07-17-09

You have to notice routines quickly while on the road. It was the second morning of the mountain bedroom window sunrise. I was already liking this routine.
By now I was well settled in and could enjoy the free time I had been looking for. I spent much of the morning sitting by the fire ring drinking coffee and enjoying the outdoors.
I drove my Jeep into cell range for a 5 minute call to check on Trinity’s progress. I’ve learned to turn my phone on when I get close to the signal, wait and let it grab new voicemail, texts then pictures. After being off for a night it sometimes has some catching up to do. I had noticed one text flash by that said something about “battery light on”. I called and Trinity was at another shop. I had hoped to go home, but had to wait in phone service range to see what happened.
The place I often parked at to get a signal is a hiking trail parking area with a big red rock cliff rising high into the air, flanked by tall steep green hills. I man had just pulled up in a van from Texas and headed to the rocky area. He had a lot of good gear and looked like he knew what he was doing. I had time to kill, so I figured I’d hike around a little. I didn’t head for the rocky wall. I set my sites on one of the more practical green hills. Part of the problem was that I had only been planning on being there for a few minutes and wasn’t prepared. All I had for footwear was a pair of leather flip flops. I had about 4 inches of warm water in a bottle from days ago. I had on “big pants” and didn’t put on a belt. To top it off I left my camera at home too. At least I had my cowboy hat and sunglasses.
I climbed up through the brush and over rocks. It was hot and I was quickly out of breath I was at about 6000 feet. The flip flops were slippery and I was watching out for snakes, so I tried to plan out every step. As I climbed higher it got steeper. I’d pick a place a ways ahead, get to it, catch my breath and cool down, then pick another short term goal. The cowboy hat actually did a very good job keeping the sun off of my face. “I guess that’s why the cow boys wear them”, I thought. Eventually I was up fairly high. I was at an even height with a ledge high up on the rock cliff. I saw the man from the van standing on it. There must be a path around back, I thought. Someday, with better shoes, I’d like to come back and try to find my way up.
I was close to one of the rock faces that you could see from the parking area below. I made that my final goal of the day. It got steeper and slipperier, now with a dangerous drop off below. I was concerned, but made it across the rock face to the scenic ledge. It was a beautiful view point. Too bad I didn’t have my camera. It’s okay though. I think sometimes I get so caught up in taking pictures that I don’t soak in the moment. I’m trying to remember to put the camera away sometimes and enjoy. It was too bad I left it though. It was an incredible place to find myself in. Once again I was on top of the world due to mechanical breakdown.
While climbing down I had to hold my pants up by their belt loops. I was sweaty and they were sagging in the heat. Trinity was given a clean bill of health by the mechanic. He said, “I could sell you something, but you don’t need it”. How often have you ever heard that from a mechanic?
I went back home to relax.
Later I took another 5 minute ride in to see where Trinity was, she should be getting close. This time I saw a text flash, “Getting towed to Billings”. The one time a mechanic doesn’t sell you something, he should have. Trinity was waiting on the side of the interstate for the truck. It was her third call to AAA in three days. She was hot and frustrated. Billings was only about an hour from me, so I went to pick her up. Once again I was Ill prepared. I was not doing a very good job following my Cub Scout motto. I still had 2 ½ inches of warm water, flip flops, my phone and wallet, so I figured I had what I needed and headed directly to Billings. Another 5 minute call run amuck.
So much for my “mountain flower meadow” moment. I found it silly that I was now going to meet her at a garage all dirty. I needed to brush my teeth. I had taken the mints out of my Jeep for fear a bear would rip through my top. My feet were coated by dirt soaked sweat. The clothes I was wearing I had specifically put on to use up before I met her. My cowboy hat was still smashing down my sweaty hair. I hadn’t planned on breaking that out for a couple of days. It was supposed to be sarcastic.
I beat the tow truck to Billing and found Archie Cochran Ford, a very romantic place. It was much hotter in Billings then it was on the mountain. Even still I took advantage of the free hot coffee in the waiting area.
I walked outside and saw a tow truck with what had to be Trinity’s car hooked on back. Around the corner I saw her for the first time. She was facing away talking to a man at a desk, Sebastian, was next to her on a leash. I didn’t want to meet her at the desk in the garage, so I leaned on a brick wall and waited for her to notice me. I whistled lightly at Sebastian, he looked over and after several minutes she did to. Her jaw dropped, she gasped and ran toward me. She never slowed down, jumped and crashed into me, swinging her arms and legs around me and hugged me super tight. It was hot! No literally. Hot coffee was now burning my entire left fore-arm. No big deal. It was a priceless moment. The coffee, Archie Cochrane Ford, my orange shorts, bad breath and cowboy hat, it was perfect. Better than on a mountain top. Symbolically it fit with the struggles that we had both overcome and had learned to laugh about.
The three of us, exhausted, drove back to Red Lodge. Bikers were getting thicker as we got closer for the big rally. We breezed through Red Lodge and up the mountain. It got cooler as we climbed.
That night we had a wonderful time getting reacquainted and stayed up late listening loudly together, for the first time the songs we had emailed back and forth. We had a lot of catching up to do. The conversation went it many directions. Trinity showed me her chimpanzee call. It was loud! I found it realistic and wondered what the other campers might think was in the woods. I told her that I saw our neighbors Jack and Beverly “jumped down” when they heard it. I was kidding, but we laughed and laughed. We ran the generator probably too late into the night and fell asleep.