hurronnicane

We read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles while on vacation. I read it again right away which I’ve never done before.

My favorite Rocky Hill Ranch memory is from roughly 22 years ago. We had friends living in Houston and had arranged to meet them there to ride. Our daughter was about two and we had arranged a babysitter. On the morning of, we got a call from the babysitter saying she was sick and couldn’t do it. So we loaded up the Trek Trailer and went anyway. It was a very different ride on those trails towing a trailer with a toddler in it, but we had a great time. I got the trailer wedged between trees a couple of times.

Cleburne State Park.

Garner State Park. The last time I was there was in the 70s.

Then I realized he had photoshopped our dog’s face onto the deer.

Then there is this deer. Our neighbor who took care of our dog sent this photo to us while we were gone. My first reaction while looking at my wife’s phone was I had never seen a deer smile like that.

We have been home for two weeks now. Our yard is a jungle, our rainwater tanks are full, and our dog, Zeus, remembers who we are. All is well! Trip numbers include: 49 days gone (seven weeks) 28 different campsites 23 bike rides 2500 miles driven (rough estimate) 0 number of times we said “I wish we had stayed home.”

Although we helped some with their buildout we mostly provided the place to work on it and the tools. Then we got to use it for an extended trip. I don’t think my wife will ever be good with tent camping again. Now we are starting to think about getting our own Sprinter and the kids have offered to help with the build.

This is the 2006 Dodge Sprinter 2500 that we took on our extended tour of New Mexico and Colorado. My daughter and her boyfriend bought it in the Fall of 2019. It was a mattress delivery van and they bought it sight unseen in Nashville after flying up there. Over a couple of months they built it out as a camping van with no relevant background or experience and with a pretty limited budget. It has three solar panels on the roof salvaged from a friend’s house that powers a kickass cooler, all the lighting inside, and charges phones and computers. It has a nearly queen size bed that is positioned high enough that two bikes can stand up underneath (with the front tires removed). It has a sink with a foot pump powered water faucet. We knew they were off and running when a few days after getting it home they were cutting holes in the roof for the exhaust fan and the side for a window.

I’m a light sleeper. Sharell and I met on a mountain bike ride 31 years ago. (It was February, cold, spitting rain, and she was glad to be there. I knew she was game.) We have ridden together in nine states through the years, raised two kids who love cycling, and we still enjoy playing together. How much we want to ride, or how hard, or how often doesn’t always line up but we are still out there!

Between Lincoln and Capitan, New Mexico.

We reluctantly started home yesterday leaving the mountains of New Mexico for that long trek across west Texas. But we opted to break it up by lounging around camp all morning, going for a final ride and then driving just five hours. We drove with our back to the setting sun and arrived at Comanche Trail Park in Big Spring an hour and a half after sunset, where we camped for the night. We are now five hours from home…

Still finding cool campsites and having fun!

No, though I’ve ridden both of those trails on previous trips. The picture is from a campsite in the Turkey Springs trail system near Pagosa Springs.

Edward Abbey called them Slow Elk. Two times in this area we have seen a bachelor pod of mule deer. Seven to ten of them walking right beside our camp.

Morning visitors. They seem a little put out that we haven’t offered some sort of a breakfast buffet or at the very least, hot chocolate.

Spent a few days visiting friends while camping outside of Salida (saw another moose) and then camped seven miles up a forest service road near South Fork. Now we have landed near Pagosa Springs again as we meander towards Durango.

We saw some older gentlemen at Hartman Rocks on eBikes. They had to all be in their mid to late 70s. And the trails they were riding were open to bicycles, motorcycles, hikers and maybe horses too. I’m glad I can still do it without an eBike but was equally happy to see these guys enjoying themselves!

Good suggestion! I’ll start getting that together. There is much to say.

By the way, the temperature at the start of yesterday’s ride was just under 50 degrees and was right at 60 when I finished.

Today I did a ride in Penitente Canyon near Del Norte.