On The Road Again

On the road again!  How can you not say those 4 words and not think of Willie Nelson?  Anyway…Beth and I are starting our travels together by volunteering to give a friend a lift from Dillon, Colorado to Banff, Alberta, Canada.  No, he’s not giving up civilization (sort of) and looking for gold in the Klondike.  No, he’s not running from the law (as far as we know). No, he’s not taking off on some 2700 plus mile mountain bike odyssey from Banff to Antelope Wells, New Mexico with a relatively small group of others, each willing to take on a self supported, soul searching, butt aching, fantastic journey through wilderness, most of us only read or fantasize about.  Oh…wait a minute, yes he is and it is called Tour Divide.  For the nitty gritty, check out tourdivide.org/about.

I've known Greg in the neighborhood of about 30 years and he is worthy of a blog just by himself!  We taught at the same elementary school for a chunk of time and I have written about going to Canada, fishing, with him and close friends from from his hometown of Grundy Center, Ia.  When telling others the origin of this trip and acting as Greg's taxi to Banff, the raised eyebrows can't quite get over the hurdle of having your butt in contact with a bicycle seat for weeks upon weeks, let alone the motivation a grizzly bear can give tired legs peddling up a mountain trail.  The general response is..."Why?"  The closest I can relate is the same reason I spent 17 days on a raft, pooping in an ammo can, picking sand out of places it shouldn't be, and loving every anxious and beautiful minute of it.

But before we can drop Greg at the starting line on foreign soil, we have to leave Blue Springs, Mo.  That is where this blog entry begins.  This last year or so has brought me Beth and her son, Drew, my adventure in the Grand Canyon, family accomplishments, and all the nuances life uncovers with change and growth.  A remarkable year indeed.  And more recently, my trusty companion, Tuck, joined his brother Tooga, whom I miss both dearly, but their absence has given us freedom to hit the road, so we are and we will.  With things buttoned up at home and good neighbors looking out for us, we’re off. 

Gettin' some lovin'.

I think I’ve written about the line between Point A (Blue Springs, Mo) and point B (this time Dillon, Co) before, but the majority of that space (Kansas) remains a constant.  The only things that appear to change on that line (I-70) are the others that are traveling on it with us.

The scenery tends to remain the same…the giant wind machines beginning around Salina, post rocks sprouting out of the ground as antique fence posts from back in the day, and the flint hills that turn into a flattened stretch of asphalt that leads me to the Rockies (point B).  But those that you run into along the way and the sometimes interesting weather on this 600-mile line segment, make the trip interesting. 

No matter how many times I see them, I am still amazed by them.

This guy made me feel good about myself and my packing skills!

Love this sign!  A sign of progress on the line segment.

In between scattered showers and scatter brained drivers.

The Mile High city.

From the back of Greg and Susie's condo on Lake Dillon, a few minutes
before moonrise.

Moonrise!

Ten hours after leaving our driveway, we pull into Greg and Susie’s, although their driveway is a parking lot to their condo in Dillon, Co.  So here we are soaking up the mountains, using them to hike and do a little fishin’,  while Greg continues to train these last few days before we head north.

It’s great to get away, but I know it will also be great to return to home base.  In between time, Oh, the places we’ll go!

My Zen from the road:

10-4 good puppy!