The Kindness of Strangers (and friends).

I bought the three man backpacking tent so when we were sleeping with the dogs, I could really spread out and get my pillow spoon on. It was a necessary purchase that Linds and I bought after spending a soggy, sleepless night pretending that the two of us and both dogs would be nice and cuddly in her Big Agnus ultra lightweight 2-man. We were in REI before 11am the next day. Little did I know then that the new 3-man, not even broke-in would be host to Linds, Jillian(her sister), dog and I; spooning and watching Lord of the Rings. Coooommfy! A great little camp next to the Blue River north of Frisco, Colorado was what we needed to get our little stay in Denver started.

Our new Logo!

 Jillian was dropped the next day back at school and after naps in the grass at Johnson Wales campus Linds and I headed to Red Rocks to see Further. Pretty good sets included Me and My Uncle and The Wheel, and closed with China-Rider. If you havent been to a show at Red Rocks, go. A steep, naturally acoustic amphitheater overlooking the lights of Morrison, Colorado- it was awesome.

Surprisingly clearheaded after a show like this, we headed north to Boulder to pay a visit to a dear friend of mine from ten years ago when working at Yellowstone Park. Courtney Ballagh and her husband Brandon were great. We drank beer, watched football and reminisced. We got fed, got clean, and got happy. Thanks you guys!

Our plan was to head down through Taos to pick up my brother Garrett and do a few days backpacking Havasupai, but we needed a spot in between to park the van and sleep. A few days prior we had received and email from Mike and Trish, who had seen our roadtripper profile on drivetheamericas.com. After writing back and forth, they invited us out for a beer in their little mountain town of Salida, Colorado! Right between us and Taos! Mike and Trish had gotten home in May after spending 20 months driving down to Argentina and back. And they are killer hosts. We were surrounded by stories of their travels, tips on where to camp/park, and contacts at Seaboard Marine- a trnasport company that will help move our van from Colon, Panama to Cartegena, Columbia. Amazing folks, complete strangers with no desire but to help Linds and I with some stories (and relive their trip a little perhaps). They had us park that night next to their Volkswagon Westy in Salida and life was good. By the way, of the places we've driven through over the last month, Salida is most likely the perfect mountain town. Check out their story at southwestytravels.blogspot.com.

Mike & Trish in Bolivia(i think.)

We drove south through the high plains of Colorado, between the earthships and geodesic domes of the Taos plateau and met my brother and his girl at their home in Albuquerque. He lives almost next door to a very serious carneceria and had not yet been, so Linds and I grabbed two pounds of carne asada and some homemade tortillas and pico de gallo and got to work! 

Blue River

We now sit in Flagstaff, AZ getting ready to hike into Havasupai in the morning. A few days will find us in Tucson, and a few after that, San Diego. We can hear Mexico's sweet call already and almost taste the fish tacos in Ensenada. 10 more days...

standin on a corner in winslow az