An Apology, Living in the Woods, The Lonestar State, and Garlic



View out my front window...I told you I lived in the mountains.



So I would like to formally apologize for not writing over the last few days. Two of the AMPP crew are in places where they don't get Internet and so that leaves me to do the Blogging but I haven't been slacking. Living in the woods makes the Internet a bit unreliable, but with this new set up I think I have all of the kinks worked out.

We, as I stated earlier, are in the process of finding a Van to pull our beautiful trailer (Big Jodi [on a side note...I am really sorry to anyone out there that is named Jodi. I didn't put enough thought into the name, in fact I put no thought into as you can see in the video, but it stuck and now everyone refers to it as not the AMPP trailer, but Big Jodi]). The vans come in all shapes and colors so I can't paint our little trailer until we buy one and know what our exterior color scheme is. I don't want to have the colors arguing....how embarrassing:) I and going to paint the logo on the side of the trailer. I will film it so you will be able to watch it in time lapse. I can't wait for that segment, but once again we can't do that until we get a van.



This is the tree in my front yard. Pretty amazing tree.
Do you see the trailer to the left? Jodi looks so small.

 We, both Scott and I, have been searching far and wide through the states of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington for a Conversion van....but to no avail. Every time I talk to the people on the phone they are like, "Oh yeah...shes a real beaut! She runs like a champ!". Then I tell them that 'she' has to pull a loaded down 23 foot trailer through the deep south in the dead of Summer for 10,000 miles without blowing up...and that we are a non-profit...and they all tell me to find another one. At least when they hear the words non-profit they develop a conscious. It saves me a drive to Portland and it saves us from losing a transmission in Waco, TX.



She said we should keep to the south eastern
portion of the state. I knew Austin had a cool
scene but I didn't think they really needed us
since they are filled with studios and people who are really gifted in the art of audio engineering, not to mention it is a big city and that is something we are trying to avoid. She said however the area around the hill country of the southeast is where the hidden talent is. It only makes sense being that it is so close tot he point of origin....the delta. Regardless it is worth the detour. Thank you for the tip Jessica.   

 In a totally un-related subject yesterday I found a connection in Texas. She is a music buff, well traveled and informed on what is happening. You know...the ear to the pavement type. She gave me a map of Texas that has everyplace we need to visit and what kind of music to expect. She said south east Texas...in the hill country. Our first Texas lead. Score!




 The Deck Garden of 2010-2011



Check out my deck garden. 5 different types. The Hard Collaris killing it so far, but will still have time before we harvest.



Oh yeah and my garlic that I planted before winter is looking great. It will be ready right before we leave and I'll bring you some if you drop me a line. Hopefully AMPP will be able to grow all of its own spices    before we leave...why? Because we can't afford organic unless we do it ourselfs. Luckily we have been growing for a while in preparation for this trip.

We will be Stone souping our way across America.

Go AMPP! 

We are coming in on 60 days before we leave.

Its all starting to take shape.

Purpose and goal makes everyday the greatest day of your life. 

Its 6:00 in the morning and this is already the best day of mine.

I went down to the river behind my house and the fog looked like smoke on the water....(there wasn't any fire in the sky:).

God bless southern Oregon. (My old IPhone doesn't do it justice...really I wish you could stand next to me right now and see what I am seeing. The birds and the green. [Spring is my favorite. Its like a Friday night when you were in grade school. You know you still have days and days of awesomeness before you have to go back to school]) .

I wonder if we'll find any place as pretty as where I am right now. I'm surrounded by fields and mountains and rivers and family. I don't know, but its gonna have to be someplace pretty amazing. My father says the blue ridge mountains of Kentucky are really pretty in the fall. We have Douglas fir, which doesn't change, they have maple. The hills are on fire with red.


Joshua Lomax Smith