I hope anyone following the blog took my promise to “make a noble effort” at blogging at face value and didn’t get their hopes for daily posts up too much. It’s been a busy three days since I got here so I’ll hit the highlights and cut out the fluff of filling up on gas I had to include last post.
I made it to Durango a bit before noon on Sunday, grabbed a coffee to get my grocery list sorted and figure out where else I needed to stop (Bread). The afternoon was a blur of unpacking, cleaning, organizing, and otherwise opening up the house for the summer. The highlight of the day was having a neighbor over to talk on the porch after dinner. I’m not sure that the family believes me when I tell them I miss them and that it gets lonely, but it’s true. It’s nice to have people to hang out with out here to take that edge off.
Monday was also a whirlwind. I woke up at 5:00, still on Central time. By 6:30 I was outside weeding. It must be a bad year for weeds because it only took me about an hour and a half, much quicker than last year. There is also a proliferation of desirable plants that I’ll add some pictures of below. I also made a trip to Cortez to drop off the recycling we’d built up since last summer and look for some bunk parts I needed (with no luck). I got the bikes cleaned up and did the maintenance I knew how to do. Then, made myself a delicious dinner of grilled pork tenderloin, red potatoes, and broccoli. The highlight of yesterday was stepping out on to the porch after dinner, old fashioned in hand, and looking up to see the brightest, longest satellite pass I think I’ve ever seen. I had to look it up and discovered that I’d just seen the ISS pass by!
Today I finally made it to Phil’s World for my first ride! The first quarter I was questioning why I had thought it was so much fun, but the the downhill sections kicked in and I remembered that it is among the most fun things a person can do in life. After a stop at home for lunch and a shower I had to come over to Durango where I am now to find those parts I couldn’t get in Cortez. I had near total success after the guy in Home Depot directed me to a place called Fastenal. Who knew there was a store that sold every possible fastener? As a bonus it was pretty much next door to Ska brewing so I figured that if I got a beer it still only counted as one stop.
I’m back home in Mancos now having dinner and getting ready for another night on the deck stargazing and ukeing.
