We knew we were pushing the envelope by staying here this long.
Last year at this time, we were already in Nevada, working as Satan’s Minion and far from the treacherous winter snowstorms that blanket our little piece of the Rockies.
This year, Fall really hung on, and we were happy to be able to watch the Aspens transition from day-glow fall colors to stripped down versions of their former summer glory.
Our plan was to leave this weekend, but we still have so much to do, and wanted Wyatt to get one more lesson in on Saturday morning. He can use all the help he can get. So we decided to leave on Monday or Tuesday.
But now, the newest weather forecast calls for snow showers and the heaviest snowfall of the season, with no reprieve in sight until Wednesday of next week.
Looks like our ETA for our friends in southern Colorado….Tinytown, Lake City and Pagosa Springs…won’t be until a week from today, when hopefully we can pull our trailer out of the driveway and up into the muddy, steep 6 percent grade that climbs up to our main county road.
For now, we’ll light the fireplace, bundle up and settle in.
It’s been a quiet week up here at Crystal Lakes . . .
Quiet summer is more like it. Usually. Our moutain abode is one hour from anywhere, and other than the times when weekenders come and inhabit their cabins and stupidly leave food out for the bears, there’s not a lot of excitement up here.
Oh wait, there is an occasional moose and rare wildflower sighting. Now that’s excitement!
We go to town once a week for Wyatt’s bad-boy dog schooling and stock up on provisions. The one hour trip to town is an all-day event.
Otherwise summer’s been spent working on projects for our other entrepreneurial endeavors that will bring in millions for us (hey I can always hope!).
And while the rest of the country swelters in blistering August heat, we are wearing sweats in the morning and long sleeves in the afternoon. A touch of fall is in the air and although afternoon temperatures are in the low 70s, there’s a chill in the air every morning. We are at 8,400 feet elevation after all.
It’s amazing to think how quickly summer flies by in the Rockies, but that’s what makes this place so beautiful. Nothing lasts long enough around here for us to take it for granted.
Including my best girlfriend Renee, who moved back to California a few weks ago. I’m so bummed that she left but we’ll see her again when we head to warmer climates in winter.
But, just this week, fellow road tripper friends Lisa and Sean have decided to lay down some roots in Fort Collins for a while, so that’ll be fun.
This is the first summer we’ve had in years that feels peaceful, beautiful and in sync with all that we treasure in this world.
The feeling isn’t so much because we’re staying put and getting into a routine (we are already talking about where we’re going to spend winter). It’s because we feel like we belong here. This is the first place we’ve ever lived where it feels like our hearts are meant to be here.
The Rockies are being very, very good to us and we are grateful. Thank you Jerry.
Boozing, gambling, war, trucking and three legged dogs. Does pleasure reading get any better than this?
When I first heard about how author Richard Ide logged over a million miles as a long haul trucker while perfecting the fine art of writing, I knew I had to read his book, “3 Aces,” which resulted from those travels.
I guessed that anyone who’s led the life of a trucker, dealt cards in Atlantic City and sold stocks on Wall Street, must have a good story to share. And I was right. Don’t let the vague title or cover art fool you: like a cold Shiner on a hot summer day, 3 Aces is good for the soul.
3 Aces is a road trip story based on the life of Abner, a struggling, lonely trucker suffering from Vietnam-era post traumatic stress disorder, who meets Dawn, a younger, divorced alcoholic leading a dead end life while a young daughter waits back at home. When Dawn and Abner team up as long haul truckers and a three legged dog named Pip hops along for the ride, a captivating story unfolds as they travel the highways and byways of America.
Much like a classic country love song, 3 Aces doesn’t pose as highbrow literature. But like a big haired waitress in a Texas diner, 3 Aces serves up a hearty plate of love, politics, forgiveness, redemption and adventure. There’s a side of politics too, as Ide educates readers about global trade and the economic impact it has on the grueling life of truckers who keep the shelves stocked at your nearest Mega-Lo Mart.
Ide’s story is an easy read, and is escapism at it’s finest. He manages to keep a complex story line going with multi-dimensional characters that never run out of gas. He has a knack for character development and conversation details, and describing the highway scenes of America in such vivid detail you’d swear you traveled down that same road. You’ll especially love how he weaves the colorful language of truckers into the story, sharing colloquialisms like “chicken coop” and “plain blue wrappers” with the uneducated public.
3 Aces is a great road tripping book, and it breaks my heart that few people know about it. That’s because of the fearful state of the publishing industry, which wouldn’t give Ide a deal for his story. So Ide went the self publishing route with 3 Aces. The problem with self publishing however, is that unless you’re a marketing guru and can get the story into the public, it’s very difficult to sell copies. Ide has made every effort to get 3 Aces out there, and can still use all he help he can get in moving it.
Whenever I go MIA around here, it usually means I’ve been wrapped up is some major project – one that probably has something to do with three legged dogs. This time is no different.
I haven’t written since that silly Valentine’s Day post because I have been busy launching the all new and much improved Tripawds Gift Shop. This required dusting off the old right brain bits and lubricating my creative gears to come up with loads of new graphic designs for inspawrational three legged dog t-shirts, cards, stickers, mugs and other gift items.
It was fun designing all these new graphics, and it felt good doing it for something I am passionate about, without some client breathing down my neck telling me to make the text bold and red.
Oh, wait … the type on our new Tripawd Power design is bold and red! Well, not really… it’s Cooper Black actually, and more of a crimson. But there I go digressing, here’s the link if you want to talk about typefaces.
I would like to think this represents some of my best work. But that’s not saying much considering I haven’t done any real graphic design work since we sold our business nearly three years ago. But it is a nice feeling knowing that I still got it – if I ever really had it, that is. And it goes to prove that graphic design is like riding a bike, in more ways than one.
If you think you may have lost the touch, just jump back into your favorite Adobe product and start pedaling. And if your chain falls off and you just can’t get it to work right, call a professional. Anyone need a logo?
Our time in L.A. is nearing an end. Over forty days of living in the big city, and we’re getting homesick for our rig. It sits outside under a tree, and the birds are having a party on our roof. It’s time to get the rig out from under the shade, and under a blazing desert sky, where it belongs.
Any time we spend in cities is reassurance that we did the right thing by choosing to live like hillbillies.
We drove on the freeway, and it took us nearly two hours to travel 29 miles. Things are too fast, too crowded and just too much for us.
We’ve had a good visit with the family. Also met some world-renowned canine health professionals and interviewed them for Tripawds. And last week, ate at two of the best Asian restaurants we’ve been to in a while. Both are located in the San Gabriel Valley, where my parents live. These dining experiences reminded us that living in the city isn’t all bad.
Happy Harbor in Rowland Heights served up the best dim sum we’ve had since San Francisco. We also ate at a funky little 40 year old sushi joint in the Hacienda Heights ghetto, Akasaka.
We haven’t had sushi in over a year. We just have a thing about eating sushi anywhere other than the coast. It’s just wrong, and to us, the freshest sushi you can get is definitely worth the wait.
The plan is to leave here on Sunday, after the rains end. We’ll head straight for Slab City, where we a warm desert is waiting for us, with dark night skies and solitude.
Angelenos are getting all worked up over the rain that’s been falling on Southern California. Yesterday, a tornado warning was announced, and minutes later a small “tornadic-like” formation touched down and blew over a car. The hills are sliding and freeways are a mess. Parents are keeping their kids home from school.
Even though this kind of weather action is mild in comparison to our old stomping grounds of rainy, wet Humboldt County, we’re still glad to be staying in a stick house while riding this episode out.
The Los Angeles area hasn’t seen rain since Christmas. I was hoping we wouldn’t see any bad weather this winter, but it is January after all. When the rain started falling, I had to dig our rain jackets out of storage in the RV. Even funnel clouds and heavy rain won’t stop us from going outside every day. That’s because Wyatt Ray just won’t cut us any slack. If our one year-old puppy doesn’t get three walks a day, he will eat the furniture. Morning, noon and night, he begs to go outside for a walk, and we comply. Dogs are great at getting you to break away from work and into the great outdoors.
One morning, as Wyatt led me on a walk during a heavy downpour, my soaking wet clothes were an unpleasant reminder that the Gore-tex water-resistance on my gear is fading away.
Gear lust started whispering in my ear again; I want . . . I want . . . I want. . .
Time to start looking for something else, like maybe a new Berghaus jacket?
One year ago today, we made the hardest call of our lives.
In the most spectacular place on earth, Yellowstone National Park, we woke up that morning and understood that it was Jerry’s time to leave us.
The heartache of saying goodbye to our spiritual leader is still fresh in our hearts. Just thinking about it makes me cry.
Until that day, I never realized how the death of an animal companion could bring a person to their knees with pure grief.
Today, as I look over at ten month old Wyatt, a bundle of fur curled up in front of the fireplace, I know that we are setting ourselves up for another eventual heartbreak.
Their terribly short lives are the price we pay for having Dog as our Co-Pilot.
How can a new dog ever live up to the expectations set by your Forever Dog? Your one true dog who was so nearly perfect, so obedient, so smart, and so loving?
Well, he can’t. And you shouldn’t expect him to either. Because every pup is his own dog, and has new, different, and important lessons to each you.
And so, we are back at our place in Colorado, trying to get into some kind of routine and regular training schedule with our new Tripawd hero, Wyatt Ray. Wyatt is definitely teaching us different lessons than Jerry did. Mostly about patience, and dedication to the positive role that structure plays in life.
Considering the rough start he had in life, he’s doing pretty well. We know Jerry‘s watching out for him (and whispering in his gigantic ears, telling him to stop chewing up our house).
Here’s a quick video Jim made for our Tripawds site, that shows us in our backyard and along the roads where we live, with Wyatt, Tripawd extraordinaire.
We left our new home to go work at Vickers Ranch again, but just for hay season. Well, let me clarify: Jim came here to go buck hay after I volunteered him. I came to help out wherever I’m needed. The hay season went off without a hitch, and the guys finished in record time, just before the rain started this weekend.
We’ll probably hang out here for just another few days, then return to our new digs. There’s a certain puppy who needs some serious training that he can’t get iright now, with so much activity and animals of every sort running around making him crazy.
Jerry, we know you would have a great time with this boy. He’s super hard headed and really smart like you! And while no other dog can ever replace your beautiful self, we know how much you want us to always love life to the fullest. Wyatt is showing us once again what that means.
We knew we were pushing the envelope by staying here this long.
Our plan was to leave this weekend, but we still have so much to do, and wanted Wyatt to get one more lesson in on Saturday morning. He can use all the help he can get. So we decided to leave on Monday or Tuesday.
Looks like our ETA for our friends in southern Colorado….Tinytown, Lake City and Pagosa Springs…won’t be until a week from today, when hopefully we can pull our trailer out of the driveway and up into the muddy, steep 6 percent grade that climbs up to our main county road.
Ah, the joys of puppyhood.
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