The latest issue of Muse introduced us to the Gozas — a family that calls the entire United States its home. Kimberly (mom), Dennis (dad) and Zephyr (teenage son) travel the continent in their RV, rarely staying put for more than two days. What’s it like? We can ask them. They’ve promised to stop by this thread and answer our questions. So let the questions begin.
Patience, Please
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Cool! I liked that article. It seems like it would be really fun to live in an RV, though a hard transition.
I know it’s probably really hard to choose, but what was your favorite place?
Funkalicious! Ooh yeah, PP, good question! How do you keep yourself occupied during all that driving? I can barely take a twelve hour car ride to my Grandma’s! Then again, I have evil devil spawn younger sisters…. Did I mention they’re twins? Ughhh. *shivers*
I really liked that article. Whereas I don’t think I could live like that, I think it rocks on ICE that people do that.
why did you what to learn Japanese? how is that going?
oh, and does Zephyr read muse? others in our family read muse?
How do you prevent getting carsick? Or you all just really resistant to it?
Carsickness and boredom are fortunately not compatible for me. I’m either reading and carsick, or feeling fine and bored to DEATH.
5) Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. True. That usually is the case. But I suppose that if you’re in a car your whole life, you get used to it. Right?
Question: What’s your favorite type of cheese?
This is Dennis responding. It would be very, very difficult to pick our favorite place in the country, because there are so many places we like. Myself, I still love San Francisco (where we started from 15 years ago) and I’m also very fond of Seattle and the whole West Coast. And of course there’s Orlando, where Disney World is! But every part of the country has something unique and worthwhile to offer.
My favorite type of cheese? Another tough one, because I’m a turophile (cheese fanatic) from way back. Many years ago, I actually belonged to a “Cheese of the Month Club” (or whatever it was called), and received exotic cheeses from all over the world through the mail. I guess my favorites are sap sago, gjetost and scamorza. I’m also the only person I know who actually likes limburger!
Sorry to say, we’d never read Muse before they contacted us. But now that we’ve discovered it, we love it!
We’ve never had a problem with carsickness. Thank heavens! On long drives we might read or listen to music or use our laptops. When I drive, I often listen to audiobooks.
We learned Japanese to go to Japan. (Well actually, Zephyr learned it long before that, because he loved manga.) We went over there about a year ago for two weeks, living with a Japanese family we know. We LOVED it!
1) Purple Panda,
It IS fun living in an RV. Every day is different.
I have many favorite places. Guess that’s one reason I keep moving! I can’t decide which one is my favorite. I like being able to enjoy each place during the mild weather. We get to escape most (but not all) of the extreme weather conditions which make driving conditions miserable.
I’ve been listening to your podcasts (in random order). Great job! It is very informative and well researched – not to mention fun! Kudos to Taiwan Hippo Phan too. Keep it up!
~KG
2) 12 hours in a vehicle is a loooonng drive indeed! We tend to keep it down to about 2 hours a day. I do 95% of the driving and I say that 4 hours is enough! Every now and then we have to do a mad cross country dash. In which case Dennis and I switch off driving duties. It is a bit easier in an RV – more leg room. And you are home with all of your stuff around.
We can plug in our lap tops, play instruments, listen to CD’s (and podcasts), rehearse our lines, sew, talk on the phone, discuss politics and current events, eat, watch DVD’s, write, read and do a ton of other stuff while we drive.
Aaaaarrrghh! Right matey! The parrot on my shoulder just reminded me it is Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yar!
Purple Panda,
Favorite place…good question. I tend to like places that are close to the ocean. If I had to list my favorite places, they would probably include Salem (in Massachusetts), Las Vegas, Orlando, Winston-Salem (in North Carolina, where my band is), San Francisco/Bay Area, and basically any place that’s on a coast. I also really like Japan, and any place with a really good haunted house/hayride/attraction or two.
-Zephyr
5) Try books on tape and CD so you can look out the window while the car is in motion and keep from getting bored!
6) Gjetost all the way, matey! Aaaarghh!
Much obliged, me buckos. Welcome aboard! Yarrr.
Jugglebug,
You’d think it would be really hard to keep ourselves entertained, but keep in mind that this isn’t quite the same thing as a car ride. When you live in an RV, you have all of your possessions there with you.
On long drives, I listen to or play music. Also, we have an inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter, so we can use our laptops on the road.
-Zephyr
kiwimuncher,
CHEDDAR! Really really really extra-sharp cheddar. As in sharp enough to make your tongue bleed.
-Zephyr
Ooh! This is very exciting! *Is happy* Yaaaaaaaar!
Do you have to do state standardized tests? (I’m guessing not. How lucky you are! However, this was one of the questions I was wondering as I read the article…)
I’ve been to Salem!
(16) purplefinch, Salem happens to be where I went to college. Yes, I went to school in a tourist attraction. It’s not far from where I live now.
I loved the article!
I live in a vety small house (500 sq. ft. one room) and sometimes it just gets to be too much on top of each other, so I just go outside. How do you deal with that when you’re constanly moving?
Is it hard not to be able to just go for a walk any time you want?
You talk about using your laptops on the road, but can you use the internet when you’re moving, or do you need to stop at, say, a local library for that?
What kind of music does Zephyr’s band play? And what instrument does he/you play?
Will you keep reading Muse, and/or coming onto MuseBlog?
What kind of plays do you put on with Act!vated Storytellers? (Great name!)
Thanks! Again, I really enjoyed the article. Good luck on your travels.
When I saw the article I laughed out loud. Not because I think living in an RV is funny but because when I was six or so my choir started a newsletter and they randomly selected me to be interviewed for it. When they asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said I wanted to be the boss of my family (I must have had to do chores that day) and live in a trailer! Of course, everyone thought I wanted to live in a trailer park, but I meant an RV. I thought that moving around everywhere with my house would be the best thing ever, and I still think it’s pretty fascinating, but I never heard of anyone actually doing it until I read the Muse article.
Zephyr ~ My area has a pretty popular hayride and haunted house thing every fall. It’s very fun and they do a really good job with it (although I didn’t find it all that scary, I had a great time).
Are you guys very limited as to where you can stay based on the availability of places to hook up your RV? Do you ever visit New York City? (I’m guessing that you’d have to leave the RV somewhere and then take a smaller car in but correct me if I’m wrong.)
How do you carry books around with you? do you each have a few personal favorites and then use libraries/bookstores?
Sort of repeating what Margaret said, when you go to a city do you have a smaller car that is towed behind you or do you rent a car when you’re in a city?
Do you like anywhere in the midwest?
do you have a T.V.?
I think that might be a yes, but I’m not sure…
What is the longest time you’ve ever stayed in one place? Where was it?
Talk like a pirate day. Completely missed it.
Yarrrgh!
I don’t travel much and havn’t really been out of the New England States. I lived in North Carolina for a while but all I remember is that the house was blue.
Could you send us some of your music?
*throws welcome pies*
If suddenly there was a law against full-time RVers, what would you do to evade it?
Zephyr, do you think when you grow up you will be a full-timer?
How do you pay taxes, or do you not have to?
How do you ensure you are recieving a rigorous and complete education? I only mention this because I am a homeschooler too, and it takes us close to eight hours each day for school.
I am too much like feather. It would be hard to garden on the road, as Feather even mentioned in this issue!
Red-tailed HAWK
Gozas: THF and I are glad you like the podcasts!
Have you ever been to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania? That’s where we live.
Do you usually stay in the United States, or have you travelled to Canada and South America as well?
How can we get you to come to local places?
How do you decide where to travel next? I can’t remember if it said in the article, but I think that if I were to travel full time, I would end up stopping at every little town along the way.
Avast ye swabs! Tis talk like a pirate day, in case yo0u haven’t guessed yet……………
7) Arrrrrrrrr! That there cheesy club sounds mighty tasty!
25) Well, you could bring potted plants with you.
Question: What kind of tires does you home have?
Do you ever have any trouble putting on plays with only three people? What do you do? Recruit locals/
If so, please come HERE! *local wants to be recruited very badly indeed*
11- Oh yes! I do that occasionally.
25- Rigorous and complete, pshaw! Of course, it may have prevented the embarrassment of being in Pre-Algebra in Freshman year if I had had a more rigorous and complete education.
27- Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
I’m trying to think of a plan that doesn’t involve sending HPB-messengers.
I’m an unschooler, pretty much. Hey, Alice don’t worry, I’ve pretty much decided to repeat Freshman year, so there you go.
Another question:
What kind of place do you usually perform when you are in town? Librarys? *is hopeful*
Ah, woops. Yarr. Forgot to put ‘Yarr’ at the end of each sentence on my other posts. Yarr. I annoyed the heck out of my classmates by just saying ‘yarr’ nonstop. Yarr.
I found your website!
Aw, darn. There isn’t a show near me till May.
Hey, i don’t have any questions, but i’d just like to say the article was sweet, and you guys are awesome, and if i have another week like this one i’ll probably be running after you screaming “WAIT! WAIT FOR ME!!!” but my uninteresting personal life aside.
Also i think you should all join the blog, because you’re very muserish, and we’re pretty spiffy too, if we do say so ourselves (which we don’t actually, i’m basically saying it myself for everybody. but trust me, everybody’s spiffy. even me, if i do say so myself, which i do)
And i’m a liar, i do have a question. Zephyr, you have a rockin’ name, and how much sleep do you generally get? More than the average, boring, non-RVing teen, or less? just curious.
and on the subject, i’m going to go to bed ridiculously early now. not that it will make any difference, because we have a game tomorrow instead of friday, because of yom kippur. So i get to stay up late then anyway, and lose what little sleep i’ll gain tonight. Aaah, life. Also, i have a new slogan for honors chem. HONORS CHEM-Just shoot me in the face please, it takes less time, and you still end up dead.
and off the subject, i think i’ve deteriorated into randomness, but i don’t really feel like moving all that to the random thread. but if the GAPAs feel some weird need for order and want to move it, the
hot-pink bunniesinnocent, unpossessed MBer approves. (It’s true actually, i’m not possessed. Just corrupt. They bribed me with choklit. Hot pink choklit. What could i do?)and somewhere in the middle of the subject, the opinion page is so screwed. the deadline is thursday at 8. also, i’m personally screwed because i need a pic of mr. blosser and i don’t know if he’ll even be at school tomorrow. eep.
and without further ado (but plenty further adon’t), i’m off to sleeeeep. night all
How does traveling affect you, timewise? Isn’t it wierd to go from one time zone t the next a lot? Do you have different watches for each time zone?
The article was really interesting, I liked the White’s better. I always wanted an RV, but just in my huge backyard so I can just go in and chill sometimes. I’d be nice to be able to just sit and have the stove cooking Ramen right accross from you. Like a hi-tech treehouse thingy. Yeah.
Whoops, forgot something. Can y’all tell me how to get the podcast? Sorry, no links, just a google keyword or something.
It’s soo cool to have someone in Muse here. (Don’t worry Kiki, GAPA’s, Nak, and ebbryburdie elz, I haven’t forgotten bout you!)
Oh no! You’re not even coming to my state in the next year. *cries.*
Oh well…
What was your favorite show you’ve ever performed?
35- Wow. That was . . . off-topic.
17-Really? Wow! I must admit, we went to the touristy places… A couple witch museums. And the pirate museum.
(AArrrrrrrr) And then my brother whacked his head on some sign, or thing on a street lamp, just as we were passing next to the dunkin doughnuts by the house where the guy was buried under the foundations (?), as we were going to the parking lot. (Run-on sentence alert!) I have a relation (the one who gives me my muse subscription every year, actually) somewhere near Salem, though, so the next time we come up to visit, maybe…
35-I second/third that you should join the blog. Because you’re cool. And nobody can resist hot pink chocolate.
35, 40- I also think that you should join th blog.
15 (Zephyr)-Sounds intense. I personally prefer a good pepper jack, but that’s just me.
Do you ever make any close friends, and, if so, what’s your main method of staying in touch?
WOW! A lot of great comments and questions to address, and I hope between the three of us we can cover them all. Sorry we didn’t respond earlier, but our online time is somewhat limited. We do have to go to a library or Internet cafe to get online. Generally we use Panera, because they have outlets all over the country, not a bad atmosphere, they’re very customer-friendly and don’t mind us hanging out all day with our laptops, and the food is not bad either. Kimberly and I are at one now, in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Zephyr is visiting some friends here.
Zephyr plays electric guitar and electric bass guitar; I play keyboard and flute. We both write music, although his is rock and mine is folk, classical and experimental.
We do not always stay at a campground; in fact, most of the time, we don’t. After a long drive, we might just pull over for the night at a rest stop, truck stop or shopping center parking lot. Over the years, we’ve become very good at maintaining our personal “space” while being at close quarters. When we want to be alone, we go for a walk, go to a movie, take a bike ride, go sit in a bookstore, whatever. We have no other vehicle, but we each have a bike for added mobility. We’ve only performed in New York City twice, both times in Queens. But we visit the city every now and then, generally by train. We’ve traveled to Canada a couple of times and Mexico once (I’ve already mentioned Japan, but I didn’t mention we performed there.) This past summer, we performed in Pittsburgh for the first time.
The midwest? We do like Chicago and St. Louis, among other places.
This past April, we spent the whole month in the Chicago area, which is just about the longest we ever stay anywhere — and of course Chicagoland is very big. Normally, we’re gone in 2 or 3 days at most.
We go wherever the work is, although there is a method to our madness. We start a new show in the summer, performing at libraries in the South, Midwest, and on the East Coast. Then in fall, we do schools in the Northeast until winter and then head to Florida for a month or two, then work our way out West, finishing the school year on the West Coast. Yes, it can be difficult to adjust to time zone changes. It’s especially hard when you’ve been on the West Coast long enough to get used to it, then have to make your way across country in a short time. You lose 3 hours, and if you’re doing an 8:00 a.m. show in New Jersey, it feels like 5:00 if your head is still in California. Ouch!
With just 3 performers, then of course we each have to play many parts, but we do usually recruit eager volunteers to help us out a bit. I think my favorite show we’ve done is the one we did last year: the Japanese story “Following the Buzz” (aka “The Bee and the Dream”) and the Polish story “The Dragon of Krakow”. But what we’re doing this year is perhaps a close second.
Our RV has mostly Goodyear tires, 6 total — the rear has two on each side. The size is LT225/75R16.
Oh yes, our website. We’re disappointed it was omitted from the article, which we thought was otherwise excellent. It’s http://www.activated-storytellers.com.
DG
16) Standard Tests are only required in public school. Private schools and homeschoolers don’t have to do them.
45- only because you move around. in iowa you do have to, nomatter what.
18) Midnight Fiddler,
Cramped Quarters: We stop often and get out of the RV quite a bit. We like to say bookstores are our living rooms; cafes are our offices; YMCA’s are our gyms. We really live in America and are not confined to a tiny RV. We go for walks and bike rides whenever we want. Though we do usually stick together (or at least head the same way and meet up so we don’t get lost). The cool thing is we get to see new things every time we bike/walk. And there are times that we all like to just stay home and do our thing.
Laptops: It is possible to use the internet as you are moving with a card from Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. We don’t do that, but lots of families who travel fulltime do. So we stop at cafes and libraries instead. Works for us. Technology amazes me. I have a PDA with a WiFi chip and I get the web on my cell phone.
Z’s Band: He is at a friends right now. I think they are making a movie. He’ll try to get on later today or tomorrow night to answer questions. Me? I play the radio – mostly iTunes.
Keep Reading Muse: YES!! So happy to have found it. I am learning a lot by reading it. And we’ll come to the Blog as long as you will have us.
A!S: We perform classics (Shakespeare this year) and multicultural folktales. But we don’t just tell stories we act it out and use physical comedy, slapstick, music, dance, I even go through a tennis racket in the splits, and we include American Sign Language. So lots of action!
Thanks for the questions.
19) Margaret, Great minds think alike!
One of the reasons we have a tiny RV is so we are not limited in where we can go. We often have to get to shows in places that can not accommodate a large vehicle – like downtown Seattle, Washington D.C. (performed a few blocks from the White House) and rural locations like Eureka Springs, Arkansas. If we work in NYC we take the RV – sometimes we have to find a place to park the trailer we tow behind us to make us more compact. But if we are visiting NYC we take the subway or train and then we walk or ride our bikes to see the sites when we get there.
Does it ever get tiring to always have different scenery/people/etc.? Or do you get used to it after a while?
Does it ever get hard to stay in peaking lots where there isn’t much from the natural world?
Do you stop when you start to get on each other’s nerves so you can get some space, or do you have to keep going?
Hope that’s not too many questions…..
I agree that it would be neat to have you keep coming on the blog, it would be interesting to hear about all your travels!
20) oxlin
Books: Who can live without books?!! Not us! Once we went to storage (ours is in Reno, NV) and pulled out all of our books to see how many we had. Would you believe 200?!!! We do try to limit the number we keep with us. Often we’ll begin reading a book at a library in one town and finish it on down the road at another location. If we do buy them we get them used and pass them along to book sales at libraries.
Z loves the series of Unfortunate Events and has read the whole thing out loud to us, after reading it to himself. We all love Harry Potter of course! Books fit just about anywhere. We have one couch cushion that lifts up and Dennis has an entire library in there (and who knows what else!). Scary! Don’t ask.
Toad Car: Our RV fits most anywhere and it is pretty easy to get around most cities. But we like to save gas. So we will park it and pull out the bikes to run errands and do our sight seeing.
We tow a trailer (think box on 2 wheels) loaded with our props, costumes and set for the stage shows, bikes and other stuff. So, no we don’t tow a car. (Towed Car/Toad Car – get it?)
Midwest: We love Hannibal, Missouri. We especially love to spend the Fourth of July there painting fences in the Mark Twain Day contests. St. Louis; Chicago; Kansas City (Z likes Worlds of Fun); and Wisconsin Dells is the best! I am sure there are more places – those are just off the top of my head.
22. Midnight Fiddler
Longest in one place:
What comes to mind is last Halloween we ended up babysitting a Haunted Attraction in San Jose, California after Zephyr worked there. They asked us to stay while they tore it down. So we were there off and on for about a month (we came and went a bit because we had shows to do). Zephyr helped tear it down. One night we each armed ourselves with a flashlight and played hide-n-scare. That was fun!
21) the man for aeiou
T.V.: Actually, no we don’t. But we do have a DVD player, and we can rent movies. And we watch more TV than we care to at laundromats, mechanic stations and the YMCA.
So how has Zephyr met the people in his band?
I know Hannibal! My great-great-grandfather Coontz ran several businesses there and was mayor for a while. Nice town.
Do you stop at small towns too? *schemes how to get you to come to snipsburg*
24. Kiki the Great
Law against RVers: I would move on to my bike. I am already dreaming about traveling the world that way.
Ooh, you’re in PA right now! (Or at least, when Dennis posted). But you’re not doing any performances here. Oh well.
Next time you come to Pittsburgh, let us know! There are 3 MuseBloggers who live here/near here (Purple Panda and Taiwan Hippo Fan in the city, Yesterday’s Kinked Moose close by)
Zephyr – How do you practice with your band? Do you tie your friends to the roof and take them with you?
What types of things do you have in your RV? The Muse article discussed a little bit, but not a lot. Apparantly you have a couch/Zephyr’s under-cushion-storage, but what else do you have?
25) Red-tailed HAWK,
Taxes: We follow the tax code in our “home” state – California. That is where we have a mailing address, get out license, and file as homeschoolers.
Homeschool: We all consider ourselves homeschoolers even though Dennis and I are not required to go to school. We never stop learning. Right now I am teaching myself another computer language so I can improve the web sites I run. We don’t divvy up our time into “now I am going to learn”/ “now I am not”. It is just something that we do all the time when we are pursuing what interests us.
Gardening: I have managed to have a plant or two in the past. We usually would pick up a shamrock around St. Patrick’s Day every year. But guess I am not much of a gardener. I prefer to admire and marvel at the plant life that others tend to or that grow naturally in the wild.
26. PP
Pittsburgh: Performed at the libraries there this summer. Bummed you missed us. After the shows, Dennis and I rode our bikes from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. on the trail. Zephyr had to go to N.C. to work with his band and we had a week off to play. We are in Pennsylvania now! – Other side of the state though
USA: Mostly. We want to travel internationally more. But so far just a couple of quick jaunts over the borders and the trip to Japan.
27) Midnight Fiddler
There is a flier on our web site that you can print out and share with your school, local library, hs group or theatre. http://www.activated-storytellers.com/documents/QQ.pdf or send them to our web site http://www.activated-storytellers.com – lots of information about our shows and tour schedule there. Then just put on your puppy dog face…
How can we get you to perform locally? I might be able to convince our librarian, if I knew how…
Oh, whoops, didn’t see that last comment…. Okay! I’ll see if I can convince the librarian. *starts practising the puppy dog face*
28. Vendaval
Where we go is mostly determined by where we sell shows and what is on the path in between. See Dennis’ #44
30. Alice
Dennis writes the plays just for us. And yes! You are on. We do supplement the cast with guest stars. We have 8-12 parts for kids to perform. We get to the show early and have a pre-show rehearsal that lasts a half-hour. At schools the teachers pick the kids, but a libraries and public shows it’s first-come, first-serve. At this time of year we are doing mostly school shows. But come summer it’s all libraries. Our schedule is online at http://www.activated-storytellers.com/schedule.html. We keep it updated daily.
32) Libraries! Yes, lots of libraries. Typically over 60 every summer from Arkansas to Massachusetts and just about every state in between. Then throughout the rest of the year sprinkled here and there. April is library week so we are doing a chunk of them in the SF Bay area. One next month in New Jersey, and one in Miami in January. But during the school year we primarily do shows at schools.
About how much does it cost to have you come?
59 (Kimberly) – No! I missed you! We were probably in Michigan, where we go for the summer, and I didn’t even know about you then!
I still probably would have come and seen you, though, if I knew about it. But if you ever come again, let us know!
How was the D.C. Trail? My family has been meaning to do that – my dad is an avid biker and bikes to and from work every day (about 14 miles). We were considering doing the bike trip this summer, but we never found a good time to do it. Maybe next summer!
You know ASL? I’ve always wanted to learn – THF (Taiwan Hippo Fan, my sister) and I tried to teach ourselves a few years ago, but never really figured it out.
You have a link to MuseBlog on your website? Cool!!!
How was the Hershey School? THF and I are writing an article about it, but we’ve never been there. What was it like?
I also really like your podcasts – they’re great!
Ooo… have you ever been to South Carolina, around the Charleston area? That’s where I reside. Charleston itself is a fascinating place, but not many people come, it seems to me.
Hmmmm…. This is very interesting.
Have you ever been to the southish westish (OKC?)
Oklahoma city is much larger than people think.
Okay, so I lucked out by ending up with my laptop at an airport with wi-fi. I’m currently flying out to practice with my band, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to try and answer all the questions about said band in one post.
The name of the band is A Simple Disaster. We are a punk rock band, and I play guitar and lead vocals. As a matter of fact, the reason I am at an airport in the first place is because I am on the way out there so we can practice, which brings up the answer to another question.
I fly out frequently to practice with the band, or to record. We rarely make trips *just* for practicing, so we rarely practice all together, but we really don’t need to practice that much. We all pretty much know what’s going on, because we exchange tablature for all our songs (tablature or “tabs” is like guitar music but written in a way that people like me, who are too lazy to learn to actually read music, can understand) and talk on the phone almost every night.
36. Lime
Time Zones: We try to adjust immediately. You only loose an hour ar a time when driving, so not quite as bad as flying. What is really strange is places that straddle the time zone – like one we did in Indiana and another in Bullhead City, AZ. We had to stay in one time and work in another. The people who live there do it all the time. I don’t know how they keep it straight! I have 3 time zones on my PDA. The one we are in, another US, and Japan (so I can think about our friends there and wonder what they are up to). The part I hate is being on the West Coast and getting calls from clients at 6, because it is 9 in their time zone.
37-38) I am going to assume you mean the White’s RV and not take it personally *sniff, sniff*
I’m not sure which podcast you are seeking. Our podcast is at http://activated.libsyn.com ooops! you didn’t want the link. OK search for “Activated Stories”. I found the Muse one here on the blog pages.
(66) The bike trail from Pittsubrgh to DC was FABULOUS!!! It’s actually two trails that connect. And It’s a paved path all the way — you don’t have to get on the road at all. And even though it’s hilly terrain, the path itself is pretty flat, as it runs along the river. It’s all wooded and isolated, and some of it is beautiful country. It was a total of about 375 miles, and Kimberly and I split it between us — one of us would bike while the other drove the RV to the rendezvous point. (Zephyr was in North Carolina, but he’s not an enthusiastic biker anyway) We averaged about 50 miles a day, though I did 65 one day. Nothing like it in the world!
But the West Coast makes up for it completely, of course!
I don’t know why East-Coasters find it so hard to adjust. Of course, I’ve never been out of my own dear time zone, so I wouldn’t know.
39) PP
Favorite Show: Tough call. I like doing the classics. Like Shakespeare and Don Quixote but they are a lot of work so guess i won’t call them my favorites. Ummmm….. I like when we did MuLan. We sang the whole story so it was like a mini-opera and there was a fight scene in it. So we got to do some tricks with bamboo sticks. Oh and the scene where I cut my hair on stage was fun! In the story MuLan disguises herself as a boy. No, I didn’t *really* cut my hair. But it was fun making the audience think I did.
(66) We were very. very impressed by Hershey School.
When we walked in, and learned that it was a boarding school, and saw how luxurious it looked, we assumed that it was a school for rich kids. We were REALLY impressed when we learned that it’s just the opposite–the students come from underpriveleged backgrounds, and that was in fact Milton Hershey’s vision when he founded the place.
The auditorium we performed in had a capacity of 2600, and the stage was so big we closed the curtain and just performed on the front of it — while Zephyr rode around on his tricycle backstage. (This was in 1992.)
41 & 17) Salem: We’ll be there for Halloween. Bringing along one of Zephyr’s friends. We had fun scaring everyone there a couple of years ago and are looking forward to going back.
The ghost tours are fun. That goes for any town that offers them. Interesting way to learn history even if you don’t believe in the ghost part.
Pass the hot pink chocolate. We’ll be here until you all get tired of us.
46) You are probably right about that. Sorry, I didn’t take the time to fully research it for each state. We follow the homeschooling laws in California. If we lived in another state for 3 months then we have to follow those laws.
I am trying to answer these in order. But pardon me for jumping out of order for a minute:
69) Sending ((((hugs)))) to Zephyr, currently in Kentucky. Have fun on your trip! See you when you are 17 (he comes back on his birthday.
(67) We have been to South Carolina, including Charelston. Especially enjoy Myrtle Beach.
(76) Actually, I misconstrued the earlier post since my eye caught Winston-Salem. That’s the Salem of my experience. There’s some kind of poetic justice in the error, however, as I’ve had to make the opposite correction so many times when people asked me about going to school with witches. (Well, it is a woman’s college, after all.)
68) We’ve performed for the Oklahama City Library system many times — including the main library, Warr Acres, Bethany, Belle Isle, and others I can’t remember. But it’s been a few years since we wer there. Maybe someone should nudge them to have us back. (Hint, hint.)
There weren’t any witches in Massachusetts. There were just poor, persecuted ordinary people.
Sorry — that’s a pet peeve of mine. But there were probably more witches at your school than there were at the witch trials. (I know we’ve got a few wannabes at Muse Academy.)
71) Actually, I don’t think the Whites have an RV anymore — although they did when we met them a couple of years ago. In any case, most RV’ers are just doing it either part time or temporarily. Don’t mean to boast, but there are very few families out there who’ve been at it fulltime for anywhere near as long as we have. (And we were doing it before it became cool — and relatively easy!)
81) You’re quite right. We always knew the “withces” were innocent, but we REALLY had our eyes opened when we first visited Salem a few years ago. The irony is that even though there were no witches in Salem at the time of the trials (which actually didn’t occur in Salem, by the way, but a few miles up the road), the history of that whole shameful episode has made the town a haven for real withces, pagans, wiccans, whatever they choose to call themselves. And contrary to folklore, they are well-intentioned people, and have nothing to do with “devil worship”.
49. Midnight Fiddler
Not too many questions.
No, new scenery doesn’t get tiring, it’s sort of like having a big over-sized TV to look at. And if it did we could just sit in the motorhome and shut the curtains. But then I would probably start reading about a new place to go and be ready for another adventure. We do come back to many of the places we’ve been over and over throughout the years. And it’s like coming home to each one. We are on our way to Niagara Falls now. Zephyr will fly up there to meet us when he is done rehearsing with the band. We have been there 4 times in the past, Z was 2 the first time. We are all looking forward to going again.
Parking lots: We like nature as much as we like the modern conveniences. It’s nice to have both in this world.
I don’t think we get on each others nerves. We are almost always together but we are each doing our own thing. We each have our talents and make our own contributions towards keeping the show on the road. We all depend on each other and get along well. Not to say that we don’t have our moments just like any family. If I need space and can’t take a bike ride, I put on my headphones and listen to my music.
55) Lots and lots of small towns
57) We have a loft bed above the driver’s seat. That’s where Dennis and I sleep. A couch/bed for Zephyr. A dinette that folds into a bed – the “guest room”. One of Z’s friends will be touring with us for a October and will be sleeping there. A kitchen with a microwave, sink, stove, cupboards and fridge. Bathroom and closet. Under the dinette cushion is where Dennis stashes his books. There is a tank to hold water under Z’s couch/bed. We each have a small cupboard to put our things, the rest goes in tubs in the trailer.
65) Booking information including prices on our web site http://www.activated-storytellers.com/bookinginformation.html
66) ASL is fun and easy to learn. Check the 419 section at your library for books. The library will most likely carry videos also. You can google for web sites with ASL videos too. I started learning with books then found a class. I like “The Joy of Signing” best. Zephyr learned to sign when he was a baby before he could talk. Practice the alphabet by spelling words as you see them on signs. You can do this anywhere as you are walking along or riding in the car.
79) We know what school you are talking about, now. There are many Salem’s throughout the US. We like Old Towne in Winston-Salem, it is a living history street. What a neat place for a school. Z has friends that go to the high school portion of that school. We will be in Salem, MA for Halloween and in Winston-Salem, NC around Thanksgiving.
76) Yes! The ghost tours in Gettysburg and St. Augustine were really fun too.
(81) Oh, I know, I just meant that people routinely confuse the towns. Just like when they hear the town was founded by Moravians, they’ll ask, “so what do Mormons believe, anyway?”
By coincidence, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival is currently running a production of the Crucible.
Salem College turned out to be an odd choice for me, though I liked having an ancestral connection and performing in the Christmas production at the Brothers’ House. Best of all, I enjoyed walking around the village and the two old cemeteries that run alongside the college and the academy.
Didn’t know any wiccans in college, by the way. Most of the students were far too preppie for that. The rest of us were just assorted oddballs without any coherent trademark.
my question is sad and lonely without its answer
post 35, you don’t have to read it all, it’s in the second (?) paragraph. ish. 
[Try third. –Admin.]
87- Don’t remind me. I( need $250 ASAP if I want to get into a trip to a Shakespeare festival before it’s all filled up. *panics* And $30 for The Importance of Being Earnest in October.
Why is money such a big deal? But it is.
This had nothing to do with the topic of the thread, so I’ll leave now and go panic elsewhere.
Gozas–Oh, ya’ll should definitely make a summer stop in MI!!! Because then, PP and THF will be there, and I’m sure Ebeth can come up from Ohio, and I live there, and I think another MBer does, too…yeah, that would be so cool!!!
Zephyr–Hey, I like your bands music! It’s pretty sweet…(MBers, you can find them on MySpace)…and the comment before “Bittersweet Revenge” about peeing is hilarious.
85 (Kimberly) – Yes, we own the Joy of Signing, and that’s what we were trying to learn from. We’ll probably start trying again next semester – this semester is so insanely busy…
ooh, we could have a goza kokonvention! that would be spiffy. also, MI is sweet.
I really enjoyed the article. I got my muse yesterday and was really happy to see the article. Have you ever visited Canada? if so, where?
I liked the article a lot, so now I’m wondering, what are concerts like? I mean, like what kind of places do you perform at? For what kind of people? I hope no-one’s asked this question yet.
17- Ooh, cool, I went there for hockey once…
…Just scrolled down to the bottom to write that and found the topic still going 100 posts later. Haha…
So, what kind of music do you all listen too?(Nevermind, found the answer somewhere up there.) Do you use the radio and all listen to the same stuff, or do you each have an mp3 player/ipod/cd player that you use so everyone can listen to what they want?You were in chicago in April? Cool. Have you ever been to the Taste, in July?
Hey, according to the webite you are very close to me now! I can’t say where I live… o well
We’re leaving it to Zephyr to answer the questions about him, and he’s in North Carolina with his band now. But hopefully he’ll get online soon.
93) We’ve visited Canada twice. First to Windsor, Ontario. Then Vancouver and Vancouver Island. We went skiing for the first time at Mt. Washington. We think Canada’s wonderful, and we look forward to returning.
I also went to Toronto a couple of times many years ago before I met Kimberly. My sister married a Canadian, and she was living there at the time.
94) We perform mostly at schools, libraries and museums. Sometimes we even do real theatres! Our largest audience was 2300 and our smallest was 5. We try to appeal to all ages. Sometimes senior citizens will come see us (with or without kids) and laugh as hard as anyone. We also hold the attention of little ones in strollers.
95) We’re generally in Chicago in spring, although we’ve also been there a few times in Nov. But never in summer so far.
Do you have a bobble head on the dashboard of your RV? It seems that every other RV I’ve seen has some kind of annoying bobble head that’s ALWAYS there. So, when the car moves, the bobble head jiggles up and down. There was one RV I saw that had this really scary duck on theirs. It was freaky, but funny at the same time.
Have you ever adopted any strange and abnormal pets that were small and easy for traveling? My sister brings in these kinds of pets often. Last year we had a pet caterpillar called Harry. This year, my sister brought in a snail for a science project. The plan was to let it go, but my sister is prolonging it for as long as possible. She has made the snail it’s own little habitat and called it Mary. Actualy, it’s kind of cute, but I’m not about to let it crawl on me like my sister does!
95) Both. We listen together and we each have headphones. I like to listen while I work on my computer. We also listen while working out. Once listening while driving lead to leaving Zephyr behind at a rest stop. Oooooops! Story here: http://www.activated-storytellers.com/travel/Typical/May07.html (scroll down to the 28th, accompanying podcast too)
Yep. Chicago in April. What’s Taste? Educate us please.
96) We (meaning Dennis and I) are in Geneseo, NY today – heading to Buffalo and Niagara Falls area this week.
101) dear kiwimuncher
I just bought kiwis yesterday. Hope you don’t mind if I munch them! Yummy!
No, we don’t have a bobble head. I think it would drive me nuts to see it bobbing it’s head up and down all day long. And I would end up feeling sorry for it. We do have a bunch of stuffies! Little ones hang on our cupboards. A few live in a basket up on our loft bed. And sometimes we cast them in shows to play small parts – like a cute cuddly teddy once played a mean ole grizzly bear!
Funny about Harry! We used to have sea monkeys. We strapped them to the dash with a bungee cord and amazingly they never spilled. In fact they did quite well and were happy until… well the weather got too cold and they froze. We replaced that batch and then well…. the weather got to hot and they kind of boiled. We decided we were cruel to be sea monkey guardians any more. But it was fun while it lasted. Sea Monkeys are pretty hardy, I suppose they could have been revived with a bit of TLC.
102- Haha. It makes a nice story to recount later, though I’m sure it was rather unpleasant at the time.
102-*educates*
Taste (or more formally, gustation) is a form of direct chemoreception and is one of the traditional five senses. It refers to the ability to detect the flavor of substances such as food and poisons. In humans and many other vertebrate animals the sense of taste partners with the less direct sense of smell, in the brain’s perception of flavor. Classical taste sensations include sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. More recently, psychophysicists and neuroscientists have suggested other taste categories (umami and fatty acid taste most prominently.)
Taste is a sensory function of the central nervous system. The receptor cells for taste in humans are found on the surface of the tongue, along the soft palate, and in the epithelium of the pharynx and epiglottis.
Alright, ya lost me.
Zephyr- You seem like the musical kind of fella. Any favorite particular artists? Songs? I happen to prefer Billy Joel, The Police, the Ramones, DAVID BOWIE!!!!!, Elton John, The Beatles, Aqua, Daft Punk… uhm. and like, 100000 bazillion others. hehe.
OOOOOOOO! I like Billy Joel, Elton John, and the Beatles! I also like the Beach Boys, Three Dog Night, Jimmy Buffet, Josh Groban, Peter, Paul and Mary, R.E.M, ABBA, Earth, Wind, and Fire, etc. etc. etc…………
Everyone seems to have excellent tastes in music. Might I also recommend Indigo Girls, They Might Be Giants, The Decemberists, Sarah Harmer, Jeff Hanson, The Pipettes, and Da Vinci’s Notebook.
TMBG is life
I have several friends who love the decemberists, but i’ve never really heard much of them. should check them out…hmm
we’re doing two earth wind and fire songs for our homecoming show in marching band-september and in the stone. in the stone especially sounds sweeet.
yeah, i’d like to hear musical preferences for kimberly and zephyr too
102- Ignore 105, Beavo is leading you astray with false promises of pudding.
The Taste of Chicago is a held on a weekend in July, and the good resturaunts each set up a booth and prepare small samples of their menu/different types of food. You buy tickets for about 7/$5, and each sample is 2 or 3 tickets. You go around tasting all the different kinds of food there is, there’s usually an article in the Tribune rating all the different booths and telling which ones are the best to hit. This year I had some really good ravioli and some great potato chips, a huge platefull that wasn’t oily at all and you could tell they made them by hand because it was just like a potato cut into a very thin spiral. It’s a great time to pick up new resturaunts and get some really great food.
There’s also a free concert in the evening, this year it was The Crows I think. We didn’t stay, but people were already lining up around noon to get seats.
110- Pudding means dessert.
I like the Indigo Girls! Yeah, there’s a lot more music than that. I am REALLY obsessed with Queen. Freddie Mercury is/was a genius
Hmmmmm. I was trying to think of several REALLY good modern bands. But there just aren’t that many. Bands just aren’t what they used to be.
I must confess. I am an oldies fan. Although, I do like Carrie Underwood.
Oops.
I think that we’re off topic.
No, we’re talking about music we like, which is basically a compare/contrast to Zephyr’s music taste, of which we know very little, so we’re just guessing.
see? not THAT random…
I had a dream last night that you came to my school. But I missed the performance, and I was mad. I love They Might Be Giants. And I’ve heard of the Decemberists, because else somebody said that I might like them, too.
And I really like the name Zephyr.
116) I agree. Zephyr, we all think that your name is AWESOME!
We’re back! Had a day or so without Internet access, which is one of the hazards of constant traveling although it really doesn’t happen that often. And Zephyr’s back — we picked him up last night (his 17th birthday) at the airport in Buffalo. So we’ll crack the whip and tell him to answer some of these questions.
118 ~ Happy birthday, Zephyr!
On the subject of music, have you guys heard of Girlyman, Eddie from Ohio, the Nields, or Moxy Fruvous? They’re some of my favourite groups but I never meet anyone who’s heard of them other than at concerts.
I’ve heard of Girlyman, and I’ve actually heard songs by Moxy Fruvous. They were hilarious!
119- Whoa! You’ve heard of Moxy Früvous too? and Dennis, you too? I like the song “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors”
Happy birthday, Zephyr!
108- They Might Be Giants! Wheee! And my brother’s favorite band is the Decemberists (why is it that
everyonetwo bands are named after groups of people (the decemberists) or people (Archduke Franz Ferdinand) in the time preceding WWI?) I like them too but I haven’t heard as much of their stuff. Yup!120 ~ Moxy Fruvous was awesome. I used to see them every year until they went on a “touring hiatus” about seven years ago. -sigh- (My parents first brought me to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival when I was three months old and I still prefer the types of music played there to most of the mainstream junk.) Girlyman is also a lot of fun and they tour so if you ever happen to be in the same area as them I really recommend seeing a concert of theirs. I saw them in Virginia this summer and loved it enough that I’m planning to go to a gig in my area in November.
Happy Birithday Zephyr!!!!
121 ~ I love that song! Bargainville is the first album of theirs I had. I didn’t get it at first though because I thought that by baby they meant infant. xD
*sings*
Once I was the King of Spain,
Now I eat humble pie…
Hey All. Zephyr sent a reply and then the internet ate it. It is true. I was there and saw it happen. He was able to save it (it was rather long) and will send it as soon as he gets hooked up with a better internet connection.
I too will answer more questions when we have more time online.
~KG
Happy birthday, Zephyr!
*pies*
127- That happens.
127 ~ I’m glad he was able to say it. It’s so frustrating when that happens.
126 ~ -gospel clap- SING IT!
I always liked that one bit…
Let’s make Friday part of the weekend and give all of these people chocolate éclairs!
Yum…
Oops, I meant save it. It’s not even 8:30 yet, I shouldn’t be sleepy!
Happy Brthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear Zepher!
Happy Birthday to you!
*pies*
Mwahaha!
For your b-day, I am giving you a real, live, virtual leprechan!
Hey all,
Sorry I haven’t answered any questions in a while. I’ve been up in North Carolina rehearsing with the rest of A Simple Disaster. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!
Speaking of music, I believe someone asked about the kind of music I like, so I’m going to attempt to list as many of my preferred bands as possible. I love They Might be Giants and The Decemberists, but for the most part the bands I listen to are louder and a good deal more aggressive. I can never remember all the bands I like at any given time, but here are a few favorites: Anti-Flag, The Unseen, Blink-182, Avenged Sevenfold, The Offspring, Green Day, Dio, Sum 41, Rise Against, the occasional System of a Down song, My Chemical Romance, Atreyu, a small collection of classic rock bands, every punk rock band I hear, movie soundtracks, musicals (especially Jekyll & Hyde and Les Miserables), a little classical here and there, and whatever small band happens to be playing at the local club on the weekend. Also, the Gothic Archies are awesome.
In response to #35 (which has gone way too long without being answered), my sleep habits tend to vary. If I have to get up at 6 or 7 AM, I will usually be in bed by midnight. On the other hand, if I get up at 9 or 10 AM (which is about normal for me), I will not get to sleep until 2 AM–and sometimes a little later–the next morning.
And #79…HA! I hang out near Salem College a lot! Wylie (he’s in my band) and I spend a lot of time around Old Salem. We have a bunch of friends who go to Salem Academy.
Anyway, we’ll try and keep up with your questions as best we can, so don’t hesitate to let us know if we missed one.
-Zephyr
133) Wow. You stay up really late. I usually go to bed between 9:00 and 9:30.
Zephyr is coming back from North Carolina again tomorrow. We’re picking him up at the airport in Buffalo, and we’re also picking up a friend of his who’ll be staying with us for a month. That should be quite an adventure!
Zephyr – I keep forgetting…I really like your name! When I was in 5th grade we had to write a children’s book, and mine was the story about a bicycle as it moved from “home-to-home,” (via garage sales, etc.), and one girl that had the bicycle named it Zephyra (the name was actually Zephyr, but she changed it to Zephyra to make it a girl), because she liked the way the wind blew against her face as she rode it, and Zephyr is the god of wind. Or something like that… *goes back to read book*
126-first moxy fruvous song i ever heard. an epiphany, of sorts.
133-oh huzzah, an answer! i am indeed jealous and am rather tempted to run away to join
the circusa family of way cool traveling people*sings* Woh! My unspeakable wife, Queen Lisa!
Folks, google ‘a simple disaster’. read.
46) That’s not true that all homeschoolers in Iowa HAVE to take a standardized test…..with the supervising teacher option there are NO TESTS at all.
140-well, i am new to iwoa, so what?
Hey all,
We are in New Jersey now. This week we got to spend some time at Niagara Falls and we went to Canada for a couple of days. Lots of fun, eh?
Oh and we also have a friend touring with us for a month. She flew out from California on the second. Hey, maybe we’ll talk her into dropping by to say hi and let you know what life on the road is like for her.
I haven’t answered the question about music yet. I mostly like 80’s music and Broadway (yeah! Steven Sondheim) oh and Green Day!
Thanks for Zephyr’s leprechaun he’s does all of our dishes when he isn’t busy making a mess.
Well, I have tons of computer to work to catch up on and only an hour to do it. So catch ya all later!
Green Day! One of the
gazillionbest bandsthat I likeout there.142-Ah!!! Come to MI, por favor!!! Metro-Detroit area!!!
142) Oooooooo! How FUN! I went there once when I was very little. We rode this boat that went under the falls and we got totally soaked! It was fantastic! Did you do that?
Yes. We rode Maid of the Mist this time – and we talk about it on the latest podcast. I like Cave of the Winds tour better though.
We have done Detroit area before and will come back (just nothing on the calendar yet). Zephyr went to Haunt Con there in April. Tonight (after our show at the Monmouth County Library in NJ) he and his friend are going to work at a Haunted Attraction near Lancaster, PA.
P*ease come to Washington State/Oregon area? I beg of you! Visit the high school! We have a lovely auditorium…
[/bribing and pleading]
We’ll be in Oregon and Washington in April and May 2008. Our tour schedule is online at http://www.activated-storytellers.com/schedule.html
Are you ever coming to Northern VA/Washington DC?? That would be awesome. *stalks*
Sorry, I’m too lazy. Well, FINE be that way. *checks*
All Gozas who would be willing to listen to recommendations for music- Try going here: .
Was that an attempt to post a link to the music thread? If so, here ’tis
Gah. My link was eaten by the MB gremlins. Naughty, naughty.
*wags finger*
Music thread.
152- Grr you. I can post a link myself, thank you very much.
148- Okay. Now if I can convince my mom to take me to Odell, wherever that is…Or King County, ditto…
hey so what is it like being on the road Zephyr because were about to go on the road hope to get an anwser
Brandon,
Being on the road isn’t really something that can be summed up too easily–especially for me, since I’ve never really lived in a stick house.
For someone who is used to living in a regular house, I’d say the biggest challenge is probably learning what type of things you really need or don’t need. You’ll have to get used to storing stuff in a relatively small space, and it may mean getting rid of a lot of stuff.
-Zephyr
Unless you are like some people I saw that had an RV that looked more like a luxury limo bus. *farts in their general direction for their excessive opulence* But somehow you don’t seem like that.
Whew, I haven’t been on this thread in forever, but I’m glad it’s still open, and you’re all still here!
I’m looking at Zephyr’s website, and it’s hard on the eyes to go from black and red to white!
Ow.
What kind of books do you read?
It feels weird abandoning a thread like this…
I shall keep it alive! Or at least invite you to visit the rest of the Blog! Come RRRite with us! Hang out on the random thread! Join a ship! Play soccopelli! There are endless opportunities on our little blog-state.
148-Gah! Nothing for MI!!!
160 (Alice) – I agree! I think you should come to other parts of the blog as well!
157-No kidding. My stuff (accumulated from twelve years of existance and never thrown out) would probably fill up two of those RVs. Yeah, I’m one of those stingy people who think everything has a use and if it dosn’t it will soon.
So am I. I could never live in an RV for a long period of time.
I wonder what Zephyr does when he gets bored. :d
shadowkat! you wrote to Muse latley.
166-Yes, she did. That’s a topic for Muse Discussion.
Oh, wow, spam again. I don’t remember this thread, it must have come after I’d stopped frequenting Museblog. But I did go through my collection of surviving Muses to find this article, and when I found it, I also found $390 bucks that I’d hidden among my Muses for safekeeping. I thought it had been lost or stolen long ago. How awesome is that?
I KNOW ZEPHYER IN REAL LIFE!
Not very well, but he was a junior staffer at the camp I went to this summer!
AMAZING COINCEDINCE!!!!!!!!!!!
Sometimes it really does feel like a small world.
NEW SPAMBOT TARGET!
Oh, this is a good old thread.
Indeed, a classic. Classic article, too.