07-16-09

I woke to the sun shining brightly on my face. It had risen on the horizon at the low point of the valley in-between two mountains and shined right into my bedroom window. It was a welcoming greeting to the day.
The bus and I had the same multi layers of dirt and grime as we had been on the same long journey together. I spent much of the day cleaning myself and the bus in preparation for Trinity, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.
I went into town to call and check up on her. She had been set back due to mechanical problems as did I on the beginning of my journey. In many ways our journeys were similar. We both had to struggle, but the struggle had made us both stronger and wiser. Now we were literally on the same path. I was on the phone with her when she passed the Badlands Travel Center that I had limped into and stayed at when I broke down on my first day. I followed along with her on my map as she retraced the same course I had been on a week and a half earlier.
I sat on the main street in Red Lodge and worked on my computer as travelers and bikers explored the town’s shops. More and more motorcycles were arriving for the Breartooth Rally that weekend.
I went back to the mountain and planned for Trinity’s arrival. We hadn’t spoken face to face for 17 years and I wanted the moment to be perfect. I planned to leave a walkie talkie on the step with a note to call me. I wanted to meet her in a meadow on the mountain up the trail. I went up the mountain and picked out a good spot. I would pick some wild flowers and make a bouquet. I knew I shouldn’t mess with nature, but the flowers were abundant and this would be a special moment worthy of the cause. I would pick flowers from a different area to leave the ones growing in the meadow, they added greatly to the scene. I wasn’t planning anything too intense, just a relaxing beautiful moment. I’m not hoping for a fairy tale ending. I’m hoping for a fairy tale beginning. I want this moment to be the start of our, “happily ever after”.
Sebastian, her dog was coming too. I foraged through the woods looking for sticks that I thought he might like. I busted them down to size and smoothed them down on the big rocks of my fire pit. As I rubbed them on the coarse granite stones I remembered sharpening sticks on rocks as a boy. I hadn’t done, or thought about that in probably 25 years. It was great to be in nature working on such a primitive task. One stick was perfect, but way too long and too hard to break. I grabbed a hand saw out of the bus that my parents had given me years ago. It was a good saw and came in very handy from time to time. I never envisioned I would be here using it for this.
I realized I was using many tools that I had had for awhile that I rarely used. I had a great pair of binoculars (also a gift from my parents) that had gotten more action in the last week than they had seen in their lifetime. I have two altimeters. One belonged to the previous owner of the bus. The other had been in the family for years. It was my grandfather’s on my mother’s side. I got them out and attempted to calibrate them. I wasn’t sure of my exact altitude, but guessed based on nearby locations on maps. I had a “Worst Case Scenario” survival book from my sister, that was always a fun read, but now the topics were things that I may actually encounter. My favorite was the, “how to jump from a moving vehicle”. Just the night before I was envisioning what I would do if my bus brakes failed while driving down the Beartooth pass. I made it protocol to jump out before the bus careened over the edge. The book had some good advice; jump away from the vehicle, look for a soft landing spot, roll when you hit the ground…God I hope this doesn’t become a tragically ironic journal entry.