Fell in Love...

...with this city of St. Paul.
now that the poets have gone back safely to their homes, and all the competition is over, B and i really have had a chance to explore the city...lol, there is a reason we haven't left yet...besides very lil money for gas to go anywhere else lol.
the city is more culturally diverse than we first thought, and very much into the arts...and close to my original birth place...hmmmm.
Harriet Island is too cool, and has been our place to crash the last few nights. it is located right on the banks of the Mississippi River. the park is enormous and immaculate...downright lush. you can tell the city put a lot of thought into designing the park.
it never closes, so that is the main reason we are able to sleep there at night in the van...we are getting use to it, or maybe i should i am...i am no stranger to sleeping in cars since i was homeless for a brief moment in my life; yet still it does take some getting use to...i worry more about folks harassing us than anything else, but no such thing thus far...plus living in our van IS part of this journey of rediscovering ourselves.
it has been hotter and more humid than usual up here, so we are having to adjust to it..though i know it is no where close to the triple digit heat felt in Texas lately...nope i don't miss that at all!!
we have just been out exploring the city during the day and early evening...thus far, hands down our favorite place has been the Como Zoo & Conservatory...OMG!
they ask for $1 or $2 donation, but no pressure...i would of given them $100 if i had it to give..yes that is just how great our experience was there.
the butterfly exhibit alone did it for me...they enclosed hundreds of butterflies, all different species and colors you can imagine in a giant caterpillar that you walk into. only rule...don't touch the butterflies, let the butterflies touch you...and touch us they did...i was overwhelmed with the beauty and the symbolism of it all, and yes i did get a bit teary eyed (i am such a baby sometimes, but i am a passionate woman).
we played in the kids water park since chaperons and parents of kids were free...but you didn't have kids with you right? ah but we did, i stood at the gate for a second before thinking of the master plan..."Lil Johnny, Johnny where did you go?" and i walked my happy azz right on in, with B taking my lead and following close behind...we laughed and laughed calling out to our imaginary "lil Johnny" every now and then as we played in the water with the rest of the kids.
i scored major points with my baby for that one.

St. Paul

we came up to St. Paul for the National Poetry Slam competition, and to support our Texas family. what an incredible week hanging with friends, laughing, drinking, eating, drinking, partying, dancing, drinking...oh did i mention poets love to drink...lol yes we did. some of the best poets never hit the stage, but heard in intimate circles, we poets like to call cyphers where anything and everything goes...bongos, trumpets, prayer, humming, wedding parties lol, yes wedding parties, singing, words words words...beautiful people sharing with one another without the egos or the competition.
now don't get me wrong, we did hear some unbelievable words all week...and our home base poetry slam family, Austin NeoSoul, fought long and hard, made it to the final stage...4th place overall....out of 76 teams i believe, so yeah much props to them.
It was a bit different being part of the entourage and not personally on the team...different perspective, but oh how i want to slam again for the team...yes i will.

Finally

hola amigos, of course this shouldn't just now be the first entry...but so it is, charge it to the head, lack of electricity and wifi, not the heart. now that i have got it together, lol no jokes please, i will keep up with the blog as much as possible.

the time was right, and the opportunity presented itself to do what B and i have always talked about...as individuals, and as a couple.
We went for it, in grand style...sold pretty much all of our earthly belongings, bought the most amazing cool azz van, dubbed Bluequisha (love you Jackie) and hit the open road.
my only hesitation was my kids...i am a mom before anything else, and i know folks question even that, but really if i didn't give birth to you or if your name is not Brandy...i could care less.
anyway, when i made sure they were ok...mentally and physically..we were good to go...and go we did.
so quickly, or not so quickly of what has been going on thus far:
-went down to Galveston and Bolivar, beach camping and fishing....nothing like waking up to sunrises and waves
-stayed in Houston for few days with some GREAT friends, first experience selling my jewelry at Trader's Village...sales were slow, but sales non the less...the people were priceless though.
-went to Hot Springs, AK...oh my goodness the landscape was breathtaking...and we are just getting started.
-camped a few days in Ouchita National Forest...rained first night and i was NOT happy, in fact was quite a baby. Brandy took it all in stride, and we survived me and the storm lol. took a hike the next morning by myself...prayer and meditation...the trail opened up to a magnificent lake...wow was an understatement of what my eyes were blessed with.
hiked back up to campsite, well got lost a bit...like for real...just kept going in the up direction and knew i had to hit the campgrounds eventually...lawd i did enough sweating, huffing and puffing for the year but all worth it...and i got to start somewhere though, right? glad i can laugh about it now.
B had the best camp breakfast waiting, me lady has camping skills for real...her rope tying skills are the best too lol
played scrabble by candlelight and drank champagne while a gangsta raccoon tried to punk us...oh and one of the most butt ugliest possums tried to get into the van window the first night...got to love the critters.
-did the tourist thing and visited the bath houses in Hot Springs...uhh the springs are called HOT Springs for a reason...just ask B lol.
-headed back down to Austin, loving on the kids some more, oh how i wish we could take them with us, but there is this stupid rule about school...just joking.