Tag: Portland

  • Announcing West Coast Tour – Spring Update – Alabama Hills, CA

    Yes, y’all, you hear correctly! Edna and I will be spending this year serving free tea from San Diego, CA to the San Juan Islands, WA. Our kick off was Edna’s 10-year anniversary in Ocean Beach on the first day of Spring, and thus far we’ve spent time in Orange County and Los Angeles. And…

  • Autumn Update – Square Pond, ME

      Ah, another season is upon us. I can feel the Fall in the air, and I think I’m ready for it. Our summer has been interesting and fun. After arriving New England for the International Herb Symposium in June, Ally, Edna (the teabus), and I were excited to explore a little of the Northeast.…

  • Merry Xmas! Winter Update – Nevada City, CA

      Well, it seems as if the craziness of Spring and Summer caught up with us, and our focus over the course of fall has shifted from outward craziness (serving tea, events, traveling) to more inward craziness (many, many bus projects). We arrived in Portland in early October on my birthday, where we’ve been for…

  • Village Building Convergence – Portland, OR

    In 1996 – ten whole years before I started serving free tea out of my pickup truck on Hollywood Boulevard – Mark Lakeman and other folks at City Repair, were formulating and putting into action a mobile free teahouse called the T-Horse. When I first started serving free tea, my friend Whitney told me about…

  • Back to School – Portland, OR

      After such success in Bellingham at Western Washington University, I decided that it would be fun to serve tea at more college campuses. College age people are eager to learn, eager to see what lies beyond the bounds that older folks have laid out for them to operate within. My buddy Owen has a…

  • Portland Fire Department – Portland, OR

    My buddy Owen is a fresh-to-the-team firefighter here in Portland. I guess he’d been talking the bus up around the station quite a bit, so they invited me to come by and have dinner with them. It was great to get to see the inner workings of the station – how they interact, what cool…

  • Hello Portland! – Portland, OR

    Yes! It was a BIG step for our 2+ North American Tea Tour to get here. The one big string that was still attached that hampered our no-itinerary/go-wherever-we-want,-whenever-we-want modus operandi was Freddie the horse trailer (mobile shop/storage unit). I’ve been collecting tools and building materials to build Edna for years. This trailer followed me from…

  • Reaching Escape Velocity – San Juan Islands, WA

    Although I haven’t read his book, my newfound friend Steven Roberts wrote a book called Reaching Escape Velocity: Launching gonzo engineering projects with sponsors, media, volunteers, and other potent forces. The title (and idea of the book) have stuck with me and hence the name of this blog entry. Once you’re grounded, it’s easy to…

  • Traveling with Tea and Lightfoot – WA to CA

    It was a hectic last couple weeks at the shop on Orcas. I was packing up all my tools, building materials, doing some repairs on my horse trailer, welding, cutting, grinding, drilling, and on top of that my good nomadic friend Lily was visiting. Lily’s visit came just in time for her to cruise down…

  • Springtime Journey – Northern CA to WA

    Oh, and what a journey it was! A little break time in Shelter Cove at the house of the Andrews Family –  a great crew of folks who have helped me immensely with the bus and keeping me fed, showered, and well-loved. I can’t think of a better way to start a journey than spending…