We are in Golden, CO at Dave’s parents’ house getting ready. We each had a trip this past weekend–I went to see my family in Yakima (an awesome time) and Dave spoke at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium–and now it’s back to work.

Dave’s getting the final paperwork done for his Professional Engineer certification, we’re going to go shopping for food we can send to ourselves along the way, and then lots of bike work needs to be done. I’m also working on the website, adding in tidbits here and there to make things easier while on the trail. I’m really wondering how often we’ll find internet access along the Divide. It will likely be at public libraries, of which I’ve tracked down a few.  It’s going to be quite an adjustment for this web designer to disconnect for days at a time.

We’re expecting to leave Golden on Saturday and start the ride on August 2nd.

We left Durango after a quick visit to Fort Lewis College, where Dave spent his first two years of college and had an enormous amount of fun. We headed north, aiming for the Orient Land Trust Valley View Hot Springs, just north of Saguache and Alamosa. Sarah and Brian had highly recommended them, and we could quickly see why. The springs are located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with a view of the San Luis Valley below. Friday night we enjoyed a long sauna, a swim in the pool and then a soak in the hot tub while it lightly sprinkled rain. Saturday morning we went for a bike ride down the dirt road and a jeep trail, which became steep and loose and I took my hardest spill yet on my bike. With a very sore bum, I rode slowly back to the beckoning hot springs and Dave went on for a longer, harder ride. He must have really jammed, because he arrived back only about ten or twenty minutes after I did.

This time we hiked up a bit to the natural pools on the hillside, which are filled by and drain back into rushing streams headed for the valley below. I soaked out some of the soreness of the fall and soon we felt ready to pack up and get back on the road.

We drove a few hours through stunning mountains, climbing one pass after another until we finally arrived in Golden to stay with Dave’s parents, Richard and Jan. We visited a bit, learning that Dave’s nephew Blaise was waiting here ALL AFTERNOON for him to arrive. We got to see him (and Dave’s brother Eric and his wife Jen) Sunday morning after Blaise’s swim meet. It was fun to meet Dave’s family and watch him play with Blaise.

Now Dave is working on his presentation and classes for this weekend’s Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium. I’m working on back end details of the website and we’re chatting with Dave’s parents about our drive north to the starting point of the Great Divide trail.

We hope to be on the trail around the first of August. In the mean time, there’s Dave’s trip to Michigan for the symposium, and my visit to see my family in Yakima, some work to be done on the bikes, some packing, and a test ride or two. Stay tuned…

We left Flagstaff finally on Wednesday (7/11) at about 5:00 pm with a pizza and a completely loaded truck and arrived in Durango, CO around 2 am Thursday morning. We set up the tent at a free campground at Hermosa Creek and slept to the sound of rain sprinkling and a breeze blowing through the pines. Thursday we rode right from camp up the Hermosa Creek trail for a couple of hours until the rain poured so hard the trail became a river of mud. We sat out the worst of it under a huge pine and then headed back down. Where the trail was smooth and firm before it was now slick and I ended up falling two or three times, though it was more funny than alarming. As I continued on the wet bushes brushed off the worst of the evidence and by the time things dried out I was only half covered in mud. What fun!

We drove back into Durango to visit with Dave’s great aunt and uncle Paul and Ann, who generously allowed us to use their shower to clean up. They swapped stories and updates of family members from Colorado to Wisconsin. Once everyone was caught up, we all drove downtown to meet Dave’s cousin Sarah and her new husband Brian for dinner. After dinner Sarah, Brian, Dave and I walked around town and then sat in the Strater Hotel bar and chatted for a few more hours.

Another night at the quiet Hermosa Creek campground got us caught up on sleep, and the next morning we spent working on our brakes as the steep muddy trail did them in the day before. I learned that the really “crunchy” sound that I was hearing the day before was very bad and that I should check my brake pads more often. I had worn through the pads and was down to the metal, which was wearing slightly on the rim. This would be a really bad thing if we were on tour because I’ll need all the strength of my rims to carry a loaded bike on rough roads, and good rims are probably hard to come by in places like Africa. So, this girl learned a good lesson in keeping an eye on my bike components regularly.

I’m sitting in the cafe in Bookman’s in Flagstaff using their free wireless to work on this site. I’m officially homeless and jobless this Monday afternoon, feeling the swirl of thoughts and emotions that come with such a big life change. I have a week left here in Flag, at the end of which Dave gets back from the Maldives, where he’s installing wind turbines as his last project for Southwest Windpower. In the mean time, I’ll be working on getting this site ready and visiting friends.