Walk About Drive

Always with me...

07/17/16 Sun’s Day (10:20):

   Big brands… lube… ready to go-o-o-o-o! Trunk is packed to the lid… shouldn’t be long. ETD was planned for 11:00 and I think we’ll be going before that... car’s on the rack.

   Reading group yesterday went well enough. I like where the story is going… ready to interrogate Doc on acid. Should be good. Fort Huachuca next.

   (21:37) Arrived at Red Bluff M-6 at 20:04. Pretty good. Sleepy now. This M-6 room is small and bare… like a jail cell and not much bigger. I was going to stay in a better motel but decided I wanted no hassles.

(23:54) Reserved room at Baymont Inn Kennewick for tomorrow. Going to have to get goin’ early. Nighty-night.

07/18/16 Moon’s Day (06:19):

   Feel exceptionally good. I like this bare-bones M-6… luxury compared to a Jail cell. Cramped compared to a luxury room. Gotta make it to Kennewick today… let’s GO!

   (21:18): Kennewick… had pizza in my room. It’s an upgrade but not as much of one I thought… no elevator but the room is okay.

Talked w/Joy and Vic. Too bad Bonnie missed this one with all the kids.

07/19/16 Twi’s Day (06:08):

   The longest part of the trip is over. I’ve become such a wusss. I mean, I used to drive straight through when I travelled alone… nap at rest stops and plow on through. I couldn’t do it now. Yesterday was about as long as I can bear it… This leg from here to Coolin will be much easier. According to Google maps, it’s a 4 hour drive. I always add an hour to their estimates if they are over a couple hours… just in case… 5 hours. So, leave here at 9am and be there by 2pm?

   Big question…. Should I stop to see Mom on the way up or should I on the way back? I’m thinking, on the way back. That way I can spend more time with her. It could very well be the last time. Vic says she has a tumor on her liver that’s quite big but she is doing well in spite of it… eating and even gaining weight. She comes from hardy Newfoundland stock.

   Joy was upset because there’s no room to stay inside at her place. I have to insist on camping. She thinks it’s a horror at my age and seems not to believe me when I say I prefer it to indoors. Indoors, I’m likely to be glued to the TV after dark but, by the fireside, I love being out there.

07/20/16 Woden’s Day (05:06):

   Campfire at Priest… slept a bit but started to get paranoid… some outdoorsman I turned out to be…. Thinking about the box of incense I kept in the tent and how that might smell like something good to a bear so I tossed it outside…. Lit the Coleman to warm up the tent. Lay there for a while and once the thought of a bear enters the mind it doesn’t let go. I know from long experience that the black bears up here are not so dangerous that they’ve been known to maul campers… I know that but the seed of paranoia is planted and is quite tenacious. I finally went to the car and dozed for a couple hours. I went back to the tent before sunrise… ego… didn’t want anyone to know I wussed out.

   (14:40): Have the day to myself. It is good because I don’t feel like dealing w/people that much. So much goes unsaid. I have an honest family. Anything can be said, for sure. Bonnie is on my mind all the time. I am reminded of her always in all of the small things. It’s painful and I don’t want to go there but I can’t stop myself.

07/22/16 Freya’s Day (06:28):

   Deer at the salt lick. Woke up to a sprinkle of rain. 

   Good day at the beach on the island. Kids tubed most of the time. Adults that weren’t driving the boats… were on the beach drinking beer and telling stories… catching up on each other’s’ lives.

07/24/16 Sun’s Day (07:55):

   Yesterday at Don’s. Fond memories of Bonnie there. How I miss her…

   Back went out this morning. I was walking from my camp to Joy’s house for coffee when, “Click”… I felt it… could hardly move... back went out. Not doing anything special… just walking normal. This is what I wish the VA could see in their evaluations… never knowing when it will happen.

7/25/16 Moon’s day (6:29)

   Preparing for Canada trip. All packed up and ready to go.

07/26/16 Twi’s Day (06:26):

Canada… cross one border… to Merritt. 

   

   The town and the Coldwater Hotel are exactly like I expected. It has some development beyond but the downtown is as it was except for the paved roads. If you stand long enough you can almost see old ranch hands tying up their horses outside the hotel and coming in for a drink. It would also be miners and lumberjacks.

07/27/16 Woden’s Day (08:20):

Huckleberry jam and toast. Last morning at Priest Lake. Getting ready to call mom. I don’t know why it is so hard to call her. Booked a room at the Ramada nearby so I can spend a day or two with her before heading out on the big adventure part of the trip. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico… Taos!!!! Then Arizona and California.

   Staying at the Ramada near where mom’s place is on Evergreen and the Ramada check-in time is at three so I have time to do lunch w/mom. I feel like some sort of sociopath because I don’t want to deal with anyone. Not so sure what a sociopath is but I are one for sure.

   I just can’t feel any empathy for anything beyond my dearest Bonnie. I feel like I didn’t even care enough for her until she was gone. It hurts to be this way. My heart breaks when I think of all the little pleasures I denied her… like when we pass by a fruit stand or take time to lay in bed a few more minutes or make love. Damn, she was good too. Unbelievably good. Her face glowed and smile radiated when we made love. How can a man deny that? What was wrong with me? I am so sorry, Honey.

07/30/16 Saturn’s Day (0641):

   

I’m at the gate of the Little Big Horn Cemetery and monument. Seems strange to be parked in a car punching a keyboard in the same place the tribes were gathered taking potshots at ole Yellow Hair.

08/01/16 Moon’s Day (07:23):

   Stayed at the Kachina Lodge last night and love the place and I extended my stay another day. Though it hasn’t been updated from the outside since I used to pass by it on the way into town back during the winter and fall of 1970, it maintains the charm of another era. From the looks of the insides it hasn’t changed that much either (unless you count the TV [1990s], microwave and fridge). The room I’m in is huge with double full sized beds. I can see this place is one whose glory days probably came to an end in the seventies but has been holding on. If I owned it I would upgrade the rooms with minor improvements to fit its architecture; like paving stones on the driveways and walk ways. It has ample electrical outlets and doesn’t need much on the interior. Perhaps a designer would know more about how to give the rooms a fresher feel without compromising the integrity of the buildings. The lobby is good as it is… I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

   I loved the trip from southern Colorado after turning off to Fort Garland from the main artery, (I-25) at Walsenburg (I swear the highway sign read Waisenburg). From Fort Collins to Colorado Springs, it was freeway driving… not as bad as the 405 but it was equal to rush hour on any other freeway.

   After passing through Walsenburg (which had a charm of its own) the highway’s two-lane ribbon wrapped itself through a scenic landscape that was a precursor to the glory I knew awaited me in Northern New Mexico. I wasn’t disappointed. Sure, it has changed but so has everywhere else. However, this place ain’t ruined yet. It might have another ten years before the hordes discover it. I feel guilty posting about this town for that reason… knowing only a few people read my posts gives me some respite from any such notion.

   I also did a touristy thing at Fort Garland (population 433). I checked out the museum there. It was well done. I love these small towns with history. The Fort is restored and the presence of Kit Carson was everywhere but there was so much more than that. A bloody history at that… of rounding up the Cheyanne’s using Apaches (who were later rounded up) of one tribe after another subdued after the Civil War was over… I knew of Kit Carson’s role in the hanging of the leaders ( I believe it was eleven or so) of the Mexican revolt of the Arroyo Hondo land grant area but there was no mention of his role in that.

   Tried texting our friend, Mary Lampe. Lost connection and couldn't send... retry... retry... retry.... No... No... No!

   Then on down through the high chaparral flanked by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to my left of Southern Colorado and Norther New Mexico. Crossing the border I gassed up at Costilla New Mexico where I was treated in an especially kind manner by the lady behind the counter. Through Cerra, Questa, Lama, and Arroyo Hondo… I love these small towns that are barely corrupted from the time I was here.

   Now I am at the Kachina Lodge in Taos. I once passed by this place (forty-six years ago) dozens of times hitching a ride back to Arroyo Hondo… downtown Taos... streets are swarming with tour-bus tourists. The Kachina is the same as it was in 1970. I mean... dated, but nice. The rooms speak of a time when the town was more innocent. This town was always a tourist mecca but sssshhhheeeezzzzeee!!!! Everywhere I go. But there is a part of the town in which real people live.... lots of empty buildings going to seed once away from the center of town.

   I’m staying another night at the Kachina to check out the mesa in Arroyo Hondo. I might have to make contact with the Butler family and see if I need permission to enter the property. Or, I might just go and find out that way.