Pants. Pump. Music.

This was the final list of things to be packed into our pack mule, a blue Subaru. We left Christy's home yesterday after spending a few wonderful days in Dillwyn. While staying at the Ottinger homestead, we spent a lot of time selling whatever we could at a two day long yard sale ("Many items. Good bargains."). After each morning of highly-lucrative transactions, we worked together painting the trim at a fixer-upper rental house, a project of Christy's dad. Two solid days of packing later, we were ready to hit the road. 

Our misinformed little GPS unit eventually led us to San Ysidro Farm outside of Fredericksburg, VA. Driving eastward from Fredericksburg, the sprawling commercial wasteland of the I-95 area quickly changed to rolling hills and a patchwork of neighborhoods and farms. We found the farm at the end of a long gravel driveway. Upon arriving, we met Michael Green, who runs the show at San Ysidro. Mike gave us a tour of the farm, showing us the four chickens in the backyard, the three friendly dogs (Oberon, Rodeo, and Nima), two cows, two horses (Romeo and Uh-oh), and the vegetable garden (about one acre). After learning about San Ysidro's one-year-old CSA, which is preparing to cultivate fall crops for its thirty shareholders, we walked back to the farmhouse and began to set up out campsite. 

Before long, Michael, a concerned expression on his face, informed us that the black mutt puppy, Nima, had run away for longer than usual.We continued to set up our tent and collect firewood until the orange sun dropped beneath the horizon. In the darkening twilight, we lit a campfire and ate Manchego cheese and apples. Michael occasionally dropped by the campsite to chat, appearing more concerned for the lost puppy each time. Eventually he ventured into the woods with a flashlight, thinking that Nima might be lost of stuck somewhere in the darkness. He returned empty-handed. Michael continued his search by taking his white pickup down the gravel driveway. Some time later he returned. "We've got a dog," he called to us, as a happy Nima jumped out of the passenger seat. It turned out that Michael's friend, who is also camping at the farm, had decided to take the puppy along for a ride while he ran some errands. We were relieved that the dramatic night ended happily, and went to bed.

This morning, we ventured out to the garden to begin some work. Michael was busy at his second job, which he took in order to "pay the bills", so we had the farm to ourselves. Following Michael's instructions from the previous day, we made shallow furrows in a pair of freshly-tilled beds and planted smooth kale, spinach, and three varieties of lettuce. After watering the seeds thoroughly, we harvested some green beans and bell peppers for lunch. Our work in the garden done, we ate lunch and hopped in the car to explore Fredericksburg. Our confused GPS failed to show us to the downtown area, so we found it by ourselves. We are now sitting in a coffee shop in the historic downtown area and deciding what to do tonight. An open mic downtown sounds promising...