We first stopped in Southern Illinois to visit a friend who had started her own business while busy with a two year old (if you need marketing/social media help check her out). She has always been such a bright a positive person so we thought that would some great energy to start out journey. I think we were both nervous about my rescue dog and a young kid but everyone did great, especially Storm when he got poked in the eye by the 2 y/o.
After leaving Illinois We headed to St. Louis but decided to try and make it to Kansas City, unfortunately we encountered our first hiccup. We had gotten about an hour from Kansas City when the car started making an alarming noise, we pulled over and found a campsite to regroup for the night and figure out what to do in the morning. Of course it is dark and there are a bazillion mosquitoes but we got the tent set up quickly. I had trouble sleeping and ended up packing up the tent and leaving at sunrise, we found a hotel next to a Toyota dealership (for Keanu, my Toyota Matrix). We got settled in at the hotel and called Toyota but it would be a few days before they could get us in. For fear of damaging my car (that was running surprisingly normal for awful noise it was making) we stayed in the hotel until we heard more about the car.
Once we finally got the prognosis it was a quick and easy fix, we thought about getting out of Kansas City but decided we had already been there so long it would be a shame to not see some sights. I think this actually ended up being one of the most surprising cities I didn’t know I’d want to go back and visit. If for nothing else the trip is worth it for some genuine Kansas City BBQ.
We found LC’s BBQ on recommendation of Hammerspace Community Workshop, and I still think about those burnt ends. Not to let the power of smoked beef reign on the parade of visiting a Community Workshop, because Hammerspace is really a amazing Workshop.
Visiting a Community Workshop was really something I didn’t realized would be so important on my journey. I had been previously employed at a Makerspace (same concept different name) and was so invested that it was a lot like a breakup when I decided it was best for me to move on. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want to work in that environment again but visiting this space made me realize that I was still passionate about what spaces like these offer to the community, and would really like to keep being a part of these spaces. Now, a little over two years later and I am helping another Workshop with admin support and doing some freelance work out of my former employer’s Makerspace.
takenbystormusa.com 