Experience trumps reflection.

This entry will be out of sequence to the chronological timeline.  I have been too busy to actually write my catch up blogs.  I must state, experience trumps reflection.

Right now the New Mexican sky is opening up with rain.  It rarely rains here and New Mexico seems to be in perpetual drought.  It was very dry when we went through the river beds, which were better described as river gulches.  I could not believe how dry everything seemed to be. The house I am staying in amplifies the rain, unlike my Southwestern Ontario home.  The roof and ceiling seem to be in direct physical contact and the sound of the rain on the roof must be louder because of the lack of the, necessary, northern insulation.

I need to update all the things that have happened over the past week, not for others benefit, but rather for mine.  I need to remember all that happened this past few weeks.  It has been a wondrous and spiritual journey thus far.  I will keep you all posted.  But some things I will keep to myself.

Photo Log links for you.

14,110 feet.  Me and Bbike

I am dropping some photos taken along the road on MobileMe.  Click here to see the photo's.  gg's Road Trip 2.0 photo's

Interstate behind me...

Webcam Cache near Woodland Park

Today was my first full day in Colorado.  I had time to ride out to attempt a few things.  I intended to meet some friends in Woodland Park. I wanted to grab the Woodland Park Webcam ,which I did.  I also wanted to grab the oldest cache (Tarryall) in Colorado.  I accomplished that cache and the scenery was amazing.  I tried to get in touch with my friends but I could not get an answer back.  That was too bad.  I hate being so close and missing my friends.  I did try to ascend Pikes Peak but the road was closed at 3 and I arrived too late.

The evening was spent shooting the breeze with my friend.  It is always good to catch up on 25 years of life and often a surprise at the unexpected turns along the road.  We both never expected what has happened along the way.  In some ways I think I need to remind myself that the future is not predictable nor can it be molded to what we envision as perfect.  It's like a needlepoint.  The finished product is prettier than the little threads that make up the image.  The big Eastern Interstates are behind me.  From here on I will travel the more interesting and twisty roads.  They are always more fun than zipping through on a concrete slab.

Riding off into the Sunset. Ouch that hurts.

Into the sunset I see Pikes Peak

When last I reported I was heading west into the sunset.  Blinding sunset as it was right on the horizon in my eyes.  As I crossed from Kansas into Colorado a huge mountain appeared on the horizon.  I later discovered that was likely Pikes Peak.  It is probably the first mountain of the Rockie formation that was renamed after the explorer Zebulon Pike Jr..  He never ascended to the summit and declared it would never be climbed. Ha!  I rode up on my Harley and the record ascent is a little over 9 minutes in a race car.

My faithful Garmin GPS guided me to my friends house. Dan has travelled a similar path that I am on.  With the perfect family life now just a vapor; I approach my friends house squinting at the numbers until he came out to give my a big western America hug and greeting.  I have not seen Dan since about 1987.  We have both changed, but I like to think I have not changed as much as everyone else.  I enter the atypical American living room of a house built 100 years ago.  Now I am greeted by numerous children and one spouse.  Names are flashed into my brain filing cabinet only to slip out. The next few days I will be asking everyone to remind me of their name.  I think I still only remember only half of the 7 names handed out.  I do remember the two doggies names though. Not sure why.

View from School

My first night in Colorado was very comfortable.  The next day I was spending time with Dan and we went out to have lunch with his Son and Daughter. This tradition is admirable and will likely pay great dividends later as the children have had time to connect with their loving dad.  I need to file this activity in my "to-do" list for when I get home.

The day was filled with discussions about extended families, God's love and plan for our life.  Dan was truly a help to me at this time.

Field of Dreams

I left Dubuque on my westward journey.  My intention was to drop by the "Field of Dreams" movie set in Dyersville for a quick look.  I had no idea that it would be an hour stop.  I met 4 Californians here in Iowa for  a football game that made a side trip to the Field.  They were taking all kinds of pictures and I helped by taking the four shot of the group under the sign.  They offered to take my picture too. 

It was amazing to see all of us "old folks" returning to our youth and getting all giddy about the old sandlot games of baseball.  It's exactly what this movie captured and to keep the field alive all these years is quite a feat.  I am happy I visited and would love to come back to see a game here.

I continued west along the interstate and made it to Kansas City Kansas later in the evening.  The next day in Kansas City had more fellowship and trying to catch up on some work.

I Am Homeless

I am officially Homeless.  It's not that I don't own a home it's just that I can't live there and it will be sold.  So the questions came up "Where do I live now?" I had a limited number of choices which would work for me but would not be conducive to having the boys stay over.  It would break my heart to be so close to the boys but not able to see them.  I am not sure they would understand why we couldn't be together and having that discussion would have been difficult for me to explain.  I have been on the road before and the boys are use to it and seem to be able to deal with those events.

Loaded up and ready to leave Detroit.

Rick at work.

I loaded up the van and trailer and headed out for Road Trip Therapy.  I plan to meet and fellowship with wise friends along the way.  I started out by driving to Detroit to stay over night with my Friend, Rick.  He has been a great help along this journey and continues to be a blessing. Thursday I left to head to Dubuque Iowa.  The small Bible college I attended 25 years ago was having it's 70th Reunion.  The timing was perfect and it made for a great time renewing old friends.



I spent the weekend at the school looking at the building that brought back great memories of the best 2 years of my life.  Studying God's word is a great way to build a foundation by which I measure every other event.






After the Weekend I will head to Kansas City, KS.  Via the Field of Dreams.

Field of Dreams.

Well I made it through the weekend and had very little time for reading or writing. I will be heading out west after lunch and stopping a couple of times along the way.

One of the stops will be to the Field of Dreams movie location. It was filmed in Dyersville IA about 25 minutes west of Dubuque, Iowa. I am looking forward to making the trek further west.

He's my good friend.

He's a wise counselor.

I am in America

I left home today with my van full of "junk" and my trailer holding my motorcyle.  The drive was gloomy and rainy which was apropos of my mood. Leaving home is always mixed with emotions.  Looking forward to the road ahead but sad to leave the house.

I'm at my friends in Detroit for the evening.

Sad Day Sundays

I had a couple of days with the boys this weekend. While I love spending time with them the saddest part is saying goodbye. This happens every Sunday night after they leave. I’m overwhelm by the realization that I won’t see them for another fortnight. This weekend is different though. I may not see them for a bit longer. I tried to make this weekend a bit more special. We went for a warm hike along the river near St. Jacobs. Found a couple of geocaches and just tried to bond. I gave them a couple of leather jackets from my youth that they will grow in to. They loved trying them on and wore them home.

The last weekend they were here we did something extremely dangerous, but a male rite of passage. Driving the car the last block to the driveway. While sitting in my lap I controlled the accelerator and brake and they controlled the steering wheel. This was a memorable highlight of their weekend and they ask every time we approach home now “can I drive the last corner?”. While this seems dangerous in our bubble-wrap-helmut-wearing-over-protective society I had my hand on the gear selector at all times to be ready to throw it in neutral at the first sign of trouble. Remember, in 4 years they will be behind the wheel without my oversight.

Take off in one week.

Planning on nearing DBQ one week from now.

Google Latitude

If you would like to follow my travels you can add me to Google Latitude. It should be fun to see where in the world I am. Either that or just plain creepy.

Getting ready

Part of getting ready is prepping the Blog site. This may be where you'll find me and my Blurg.