A Moving Road Trip

Moving sucks.  Moving your friends double sucks.  It’s hot, things are heavy, they picked an apartment on the 3rd floor without an elevator, half this stuff is gonna go in the trash in the next move anyway.  In the time that I’ve known him, my friend of almost 20 years, has moved multiple times for varying reasons.  Way back, he would hit me up to help him but I think after about the 5th move, he quit asking me.  He might have hired a company or got other friends in to help him from then on.  I’m sure my complaining had nothing to do with his decision.  In recent years, his moves have gotten greater in distance, as in, to other countries.  I’m super proud of his accomplishments in teaching abroad and seeing the world.  In return, when he is spending time back in the states, I usually jump at the chance to see him.  Different teaching jobs require their own levels of paperwork in each county, which can be simple or super difficult and with our most current situation, every avenue becomes twice as challenging.  Over the past fall season, he was home for a few months, waiting for all the appropriate overseas boxes to get checked off for employment, and asked if I’d be interested in helping him move a few things.. from California to Wisconsin.  A tiny bit of furniture and some old photos needed a safe escort to another family member’s house.  I absolutely jumped at the chance to assist in a road trip move across the country.  (Extreme caution was observed to ensure our own safety, especially as the more east we traveled, the more relaxed the Covid rules seemed to get.)

 The ideal plan was for no more than 7 hours of actual driving per day, to avoid fatigue, with an outdoor point-of-interest rest stop that would count as “seeing the sites” along the way.  Of course, hopes were not set too high knowing travel restrictions would be in place, so the schedule was largely flexible.  As we left the lively cities of Southern California, we gassed up in Vegas, and arrived in the border city of St. George for a late lunch in Utah.  (Drive thru and park to eat, as indoor dining was still shut down in most of the country.)  The sun was setting fast so there was only a small detour to the entrance of Bryce Canyon.  There’s an adorable tourist town before you get to the actual canyons with resort properties, shopping, dining, and a severely rude old man standing next to a “do not use driveway to turn around” sign.  It’s like a cargo van making a U-turn in his driveway caused him physical pain.  “OK, President Pavement!”  Whoops, my finger slipped and we laughed away.  What little of the canyons I saw were stunning in the orange light.  Planning a weekend return trip is already on my to-do list, sans The Driveway Dictator.

To see all the hues and geographical detail, viewing in person is the only way.

Our second day on the road was supposed to end with a self-guided tour of Colorado’s Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre but of course, issues.  The rock formations give the acts that play within bone-chilling acoustics and striking painted skies.  When nothing is scheduled, visitors are free to roam the rocks and experience the sights and sounds for free until sundown.  The website listed all activities were canceled due to Covid, yet after passing way more people then there should have been, I got to the entrance and was told I couldn’t go in as there was a private event happening.  Now all those teens in fancy get ups walking the parking lot made sense.  Yet, not only was there nothing listed on the website, IT’S A PANDEMIC! I angrily soaked myself in sanitizer back in the car, grumbling about how I wouldn’t come back, even though The Rockies in Denver were autumn picturesque.  

Hard to find such great parking at other concert venues.

Day three was the trek through to Omaha, Nebraska.  Allow me to give the not surprisingly lackluster details; Corn, Trump sign, Corn, Trump sign, Corn, Corn, Corn, Trump sign.  After being immersed in such rich, maskless culture by the time we reached the hotel, my friend and I opted to stay in and order Chinese food.  We didn’t make it to the Lewis and Clark Expedition historical site marker, but that Chinese food was worth the cursed trip into this state.  The evening ended with Bob’s Burgers and a wild thunderstorm that blew in and out of town before we finished a couple of episodes.  

Yeah, that's it.  You have now seen the whole of Nebraska.

Rise ‘n shine on the fourth and finally day of the move.  The goal was to reach the lower Wisconsin area by the night's end but to do so would bring us straight across the state of Iowa.  The only slightly interesting outdoor destination for the state I could conjure up to plot for our potential stretch break was the real life birthplace of fictional character, James T. Kirk.  You heard that right, Iowa’s “on the map” moment comes from the captain of a spaceship from a show that's been in syndication for 50 years… or was it?  

The rule that’s pretty universal for a road trip is that the driver is in charge of the radio.  Since my friend didn’t put me on the insurance (my feet didn’t reach the pedals anyway), that made him the lone driver so I just rolled with whatever he picked.  He had several funny and interesting podcasts that I enjoyed but his running theme was to play music that correlated to each state we drove through.  I can’t remember all 30 hours of what we listened to but I think it was Elvis in Nevada and The Book of Mormon soundtrack in Utah, but what was curious to me was what the soundtrack for The Bridges of Madison County musical had to do with our drive through Iowa.  

The unread book on my shelf, that has a movie starring Clint Eastwood, that I’ve never seen, actually has a Broadway musical, that I’d never heard of.  This 1992 historical fiction romance novel sold so well that the movie was made in 1995 and then the musical’s first performance was in the summer of 2013.  The long of the short of it is a bored housewife meets a man visiting Madison County to photograph the historic bridges by asking her for directions, they fall in love and he asks her to leave with him but she won’t do that to her family.  No spoilers, this genre isn’t my go-to for entertainment so I’ve avoided it thus far, but my friend enjoys it so off we went to explore the bridges and the quaint town of Winterset, Iowa.  

With a large brick courthouse in the center, the town expanded out only 2 or 3 short streets including mom ‘n’ pop businesses on all sides.  The petite Welcome Center was a museum and gift shop for all things related to the novella.  All the bookcases that held the souvenirs were named after and carved with the same roofs as the covered bridges (round, pointed, or flat) which was a great way for our bubbly guide to help teach us about the history and which bridges were best to visit.  Of course, before going on our road trip within a road trip, we needed coffee.  Gifting us maps with maximized routes for time, gushing about her favorite songs in the musical, and ringing up our postcards was only some of what the delightful guide did for us.  She had a few recommendations for coffee and breakfast goodies and we went with the first one.

After passing The Cellar two times, we found it, and it was an actual cellar which explains why we missed it.  Inside was Café meets Country Cottage and as my friend placed his order, more people funneled down the stairs.  I was about to place my previously recommended order when an older blonde woman piped up behind me.  She was peppy, excited, and told me I would be her ‘good deed of the day’.  She offered to pay for my order.  I’ve never had that happen to me before.  Of course, I was all set on my order so I didn’t take advantage of her, and was grateful for her to have purchased my small House blend with half and half and a pumpkin scone.  This tiny town of farmers and commuters to the capital city, Des Moines is filled with super sweet people.  Our guide, who was a California native, gave me a perfect fall combo to take to the bridges.  The coffee was good, a medium roast, and the scone was soft, lightly spiced, and had just the right amount of icing.  The Cellar offered meals but dining inside was risky and we were pressed for time.

After two covered bridges, they started to look the same to me.  Sure they were architecturally beautiful and historically fascinating, but I can only remember so many lumber types and drive so many dusty roads.  One bridge had been fully moved to save it and some others had been taken by time.  People were encouraged to write on the wood on the inside of some of the bridges but it was disheartening to see “Obama waz here” and “Iowa Sucks” slapped onto the outside of the painted structures.  Lastly, the one bridge that was safe for cars to drive across, our cargo van was too tall to fit.  

Around the start of sunset, we drove on a long steel bridge, at the border of the state, over the Mississippi River and into Wisconsin.  The scenery changed immediately.  Corn turned into cedar and pine trees oozing in autumn colors.  Sprawling green farm properties with Biden flags lined the backroads we drove to our destination.  Over the next few days I saw the capital city, Madison, the kitschy Wisconsin Dells, the charming little town where my friend’s family lives, and all over Milwaukee before I boarded a flight back to the west.  In six days I got to see a decent amount of the United States that I otherwise would not have any reason to see.  It was a wonderful adventure with my friend and I enjoyed the time I spent with his family (and their cats), and all I had to do was bring in a couple of boxes, a lamp, an old desk, more boxes, some luggage, no wait, that was my luggage, a coffee maker, oh look, more boxes, picture frames, a toolbox, hey, isn’t that my old vacuum?..

The People VS Google

 16 months is a long time for me to have gone somewhere and not blogged about it (if that was my intent).  I usually tend to have a blog on my back burner, often due to time restraints, but it has helped to have back logged blogs while being unable to explore new places.  I do always hope that places I’ve visited continue to thrive even if it takes me a while to review them.  However in this case, it’s better I waited and did a compare/contrast review of two locations rather than post about my disappointment that’s still lingering on almost a year and a half later from one place.

When Lil Sis moved to Arizona, her and her husband knew they had intentions of buying a house.  Their first digs were pretty great; a large, top floor apartment with amenities like two pools and an adorable dog park all in the major capital city of Phoenix, minutes from great food, shopping, National Parks, and countless coffee shops.  With so many options, finding a coffee spot usually involves a Google search, a peep at some reviews, and after narrowing it down to about 3 places, Lil Sis and I will pick a place the day of visiting.  

We settled on Jobot Coffee Cafe, on the hip main drag of Downtown proper, for coffee and a light dinner.  Bars, a beer garden, an artsy park, and apartments above surrounded us at twilight when we arrived.  According to the Google description, they had locally roasted coffee and vibed well with the active local community.  Upon entrance, it was clear that description was the same creative jargon you hear from a realtor about a house that was part of a WW2 active bombing; “airy and newly renovated”.  This was not a coffee house.  Everything about their online stats was an absolute exaggeration or lie.  It was a bar first and foremost, with tvs, dartboards, and board games.  The freezer to the side of the sales counter had the word “melt” on it that, according to the sign outside, was a separate ice cream shop in this location.  But the nail in the coffin of this “cafe” was the single silver pot of coffee behind the register.  How can they market this as a coffee shop when this sad pot was all they offered.  The liquid sugar and cinnamon shakers were on a table that was almost too high for me to reach above a trash can.  Sure the mild drip coffee was bottomless but so is the coffee at Denny’s which is more a coffee shop than this trendy Cheers location.  We stayed for food which was good but had it been marketed as a restaurant we could tell what kind of portions to expect.  The full food menu offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with big portions and original food ideas like the hot wings that our husband's ordered;  “Hot wings, add waffle option, served with goat cheese - heavily infused with cumin”.  That is not cafe fodder but it went over well while we played Yahtzee.  It might have been my mood or just coincidence but I'm pretty sure the die were weighed in our game because I couldn't win at that either.  Google had lied to me.  Despite the cashier having a cheery demeanor, I took my disappointment home and lamented for months about asking Google for coffee recommendations again.  (Yes, I still was angry at this place while adding these photos.)

Behind those people was the Melt ice cream case, or shop, as the sign outside has its own address on it.

Some art above the condiment area.

Lil Sis has since bought a house, moved out of the central hub of a capital city, and put down roots southeast of all the major cities about 40 mins away in the San Tan Valley area.  Just outside the new housing development, the streets are lined with farmland and homes with large plots of land.  There is one neverending shopping center to get all the things you need without having to trek back into town for a Dollar Tree or eye doctor appointment.  One thing that threw me was the private airport located by a mansion housing development, called an airpark, as you land your plane in the airport then park it inside the hanger at your house across the street.  Yes, I also want to know what rich and famous people my sister has for neighbors too!

I had made a few trips back to see Lil Sis since the Jobot incident but I had to wait a while before visiting to see the new house.  The new homeowners were also curious as to what their new locale had to offer so prior to my late October visit, Lil Sis consulted the people of her area using the Next Door app.  This app matches you up with people in your zip code to communicate about events, buy and sell items, updates and issues such as lost pets or noise complaints, and ask for recommendations, which as Lil Sis did this, came back with a nice thread of terrific ideas for us to follow up on.  The people had spoken!  With such great responses and personal anecdotes for their choices, it took about a half hour to narrow down a place.  One of the top recommended locations was Superstition Coffee at The Olive Mill in Queen Creek but we already had plans for lunch at The Mill later in the visit.   So with several solid recommendations, Lil Sis, her husband, and I were off to The Coffee Shop at Agritopia in nearby Gilbert.  

The rural difference was absolutely felt.  The early morning sun peeked up behind us as we approached a collection of tin-faced buildings.  Several restaurants and event spaces share the large section of the city block without feeling crowded.  The Coffee Shop was exactly as described on Next Door.  It was a coffee shop that offered breakfast and baked goods and the house-made cupcakes are promoted as some of the best around.  Sorry to tell you that cupcakes were not on my menu for the morning but close enough as I asked the barista for what would pair well with the coffee of the day.  The medium roast was light, akin to a blonde, paired with the blueberry white chocolate coffee cake (which would have been better warmed) was a perfect light breakfast for the day.  Lil Sis got fruit and potatoes while her husband got “real” breakfast before he had to head home to sleep from his overnight shift.  We sat outside (the Covid standard) with a mix of people and boisterous bird sounds.  The immediate scenery was a park vibe with some men working on switching out the seasonal flowers just down a pathway from the outdoor dining area.  It was very serene.  Exactly as advertised.  But it gets even better.  The Agritopia itself is actually a huge community farm and garden.  People can grab up a dirt plot and keep a garden with the mutual understanding and respect that you don’t touch anything that isn't yours.  There were sculpture gardens, herb gardens, full plots of date trees, mixed vegetable gardens, and flowers galore!  It was inspiring, wholesome, and wonderful to see the community giving back and giving to each other.  There was even a decent sized chicken coup.  Colorful feathers covered the birds of several species.  All looked healthy and happy...and delicious.  I will return to The Coffee Shop on my next visit.  The staff is nice, even when busy with lots of food options and farm feel.  I look forward to bringing some of my California friends and family to check it out, as well as the other businesses on the Agritopia property.

The Coffee Shop had their own art and was on point with current affairs.

C.O.D. on my cup for coffee of the day.

Fresh herbs growing alongside the patio dining area.

The entrance to the community gardens.

The people of the Next Door app really came through and I’d be happy to take advice from them again.  Shout Out to that person who even recommended a weight loss coffee.  If 2020 didn't cause me to eat my feelings and sub in booze for Xanax, I'd totally check out what you had.  Now I wonder if my neighbors know of some secret gems that Google isn’t promoting well enough due to algorithms or paid ads.  Oh, or what kind of places I'd learn about using my parent's zip codes too.

Neeeerrrrdddd!

 Long ago, in the ancient times, before the invention of the World Wide Web, back when Nintendo was still only known for their playing cards, a couple of guys got together and designed an interactive tabletop role playing game called Dungeons and Dragons.  Now I know what you’re thinking; this coffee blog has now entered the realm of super dorkdom that could never have a coffee crossover!  Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  If someone can make money from it, it can definitely have a coffee made for it.  Think of any hobby you enjoy and I’m certain I can find a coffee themed around it.  Dogs, video games, YouTube personalities, Disney, you can find almost anything, which is great for gift giving and supporting smaller roasters.  Patrick Ballesteros, a San Diego artist, partnered with a local coffee shop to hand draw labels for some of their Shop Blend bags, so yes, even art sells coffee.  But D and D?! What the what?

Something I imposed upon myself at a young age was to take an interest in everything.  Even if you don’t think it will be something you like, learn about it anyway.  It creates an open door to starting conversations, making friends, and finding out what truly makes you happy.  Knowing a small amount on a larger subject, especially one that a loved one shows a great interest in, is the best way to engage with them and make them feel important and heard, which in turn, builds their confidence, and is powerful in shaping their personality.  I love to hear the excitement and passion in someone’s voice when they get to share something they enjoy.  That said, several important people in my life play this interesting game of dice and storytelling.

Without going into detail, Dungeons and Dragons, has an extensive library of fictional characters to choose from, to play as, and to have in your stories, either as foe or friend.  The person hosting the game (Dungeon Master) chooses a tale from the books or creates their own story, taking the players on an adventure.  The numbers on the dice align with predetermined stats that can represent many things, such as damage taken, how much attack ability becomes available, or whether or not your character has enough charisma to complete a task.  Spread on the table are various maps or vignettes representing where the character tokens (miniature figures) are at in the story.  The randomness from the die makes the game fun and unpredictable.  I have heard that a good Dungeon Master adapts to create the best possible outcomes or funniest scenarios.  The game was designed for group gatherings in person, as seen on Stranger Things, but with time and technology, several of my friends play online, which is great for pandemic situations, and in turn brings us back to me taking a larger interest in what my mates love.  I played my first, and so far only, online D and D game last month with my bff, my cousin by heart, and her husband.  As intimidating as the game seemed, it turns out we all had a great time but I’m so bad at math that I put my fellow adventurers in charge of my gold to be safe.  

In my never ending quest to be a well informed friend, my nerd culture well runneth over.  While thumbing through my feed, I see that Emerald Knights Comics and Games has posted the newest item to hit their shelves.  The two-story shop, located near several other of my favorite independent comic and gaming shops in Burbank, Ca, is set up with ¼ of the store dedicated to comics, ¼ dedicated to tabletop games and accessories, and the last half of the first floor is all D and D related.  The loft’s second floor has tables for in-shop game matches and tournaments (pre covid, of course).  Back on the first floor dragon's lair, Emerald Knights has everything you need to have a D and D campaign at home, (paintable mini figures, books, paints, maps, and a knowledgeable staff) as well as offering a weekly mini figure paint night to encourage their overall community loving feel.  I was elated to see right at the checkout counter was a cardboard display of Geek Grind Coffee.  I’d not heard of this brand prior to buying their product but the quick overview is they hand harvest their mountain grown Columbian coffee and roast in small batches, then package and ship it themselves, being one of very few companies that are a “Certified Origin Production”.  The coffee is themed to have a broad hand over the characters found in tabletop adventure gaming, as well as a few flavors themed to the Pathfinder series (similar to D and D).  Elves, Wizards, and Dragons are a few of the eye catching words in a reflective font on the packaging.  I grabbed the Wizard’s Mist Blend of Ages light roast for myself, the Elder’s Fathom Ancient Blend medium roast for my cousin, and the husband wanted a Pathfinder blend just for kicks.  I was only slightly swayed on the Elder blend as it had a green, blue, and silver monstrous Cthulhu with its tentacles wrapped around a ship and the Lovecraftian kaiju was a large part of other in-store purchases that day.  At checkout, I can’t say I was shocked by the price, but I don’t normally drop $20 for whole bean coffee per bag but the 14 ounce bags and speciality of it lined up with what I was expecting to pay.  

Freshly ground then immediately brewed, from bag to mug, the Wizard’s Mist had a fruit forward aroma and taste.  I’m not sure if the roasted coffee flavor was playing second fiddle because the roast was so light or because the description on the back of the bag reads like a boozy produce section.  It is a good coffee.  I’d like to try the other flavors but not at that retail tag.  Because of its single origin status, to buy the coffee it can be found in very few shops like Emerald Knights or the next known location being a comic book shop in Las Vegas, or the internet.  Geek Grinds online shop offers the same size bags for the same price as in stores but in addition they offer sampler sizes for under 5 bucks, some gifting collections, and merchandise like tees and mugs.  I found some samplers on Amazon for the same 5 dollar price but sold from a 3rd party calling itself a coffee shop so I feel that might defeat the “straight to you” ideal the company wants to carry.  Overall opinion would be to get it only if you are gifting to someone who is a huge fantasy fan or if you are hosting a tabletop adventuring game and want to show off your mega nerd status, I mean, your passion for this genre.  

Now I’m not going to leave off this blog letting you still think that you shouldn’t at least open your mind and heart to the idea of Dungeons and Dragons, or anyone’s favorite pastime, for that matter.  The point of D and D is storytelling.  Something I got out of all the game’s paraphernalia was a series of storytelling guide books called Table Fables that is hands down, the most creative book for writing ideas and inspiration I’ve ever picked up.  Part unique dice rolling, random decision making, and part absolutely detailed imagery, these books give any aspiring author a lightning fast way to build stories for any reader and I think that is an invaluable tool for hobbyists of any kind.  Still don’t feel like you can relate to something so seemingly out of your league?  Here is a small list of celebrities who are in the D and D scene:  Joe Manganiello (has his own line of dice and related merch), Patton Oswalt, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Vin Diesel, Anderson Cooper, Napoleon Dynamite himself- Jon Heder, James Franco, former 2020 presidential candidate- Andrew Yang, Mike Myers, Robin Williams (who was such a nerd that he named his daughter after a video game princess), the absolutely animated Terry Crews, many musicians and others (I only named the ones I verifiably know), but my favorite of all has to be Stephen Colbert.  He wears his love for Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons on his sleeve and the child-like sparkle in his eyes when he brings up these topics makes my lips start to turn up like when The Grinch’s heart grew 3 sizes that day.  Own what you love (keep it legal), share it with the world, and let others do the same.  

“Being a nerd is not about what you love, it’s about how you love it” -Wil Wheaton

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