Ever since my sister Sara and I took mom on a trip to Montana, I can’t drive through Wyoming without thinking of her. We were traveling in the late afternoon into the evening and the wildlife were very active. Mom said, “Now I know why they wrote that song, ‘Home on the Range!’ There are deer and antelope everywhere!” Iris and I were traveling mid-day so we only saw a few. We spent the night in Evanston, WY after leaving our Colorado family behind.

Barb and Liana and I met 16 years ago when we were all working as gardeners for Garden of the Gods Club. I ended up renting a room from Barb for two years while I lived in Colorado Springs. I hadn’t seen Liana since her twins were just three months old and I was pregnant with Iris. On Friday we all headed up to Barb’s cabin near Twin Lakes – Liana and her husband and kids, Barb and her husband and Iris and I. We all had so much fun and watching the kids play together and playing with them was a real treat. We didn’t know how much English Liana’s kids knew, since they speak mostly Czech at home, but kids are little sponges and there was no language barrier between them. You’d think they’d known each other forever.

On Saturday morning we were trying to decide whether to go for a little hike or take the kayak out and let the kids tootle around the pond. The consensus was “a little hike” so Barb led us to a spot she thought we’d enjoy. Except there was a bike race going on and we didn’t want to keep driving up the gravel road with them coming down. We stopped short of the top of the road where the trail was. There was an overlook at the pullout and we started walking along a game trail. Then we crossed the stream. Then we went up the hill. And up and up until, oops, now the kids are worn out and we have to bushwhack back to the road. Poor Iris had been so excited to go on a hike but she was getting extremely worn out. Towards the end she said, “I should’ve chosen kayaks.” But I explained that this was not a normal hike that I would ever take her on and that usually there is a nice path and we don’t have to bramble over fallen logs or swish branches out of our face. All the kids were such troopers. And I think even all of us adults were happy to see the road. Always an adventure.

Two years ago when I came through I went to the community college where I met my friend Jennifer and I wanted to see the professor that convinced me to become a math major. Instead I got my wallet stolen. I got everything back but not before canceling cards and calling a locksmith to make a new car key. A big hassle. This time when I pulled into the college I received a text from my bank asking if I had made a $389 purchase at Foot Locker. Uh, No! There were two other charges that I didn’t make so I spent the next half hour on the phone with the fraud department, again canceling my debit card. And again not seeing the person I went there to see. Always an adventure. I did get to spend some time with my friend Jennifer. Her and I were math majors and she went on to get her Master’s in Math and teach at the community college where we met. Pretty cool.

And our adventure might be changing course. Possibly. I just found out that the Alaska State Ferry workers are unionized and they went on strike last week. Lots of people are stranded and many travel plans thwarted. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do if negotiations aren’t resolved by Friday when we were planning on getting on in Bellingham. I’m not too keen on driving all the way through Canada, but we shall see. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings too bad if we were just delayed a week. There’s always a little more exploring to do.