Stepping out of your comfort zone.

Today I am learning how to cook in a Tangine.  It's not a fruit it's a Morocan cooking vessel. Even now the thing is boiling over so I turned down the heat to let it calm down.

Sometimes in life we need to turn down the heat and let things simmer and stew.  The past few weeks have been a mix of running, meditating and self-evaluation.  I left Ontario with 2 potential directions in front of me and now I have three directions.  It seems opportunities pop up when I was not even looking in that direction.  I guess it's like a road sign that says go this way for stability or go this way for a scenic view.  In the end both roads lead to the same place.  It's just that on one road the view is nicer.

I may chose the scenic road. 

The pot is boiling over again...

Monument Valley is a must see.

My ride.

I have been in Santa Fe for two weeks now.  I have been keeping busy.  Too busy to keep up with the daily task of blogging. It's a self-imposed task as I know it should be a habit by now.  I have been hanging out with Arthur.  He owns Renaissance Art.  You can find his website here.   He makes incredible leather journals and other products.  He is passionate about marketing and about Journaling.  So much so that I will make the effort to write my thoughts consistently in a journal.

The past two weeks have been a mix of fellowship, introspection, traveling and fun.  The past 3 days I rode the motorcycle out to Monument valley. It's a place of incredible desolation and beauty.  I first visited the area in 2008 and vowed to return with more time.  Believe me three days is not enough time.  The weather was too cold to enjoy riding in near freezing temps all day and camp at night.  I never would have gotten warmed up.  So the next trip here will be with more time and warmer temps.  Apparently you can camp within 500 meters of the main attraction in Monument Valley.  I was told it's "primitive Camping"  I can deal with that.  Imagine waking up and looking at this outside your tent door.

As the temps and wind were too hard to bear I opted for a warm room at a local motel.  It was the perfect fit for the rough, cold, windy, dusty ride into Kayente AZ.   The next morning I rode over to the Navajo Cliff dwellers monument.  It was spectacular to see the hamlet of buildings built into the cliff walls. They even had a virtual Geocache at the site that I could log.  I got a little wind and sunburn in spite of my sunscreen application. If you look at the link below you will find my album which contains more photo's.

Playing with Wilie E. Coyote

More later.

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.