fits and starts

so this is really crazy and almost absurd! we left lawrence and headed across the flat fields of kansas on our way to colorado.  as we were leaving lawrence i heard a bit of a strange noise coming from the underside of the van but didn't give it big thought because the guys at the dodge dealership car service had just finished putting the new transmission in and had checked everything and had said we were good to go.  so we got on the road and headed down the highway at 75 mph. we got a few hours down the road and stopped at the first rest stop for a break. this is a wonderful landmark sign at the rest area.

sounds like my kinda town

as we drove off we heard a strange sound coming from the underside of the van.  not good, but all we could do was continue on our way.  we drove through the ''flint hills'', which are not really hills but small lumps in a mostly flat flat area of america.

flint hills

beautiful earth

different colors

is that really a hill?

we had found a state park half way across kansas that we were planning on staying at over night and then continue our drive the next day. evening came upon us and we arrived at the campsite, (the strange sound could be heard at times, it kind of came and went as it pleased) a big storm was brewing in the sky.  we never got rain but we experienced major wind and watched an amazing lightning show.

aah the beauty

 cloud formations

its raining over there

big wind

storm over cedar reservoir

the storm swept over us wildly and we then we finally could go to sleep in our cozy little home on wheels.  in the morning we awoke to beautiful calmness and took a walk along the edge of the water.

the calm of the morning

 cedar reservoir

state park

friends footprints

as we drove out of the state park we heard the strange wrong sound again so we decided to go into the next town and have someone have a look. we were starting to get depressed and stressed.  we drove 8 miles to wakeeny, a tiny little nowhere town in the middle of kansas. we found the auto fix it place and steve jumped in and had a drive around town with us to hear the sound. but there was no sound to hear. the whole time he was in the car with us the sound could not be heard. it had never been a constant sound but even 10 minutes before on our way into town, we had heard it. it was totally crazy. steve from wakeeny said ''well just keep drivin till sumthin else happens.'' so off we drove. as we got into denver and got off the highway and were driving down the city streets, stopping at stoplights and not going fast, we realized that we smelled a burning smell and that the sound was getting louder. we were really depressed now. luckily we found a state park in denver and stayed the night there and were the first customers waiting in line when the dodge dealership service shop opened at 7 am this morning. they had a look and a listen and told us that the new transmission had a loose bolt inside it and they have to open the 'NEW' transmission and replace it with a new bolt! 

oh my goodness, will this ever end?? i am tired of going from one auto fix it shop to the next!! its getting really old!! thank god i have a 3 year warranty on the new transmission and so getting the new bolt wont cost me anything but really, i am done with this repair stuff!! i just want to relax and go where i want to go when i want to go there!! i have done blessings and prayers for and in my van about her health and about this journey we are on and i am now just ready for the repairs to be done!! thank you very much!! i am trying to understand what the message and lesson is to learn here with all this car trouble but my patience is running thin......

(ok sorry dear reader, that was a rant but i feel better now) 

the nice guys here at the denver dodge are trying hard to get the bolt replaced today and we can be on our merry way this evening. if they are not able to get it done today we will sleep in a cheap motel and get back on track tomorrow. now we are sitting in our favorite internet spot, starbucks coffee, sipping something and waiting for the call.

stuck in lawrence, kansas

as we left kansas city and headed west towards our next destination, lawrence, kansas, ''lilly bordeaux'' my beautiful camper van started making strange sounds and starting stinking as if something was burning. oh no!! we finally found a gas station and pulled off the highway.  the guy at the gas station knew nothing of cars so after reading the manual and checking all the fluids we thought we might need transmission fluid because it was down pretty low. so we bought some at the gas station mart and following carefully the directions of how to do it, we poured the fluid down into the transmission. it did not help. we finally gave up and called AAA and got a free tow 20 miles into lawrence. 

oh my!

chris the nice tow truck guy

a few days before kienda had contacted some people from the 'prairie moon waldorf school' and had asked if we could stay a day or two, meet them, see the school and be on our way.  lucky for us the people from the school are all amazingly sweet and welcoming and helpful and wonderful!  the first family we stayed with was the eichler family. david and monika eichler are two of the founders of the 'prairie moon' school and are both inspriational people. their two daughters, lauren (9) and elyse (4) are beautiful and sweet children. 

the eichler family

elyse and i

the eichler's live in a self built 'straw-bale/post and beam hybrid house'.  it is absolutely beautiful with much care and love put into the design, the building and the decorating. there is tons of light streaming in the many windows on the main floor and the kitchen is beautiful with custom ceramic inlayed art. there is a wonderful calming atmosphere when ones enters this beautiful home.  please visit their website to see how they built their straw-bale house.  this amazing house is also for sale at the moment so if anyone is interested please contact the eichlers. (www.chrysalisfarm.com)

the view

chrysalis farm

the back patio

the frog pond

view from the frog pond

stucco makes lovely texture

the screened in porch

the straw-bale viewing door open

viewing door closed

ceramic kitchen art

the main floor

beautiful words

david does a form of energy body work he calls 'integrative bodywork'. i had two sessions with him which were very healing for me. he is very intuitive and very learned in different forms of therapeutic bodywork, mixing different types of subtle energy work together to make his own style.  reiki, cranio-sacral, aroma therapy and working with guides and angels are a few of the different ways david works. he helped me to look at some personal issues more clearly and now i can begin to clear my energy field and move into new states of being. for this i am very thankful and i know that one reason for getting stuck here in lawrence was so that i could have time to do these sessions.  everything happens as it should!

visiting the baby goats

lauren and the goat

elyse and the goat

me and the goat

 kienda and the goat

the waldorf school that david and monika co-founded is called 'prairie moon' and is about 5 minutes from their house. we went and had a tour one day and loved what we saw. the school goes up to 5th grade and seems well established. we met many of the teachers and parents and of course lots of wonderful children.  they have an exciting gardening program where the food from the gardens are sold at the local farmers market and the local co-op called 'the merc'.  its great for the children and it brings the community together.

prairie moon school

school garden outreach

the playground

this is real!! 

the dye garden

5th grade gardeners

sports class

the kindergarden

the preschool

the banner

the sweet waldorf gift shop

david and monika were having other guests come on wednesday so we went to stay a night with melissa, matt and angus. melissa works in the office at 'prairie moon' and matt is a sculpture professor at kansas university.  angus is their darling 7 year old son.  unfortunately melissa had already left the house when i remembered to get my camera out, so i only have a photo of the guys. these lovely people don't have a lot of space, so we had a lovely but short one night visit here.

matt and angus

the next great place we were welcomed into was the hacienda of mr. rick mitchell. rick is also a founding father of 'prairie moon' and is now the gardening teacher and master gardener at the school.  we spent the remainder of our stay at his big rambling house in town. rick is a real 'lawrenceien' having grown up here, went to kansas university here and moved back here after living in new jersey for about 20 years.  lawrence is his home and he was proud to show us around and tell us interesting tidbits of information about the town and outlying areas. rick was a great host, very welcoming and easy going, we had many wonderful and interesting conversations

rick

rick's back yard

ricks front yard

the view from my room

my room

ricks awesome truck

ricks awesome flower bed

ricks awesome library

ricks awesome kitchen

lawrence is a university town. kansas university has a very large campus here and there is one of the few native american universities, haskell university, here as well. 

ku

track and field event

art

green campus

the stadium

haskell

the stadium

indian chief

his medicine is wolf

haskell warrior

the campus

the medicine wheel

the medicine wheel 

medicine

sacred ground

lawrence has a sweet downtown area. here are a few images of the town.

court house

mass street

mass street

mass street

laurie, ricks lady friend's house

the kaw river

the town tipis

it is!!

lawrence is a sweet town

so my dear 'lilly bordeaux' (the camper) is fixed up and ready to go and i experienced a blessing and a miracle.  the cost of the new transmission was lots lots lots and i was really going to be hurting after paying for the repair.  three different people had suggested i call eveyln and judy who had sold me the camper just a month ago and ask if they would consider to help me with the repair cost.  i thought about it for a few days and decided that it was worth a shot and that any amount of help would be helpful. i called them up and they were so sweet and willing and went to the bank right away and gave me a huge contribution to the cost of the new transmission. i am so very thankful and i feel so blessed to know these lovely ladies. thank you evelyn and judy for doing a noble thing and helping me to get back on the road!! you are wonderful, wonderful human beings!!

judy and eveyln

our stay in lawrence, kansas was longer then we had anticipated but it was more wonderful then we had dreamed and we are so glad to have met such wonderful and welcoming people here.  we now have lots of new friends for life.  god works in mysterious ways to help us along this path called life. i feel very fortunate right now and blessed and i know i am on the right way. the sun is shining, the birds are singing, i have many wonderful people in my life all over this beautiful green planet, every day i have a choice to live in a more healthy and harmonious way with everyone and everything that comes my way. i am truly blessed and protected, as are you, dear reader, all we must to do is remember that fact every minute of every day and it is so!! 

breathe in beauty!!