Ok, that was a bit longer than a few days. We got busy, preparing for the fourth of July, just doing our thing... we sold the boat, took it back to Kansas, the tranny in the suburban sustained a bit of damage, forcing a decision, fix it or get rid of it... we got no calls on the Honda, also for sale... and then one day, I came home to find both the surban and the car missing, and a few hours later, a shiny red Dodge truck sat in their place. We are FINALLY down to two vehicles in the driveway. Two that belong to B and me, anyway.

Our hike that I promised a report on seems a long time ago. Perhaps I can just gloss over that one. We dragged ourselves out of the forest after thirteen hours of hiking, with packs on our backs, much lighter with less than half the water we started with, bug bitten, scratched, sore... but I had fun, and I think B did too, from time to time. The biggest problem was the fallen trees, affected by the infestation of Rocky Mountain Pine Beetles that have taken over Summit County, killing all the trees too old to fight them off, and turning the area into kindling, just waiting for a spark to turn it into a conflagration. After a ninety mile an hour wind several weeks ago, dead and dying trees dominoed into each other by the hundreds, making the trail very tedious, around, over, and through all the fallen timber. We'll do the other half another day.

We camped at Scott Lake while we were in Kansas delivering the boat to it's new owners. A small glitch along I70, involving hot oil, a malfunctioning transmision, and a limping second half of the trip prevented us from doing the Cedar Bluff thing. We compromised by camping by the much smaller lake where a much earlier portion of our former lives were spent. Didnt even get our toes wet. It was nice, though, much warmer than Colorado nights. The mourning doves woke us at an unearthly hour. We thought we would never adjust to the ravens (I have been told they are ravens because crows do not live at this altitude... I don't know that for a fact) outside our bedroom window in the morning, but the mourning doves were actually a bit more annoying by now. The two of us have lived in Kansas for a total of about twenty five years, and neither of us have ever camped at the lake. It was time. I somehow went to sleep beside the fire, muttering things I do not remember saying, although b swears I said them, and he dragged me to the tent sometime after midnight.


Back in Summit county, the weather has been almost hot. Mid eighties, some real scorchers. I drive around with the top down and the top half of the doors removed on the jeep, and have eternally bad hair these days. I am happy that those big, wide headbands are in this year. they keep the flyaways somewhat in check. On Sunday, we finally went on a long-promised bike ride with the neighbors. We burned through the back ranch, on trails that finally have names for us. The most exhilerating portion of our three hour ride was the twisty, dark Blair Witch trail, trees barely spaced far enough apart to allow ones handlebars to squeek between them. Now that we know how to find it, we will be taking it again. But now... the hinder regions hurt. We have not had nearly enough time on the saddle to toughen up those areas.