Bon Voyage!

Yes...a selfie with a Tucumcari sign...I'd been in a car for 9 hours...it's what you do!

These last three weeks have found my emotions ebbing and flowing, like the Colorado River I’ll call home starting Sunday, for 17 days.  What? …my emotions fluctuating like a middle school girls hormones, what a surprise!  With that said, I continue to support my statement that everyday has been and is better than the last.

I left for the Grand Canyon this morning at 7:15 and 9 and 1/2 hours later, landed in Tucumcari, New Mexico for the night.  Route 66 is tattooed on most buildings and in every direction I turned, as I drove around town, after checking in at the Blue Swallow Motel.  It was easy to see the main drag in its hay day, with neon lighting up the evening, while tourist checked in for the night.  Tonight, I am one of those tourists, but the neon is less prevalent, since Hwy 40 stole the thunder from under Route 66.  Nonetheless, it is still worth a drive by.

Daylight...

Nightlight...

The whole place lit up at night

My bungalow.

This last week, or should I say 4 days, was devoted to packing.  I thought I would be ready in two days and have a couple to relax before heading out.  The extra two days were used to consolidate, weed out, pack, and repack numerous times.  Its hard to prepare for anything, mostly weather related, when I have limited space.  We’re supposed to have one large and one small dry bag.  I have an extra smallish one.  The more I take, the heavier the raft becomes.  The heavier the raft, the less maneuverable, along with I’m sure other disadvantages to rowing an aircraft carrier on moving water.  Less is more…wait, I don’t get that saying.  Let’s say, less is better!

Of course, since this will most likely be my one and only bucket trip down the canyon, I purchased a GoPro camera and more crap to go with it than I ever imagined, to record the good  (and not so much of the bad and ugly).  I must say they are incredible pieces of technology.  Of course there is the point and shoot camera I use for blog pics.  And then there are the scores of batteries to last almost 3 weeks for both cameras.  I’m not even taking my good digital.  That would have required it’s own raft!

Clothes and gear made up the bulk of my dry bag space.  There are river clothes, camp clothes, hiking clothes, and probably missing clothes I forgot.  All I know is that I will either become good at rinsing out my clothes or I’ll be sitting alone a lot in the evenings around the fire.  I’ll get some trained eyes on my stuff in the next day or two before a final packing.

I’m anxious to meet the other 15 water adventurers, of which I only know a few.  I’m anxious to see how my few hours of practice on a smaller raft, a year ago, will translate to bigger, faster water and hundreds more pounds of weight, spread over more square footage.  They tell me I can (old coaching tactic).  Therefore, I will!

Now of course, that leaves Miki.  I have her little blue, stocking cap she wore last year to keep her beautiful, bald head warm.  I’ll be wearing it at night and in the cool morning hours before we hit the water trail.  Of course I will be looking over at the paddle raft, where she would have taken her place, as she would have dug into the rapids to keep herself and the raft steady.  She’ll be with me as she is with you.  In 4 days, I’ll see the beauty of the canyon and I’ll feel the beauty of her soul, as she sits beside me.  This trip, that has been over a decade in the making, is about to become as real as it gets.

My Zen from the Road:  It is hard to imagine participating in this trip without Miki.  And with the love and support towards this trip from family and friends I have received, it is hard to imagine doing it without you as well.  Just like the impressions our friends carry with them of us when we are apart, I will be carrying you with me.  If you feel a little adrenaline rush one day or maybe an inspirational feeling of sorts, it may be me channeling to you an exciting trip down a rapid or a particularly beautiful sunset.  Just know that you have been an important piece of this journey too.

P.S.  Due to no internet in the canyon, I’ll be sharing the adventure after the fact, upon returning home…see you on the blog after March 25 sometime!  Bon voyage!