LASQUETI ISLAND, Canada B.C.

Lasqueti is an island near Vancouver. There is 300 people here. There is no police but a lot of dears. 

 

Mark is hosting me,this is the dance studio he built with fur poles. Ca c'est chez Mark, le studio de dance en allumettes de sapin.

Sam, a kayaker headed to Haines!

Mes parents voulaient une photo de moi bien coiffee avec ma nouvelle robe...

WEST TO CANADA, THE JOURNEY.... (20-30 april)

Got to cross the boarder for VISA stuff... Decided to go to the islands in British Columbia.... in 2 weeks.

Some biking, some hitchhiking, last minute couchsurfing, wind, wind, rain, snow. Thanks to all these nice people who helped me out along the way, I made it to the west coast. And the sun shines.

Il faut que j'aille au Canada pour renouveler mon VISA. La cote pacifique que j'aime tant. J'ai 2 semaines pour y aller, va falloir se sortir les doigts. Merci a tous les gens qui m'ont aide pendant ce periple plein de pluie de vent et d'imprevus. Je n'en peux plus mais ca y est on voit l'ocean!

Leaving Taos, 3 days of west wind into my face, 9 hours a day for 40 miles only. Got to hitchhike.  Apres 3 jours de vents en pleine face sur le plateau de Taos, je suis deja rincee. 9h pour 60 bornes par jour seulement... Va falloir tendre le pouce..

VOILA!!!! That's what you get for hitchhiking in the USA! 18 hours drive to Missoula, Montana. Adam, thank you again.

Camp in Paradise, Montana and nice ride along the Clark Fork river to Gunnison, Colorado.

Le bled s'appelle Paradis et les vaches sont noires. Elles me suivent en courant et beuglant... faut vraiment que je prenne un douche...

Seattle from the Ferry.

Farmers' Market in Port Townsand, Washington.

Portable Pizza oven out of an old metal bouee and basalt rocks inside!

Un four a pizza a la francaise, mais sur des roulettes, a partir d'une bouee en metal et de pierres basaltiques dedans. Les pizzas? Comme a la maison.

TAOS, la suite. April 2011

Pizza party at my first camp with the dirt oven and the famous salty cookies (I put salt instead of suggar in the reciepe...)

Mon premier campement.

The Fort, my second camp, built by Jess and Bryan. The best sunrise lookout on the Mesa.

Mon autre camp, vue sur la sauge et le canyon, chant du coyote et pleine lune.

Open Microphone with Jacob on the Mandolin. Good time!

 Little hike to the  Rio Grande.

More earthships: the greenhouse garden inside an earthship, and the E.V.E. building, project of an earthship community. A lot of cans, bottles and ciment. The greenhouse will host a tropical forest with food for the community.

 Au-dessus, un jardin interieur dans un earthship, en bas le batiment EVE, projet de communaute. Les echafaudages sont pour construire les pillers d'une serre, ou une foret tropicale reliera tous les batiments et alimentera les gens.

EARTHSHIP BIOTECTURE, Taos New Mexico

Un vaisseau de Terre: earthship. Serre interieure exposee au sud, murs nord du batiment enterres pour faire une masse qui eponge et restitue la chaleur. La temperature interieure reste la meme toute l'annee, sans chauffage. L'eau est recyclee 3 fois: une fois pour la douche, une fois pour les plantes et une fois pour les chiottes.  L'electricite vient du soleil et du vent.

  An earthship is a building that is selfsufficiant with water, electricity and hopefully food one day. Glas facing south, earth on the north for the thermal mass, it stays the same temperature all year long. The water is recycled 3 time, for shower, plants and toilets.

Mur de pneus et canettes recycles!

Recycled materials, tires and cans

Lunch time on the solar pannel box.

They run the tools for the construction.

Ciment sur pneus. Plaster on the tire wall.

Cloison interieure: canettes et ciment

Can wall for the Bedrooms

Bathroom with glassbottles.

Mur de bouteilles. Vive la biere.

Arche en canette/ ciment

The inside planter water by the first recycled water.

La serre interieure qui regule la temperature. Elle est arrosee par l'eau de la douche recyclee et ensuite va dans la chasse d'eau.

Ca fait presque un mois que je tappe de la terre sur des pneus et que je bois de la biere pour aider a faire les mur...!

Yes, it freezes in Arizona! Puddle in Black Jack Canyon

Cholla Cactus. Aie aie aie les doigts! Nous l'avons teste pour vous...

Sorting out cows in the quarel to sell.

Le portail il est pas droit... 

Branding, vaccination, castration, ear tag. The hardest is to catch the calf.

Donk

The parade to the next pasture

Building rock dams on dry rivers. Water is precious. The dams help to slow it down and go into the ground.

I hate computers.
Here is 1 photo. That'a all you get.

Woofing in Cold Creek Ranch, AZ

Woofing is a very nice concept. You trade some work in exchange of a roof and food, and experience.
Cold Creek Ranch raises cows for meat. The life is slow and quiet out here but we still celebrated the chinese new year, drinking mexican Bacanora! The dragon had a cow's head and the sky was incredible.
This winter is harsh in the south west. Every drop of water is saved in the desert, and now the water pipes freeze and break everywhere.
Photos will come later, the computer is too slow...

Arizona, January 2011 - Snow or desert, pick you choice...

There are some things you don't show on a blog: flat tires, anger, tireness, red mud all over, wrong road, snow.... it has been a little rough lately. Oh well, life goes on!


 Payson, Arizona: Laurel and Devin are cooking a SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE for my 2months trip anniversary!

Roosevelt Lake, where I see my first Seguaro Cactus!!
Tonga national forest looks more like a green desert to me...

Yuccas and white rock camp in the the Apache reservation

Safford, 14-01-10: Birdwatching with Monica and Paula in the desert.
Monica adopted me for a day, as I stopped at the library, wondering
where to sleep tonight!

Go South!!!! Utah to Arizona, 01/2011

It is too cold.

I had to sleep in a hotel because I was scared to freeze alive one night in Blanding, UT.

The Navajo Indian Reservation is the biggest in the U.S. It is magic.

Monument valley offered me a spectacular sunset and the sunrise was even better!

And then STOP. The back wheel broke. Hitchhiking to flagstaff. And here I am in civilization again: bikeshop, internet, tourists.

Camp in a Wash, in front of Monument Valley

Moab, UT New Year 2011

Moab. the Red Rock country. 

Met another hard core bike-vagabond, Shane.

Spent New Year jamming music and spinning fire pois at Trickster and Becca's, my couch hosts.

Moab has a very nice community spirit. It feels good being here. 

Cold hike with shane

Kokopelly and dancers

One of the famous red arches.

Utah, Christmas Break 2010-2011

Utah's weather is stormy right now. Time for some social life.

First experience couchsurfing. It is like hichhiking for a bed. I love it.

Christmas with Tim's family in Salt Lake City, the Mormon capital of Utah.

And then on the road again!

Bud & Caroll, my first couch hosts in St George.

Burning Man party with Phidias, SLC.

 couchsurfers waiting for the wave.... 

Bye bye Tim, got to make it to Moab before the next snowstorm!!

Las Vegas - stop camping.... (december 2010)

Ken and Donna, the crazy bikers of Vegas

That car keeps following me. The sun is setting.... I guess I will have to hide in a ditch tonight...
But the next morning, this group of bikers invite me to their party and I end up at Donna's house!
Rest, shower, laughs and this sentence that is so true:

Life's journey is not to arrive safely at the Grave,
in a well preserve body,
but rather to skid in sideways
totally worn out shouting
Holy Shit, What a ride!