Studio shooting some video and taking photos.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Taking a WFR course with MASHH<\/a> geared for herbalists, activists, and homesteaders in Orleans, CA.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hanging with Common Vision in Los Angeles<\/a>, planting fruit trees, and making them a couple videos.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Making videos with Earthroots Field School in Orange County, CA.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Working on bus projects (garden\/door, Gift & Take area, curtains, rebuilding the wood stove, installing the inverter, rebuilding the oil cooler, and much, much more.).
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Becoming involved with building, fixing, and creating at The Ecology Center<\/a> in San Juan Capistrano, CA
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guest lecturing at Saddleback College<\/a> in Orange County, CA.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Work-trading at El Cosmico<\/a> in Marfa, TX
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Building a straw bale and salvaged material house<\/a> in Terlingua, TX
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deconstructing an old farmhouse in order to salvage the wood in Taylor, TX.<\/p>\n

\"Kids<\/a>

Kids at the Alpine Montessori School<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Edna<\/a>

Edna overlooks the Pecos River.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The little free library at La Loma Hostel in Marathon, TX.<\/p><\/div>\n

Before coming to Austin, we spent a wonderful week traveling from Terlingua across Texas. We stayed in Alpine, where we were invited to serve tea in the heart of town in a parking lot by the Alpine mural, as well as with the kids at the Alpine Montessori School. In Marathon, we met more traveling folks who live in an amazing converted step van and travel around playing music. Also in Marathon, we friended folks at the local papercrete hostel, La Loma del Chivo. We had tea and good conversations. We stopped at the bar\/barbershop\/house\/courthouse\/etc of Roy Bean in Langtry, TX, and finally landed in Austin in time to get our health permit for the Texas Tea Festival.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The kitchen and campfire area at La Loma Hostel in Marathon, TX.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the past month and a half, we\u2019ve been hanging in Austin. We came here originally to have some winter time, with much writing and reading, but Edna has been a little cranky with how hard we were traveling through Fall and Winter, and most of my free time has been dedicated to bus maintenance and projects. Along with all this, we\u2019ve been serving tea at places like the Texas Tea Festival, SXSW, GayBiGayGay, HonkTX, The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, and more.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>

Some friends gather over tea on Edna’s (re)birthday<\/p><\/div>\n

On March 20th<\/sup> (the day that I bought Edna 7 years ago, as well as the start date of our North American Tea Tour), we hosted a birthday tea party at some friends\u2019 place in east Austin. It was a good blend of friends and newbies. We drank tea all afternoon, and the teabus provided some shelter for passersby from the intermittent rain that was falling.<\/p>\n

I invite you to continue to share in this journey with the tea bus by signing up for our regional tea-mail list<\/a>, having tea with us when we\u2019re in your town, friending or following Edna Lu The-Teabus on Facebook<\/a>, or by checking out our Support page<\/a> for ways to help us out. We\u2019d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n

An enormous thanks to John and Katie in Alpine, TX for hosting us several times; to Shade for having us around his place; to Frank Meyer for being an elder and host; to Lori in Alpine; to the Alpine Montessori School; to Heather for tea, friendship and a Giuseppe mug; to George for being a fellow builder and brother; to Chaz for friendship and a place to park; to So Han for having us serve free tea at his tea house; to Bob for being a friend and offering mechanical advice; to all the people who live at the Stick Farm for being a family for us; and to all our wonderful tea guests. No thanks to Border Patrol who continually want to search Edna.<\/p>\n

Thanks for the support, community!<\/p>\n

Oh and we hired a sign spinner. We’re giving him 10% of our profits:<\/p>\n