| 2745/150869
8 November 2003
Fall is my favorite season. True it's usually too
early to ski, and sometimes too wet to bike, occasionally too cold
to run and never warm enough to swim, but it's perfect for sweaters,
pumpkin pie, hearty soup and Saturdays spent reading.
This year fall has lasted barely a week for me.
Ten days ago, I drove out of California on a hot, dry, smoky day,
driving straight passed Vegas, through Arizona (where the wind picked
up), keeping on all the way across Utah to Moab.
I was a little nervous about getting out of the car since I was
wearing a little jean skirt and my supergirl t-shirt, but I was
greeted by a warm breeze (wind) and clear skies. Jenny drove from
Aspen to meet me (what a good friend!) at Eddie McStiffs for a beer
before we headed back out to camp in the Colorado River canyon.
We found a spot quickly and set up the tent. She insisted on putting
on the rain tarp, which I at first objected to -- I wanted to look
at the stars.... no stars in Orange County! -- but it was a good
idea because the wind howled all night and we were still covered
in sand when we woke up.
We rode Porcupine Rim trail on Thursday under near perfect weather
-- sunny and 70 -- if it weren't for the wind that constantly hammered
us all along the rim. It's my new favorite ride in Moab, despite
its 14.2 miles of brutal rock hopping (and I'm proud to say I stayed
on my bike nearly the whole way, walking only the REALLY big drops!).
My arms were so tired that night that the bartender at Eddie McStiffs
gave me a straw after I nearly toppled my beer (God bless Patrick!).
Later back at the campfire, Jenny and I feasted on roast marshmallows
and wine before passing out at 9:30. After a short recovery ride
the next morning, we packed up camp and said goodbye.
There's nothing like fall in Moab... the Aspen's are gold, the rocks
are red, and the skies are bright blue. It was warm and dry and
we stunk like a hard day's work. But, my two days of fall were over
and it was time for winter. It was still warm in Moab but Jenny
and I put sweaters on because we heard it was snowing in Colorado.
Betsey and I jetted across the western slope and Vail pass making
great time all the way to Eisenhower (tunnel that is). Coming around
the corner near Silver Plume I thought I saw smoke up ahead but
it was clouds. It was as if in three days I had driven from July
to December. As I descended into Denver, it became very dark, wet,
snowy and icy (which I want to point out is VERY atypical weather).
It was quite a shock to the system. I had been listening to my Swedish
"Absolute Summer" but I felt as though I should put in
Frank Sinatra's Christmas Album -- and keep in mind... it was only
Halloween! When I got to Camilla's house she wanted me to try on
my costume, her mom had made us Greek Goddess dresses, but I suggested
she take me out and hose me down first. I had so much sand in my
ears it's amazing I could hear!
The whole weekend was cold, cloudy and snowy. On Sunday we hauled
up to Boulder for brunch at the teahouse. All the Boulderites, even
the baby ones, were dressed in designer fleece and North Face jackets.
Camilla and I split the Norwegian Scramble in honor of our Swedish
friend Malin (only she, and maybe my brother Joe, will see the humor
in that).
I got to hang in Boulder on Monday too and grabbed an Illegal Pete's
burrito for lunch. I hung with Jason in Ft. Collins on Tuesday before
packing up for MI. Wednesday morning, we woke to about an inch (of
snow) on top of Betsey. It was cloudy as I headed up I-25 to Wyoming.
It cleared up a bit when I crossed the border and was snowy all
the way into Nebraska. I spent the night in Adair, Iowa because
I was out of gas and the gas station was closed. Fortunately, I
was an hour from Des Moines, almost exactly half-way. Thursday was
a great day of driving. Cold, sunny, dry. And surprisingly enough,
after 5 days of cold, gray weather in Colorado, it's sunny here
in Michigan. I'm not counting on it to last, but I'll enjoy it as
long as it does!
Unfortunately, Michigan State is loosing 30 to 17 to Ohio St. and
with 6:29 left in the 4th quarter it doesn't look like it's gonna
be turned around. Well, it's time to go shopping.
I'll spend the next few weeks preparing for the big move. I have
to gather together all my warmest clothes.
ps... the title of this email are the miles on Betsey... the first
one, how many miles I drove from my driveway in San Clemente to
the driveway in Okemos, and the second, Betsey's total miles....
all but about 17000 of those are mine... |
