On The Road Again

After a 10-day stop-over in Ashland, we're on the move again. We are on the longer leg of our 5 month road-trip, this leg taking us through Colorado to the Midwest (mostly Chicago and Wisconsin) and then on to the South (Georgia and North Carolina) and up the East Coast for fall colors in New England in late-September through mid-October. We stopped in Ashland mostly because Erin had her annual gig up in the Greensprings, providing massage for the participants of a contemplative retreat, but it was also a good opportunity to see friends and neighbors, recharge our batteries and check in on Dallas. We were very happy to see that Dallas has adapted quite well (too well?) to the capable care of Shel and Paula. They've taken to dog ownership remarkably well and Dallas appears happy, healthy and well-fed (although not too well-fed, as they are much more disciplined than I am about giving table scraps) . . .

Dallas mesmerized by the contents of my food bowl

Derek is doing well in Sweden with his girlfriend, Bella. They're staying with Bella's parents in the suburbs of Stockholm and taking occasional trips into the city, to Denmark and other points throughout Sweden. They'll be flying back in to Chicago in mid-August when we're there and they'll be there for ten days before flying on to Portland, where they're moving (they were down in Santa Barbara, California before). Bella will attend a college up there (on a student Visa) and Derek will be doing clothing design for Aedion, a skateboard company.

Bella and Derek

So anyhoo, Erin and I took one of our favorite drives on our way down to Durango, Colorado -- Highway 50, the so-called "Loneliest Road in America," which runs right through the center of Nevada (west to east), close to the old Pony Express Trail in the Basin and Range province of the Great Basin. It's an infrequently traveled road that runs through a sparse and, to us, awesomely beautiful and captivating, desert landscape. The road climbs over numerous passes (ranging from 4,000 to 7,500 feet in elevation) and down into a seemingly endless succession of broad, arid valleys. It's probably not for everybody -- I've talked to a few people who think that it's mind-numbingly tedious -- but Erin and I were in a fairly constant state of awe and delight. Here's the Wiki-link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50_in_Nevada.

A ribbon of glistening highway beckons us towards the horizon

And a short video of the typical landscape outside my window: