100 mph

Wow! Time is flying by and I can’t seem to make it slow down. I’ve emptied my little house of ten years and parsed my belongings to a handful of boxes in a friend’s attic and what fits in my car. Oooh my car — there is way too much stuff in it! There is definitely going to be an additional purge and reorganization. Two bikes inside the Honda Fit does not help.

Thanks for the photo, fun, and love @elizasampey!

Before departure there was so much love and fun in my life with friends old and new, so much love that is made leaving seem impossible. But I am also fortunate to be a child of the world and have friends scattered all about. Those that know me know how deeply I believe in the power of the Sisterhood. I kicked off travel with a stop in Vegas and spent the night with a dear friend I met at a music festival almost ten years ago! This was followed by getting caught up in a drug bust/entrapment at the border of CO where I was intensely questioned because I dared to exit (free camping and riding in Rabbit Valley) the freeway immediately after signs about a (fake) freeway drug stop ahead. Camping? The state and federal drug agents asked me incredulously. They ran my license but thankfully did not make me empty my car! see here

I then high tailed it out of there and down to Grand Junction to help Liz reorganize her van and crashed at her friend’s house. Sister #2 in two days. After a delightful, albeit brief, ride I headed on over to the metropolis of Denver to meet up with my friend of 20 years (!) in town for two days and we scooted off to Red Rocks Amphitheatre (a long time dream of mine!) to see Bela Fleck with the Colorado Symphony and a host of talented guests and bandmates.

From hustle bustle and traffic of downtown Denver (ugh) I headed up to Boulder to meet up with my wonderful friend Darice and her lovely husband Arthur. Not only are they thoughtful and interesting people, but they are also both kick ass rock climbers! We went camping in the South Platte area for the weekend and they generously dragged me up all kinds of challenging climbs, including a super fun putative 5.11 chimney were I got to practice my wiggle worm technique and give my tired forearms a break.

After a lovely dinner and evening with my Aurora family I am now sitting at Denver airport laboriously assembling this on my phone so please forgive typos and lack of detailed editing! I’m going to spend the weekend catching up with my immediate family in Pennsylvania and then I will be back in Colorado working on my red blood cell count! I really haven’t paused in months, but shortly after I return to Colorado I should finally have some much needed solo and unscheduled days. Meanwhile I just can’t say no to all these amazing opportunities with delightful friends! It seems impossible that I have only been on the road for one week today!