What Happened to My Bucket List?

The weather was against us. I had no desire to drive home in the snow, so we checked into a Hampton Inn near the Denver airport, ordered pizza, and called it a night.

Next morning, I was up and out the door by 6:30, greeted by these warnings on the highway. Mark had to wait until 4 pm to catch a flight to PDX, then rent a car to drive to Salem. 

We both got home about the same time.  As I look out the window this morning, I'm glad for the choice we made. 

The radar weather today from Denver to Minneapolis would not have been fun. It took me 14 hours with good roads. I've driven bad roads as a field sales rep, it's nothing to take lightly.

What was accomplished this trip? (In no particular order)

• I spent two weeks with Mark, my brother and my best friend, one of my few friends in decades.

• That taught me a bit about why I don't have more friends, I'm not easy.
• We both learned what impact our fucked up childhood still has on us today.

• I got to see the West!
• Cutting across the route we took was a first for us both.

The original route through Mesa Verde would have gotten me home the 30th.

What we ended up driving, due to weather warnings.

Day Three

Day Three

Woke up Snake Lake by Quincy. Got up, packed up, and got out of there. No time for coffee so I was crabby as hell for night at least. 

 

Just saw the weather forecast. Instead of getting home the 30th I’ll be getting in late on the 24th. Dropping Mark at Denver airport, spending night at my cousins Glenn, if he’s home. 

My dreams are shattered, no Mesa Verde for me. Pardon my French but #FUCK!

Day Two

Day 2

Got up to 45° but no wind and quick packing to go to Reno.

Then we saw one sign that said Burney Falls. With the lighting that time of day it was some great shots!

We were going to climb Lassen Peak. Too steep for old guys like us. We went a third of the way up and I searched for obsidian.

I like me some big lime cones, uh huh. 

Mark at the sulphuric springs. He said it smells like thousand year old eggs. 

That shit is 212° 

Mark got his way and we camped off a lumber road in the middle of nowhere. Nobody for miles. Then a pickup with a couple guys in cammo drove by slowly. After hearing Mark’s horror stories of what could happen out here in the middle of bumbfuck where nobody can hear you screaming, I didn’t like these passerbies. “Oh yeah, watch out for bats,” Mark said, to quell my nerves. 

 

Day One

Day 1

Camping between McCloud and Burnie, on a PGE reservoir. 77° no wind, mostly sunny, dusty as hell. Campsite has a Biffy, so my digestive system shut down, I won’t shit for days. Whether it’s in the Boundary Waters or California, I can’t use those things. And only once did I look down in one. (You have to make sure there are no critters. )

No showers so we took a dip in the water that Mark figures is 60°.  Like a 3 hour nap.

As  dusk  approached Mark suggested a hike. Before long he said to watch out for rattlers.  From there came the warnings about wild boars, cougars, rabid packs of dogs, and roving bands of armed teens who are looking for hippies.

E Start Tomorrow

 Our tentative route, depending on fire and gunfire dangers in cowboy country.

One More Before We Leave

 We put the plastic over his expanded greenhouse and now he has to totally regrade the whole thing. I can come out and help him in March.

I said I’d help if we make them look like a Netter Homes & Gardens competition.

Six weeks after the Santiam fire

 Mark knew this valley and the town of Detroit well. It’s gone. On September 9th, 60 mph winds made a mess.

There is some irony in seeing the forestry headquarters burned to the ground. Bad management or just a really bad fire?

People are seen still poking through the rubble, long after the news crews close up shop. 

This place had some great antique vehicles here, I remember eating there. 

The darker the trees, the hotter it burned. 

This could be an advertisement for a vault company, if they could open it.

Those creosote soaked guard rails didn’t fare too well in the fire.

Fire humor. Too soon?

Mark’s forestry question: what do they do with The small 10 - 15 year old trees this size? Can’t really plant new trees and digging these out and burning them would be exorbitant in cost?

“You did what?”

“We lost the fire truck.”

“You can’t find it?”

“No, it burned.”

 Before...

After... 

It’s getting weird

 I’ve smoked four packs of Marlboro 100’s in the first week out here, the whole last pack yesterday, and quit cold turkey today. Two single guys, out on the town. With masks. One is Jonesing his fucking ass off from 14 hours of no nicotine. 

#WhatchaGonnaDo? 

So, we take a funny picture and now people are worried about me. #LightenUp 

Let me tell you the back story to this photo. My cousin, Dr. Glenn Pearson, my brother and I are walking along and an attractive woman🥶, walking with a pit bull, says, “I gotta say, I’m digging on this whole vibe thing you have going on here.”

For the next two blocks Glenn and Mark teased me for being the sole target of her admiration. I relented and confessed that I  never worked hard, I got by on my looks. 

Mark even says I’m better looking now than I was back in my prime sales achievement days. Then the angel wings appeared on the mural and I was embarrassed so I had to be cutesy by showing my 31” waist. No, it’s not a bra. 

Stay tuned. It’s gonna get weird, if that’s what it takes to go viral. #ClickBait

Side Trip to the Coast

 We had sunny weather so we went to see a couple lighthouses. Then it got cloudy and foggy so we headed back, being able to see two, of which only one was worthy.

We stopped at the tourist trap on this side of the bridge.

And heard some sea lions.

On the 7th day, they rested.

That’s our goal, to rest on the 7th day. We will do some building, (which apparently Mark is no more proficient at than me), then head up to Portland to see where the protest parties are being held. 

Mark believes the protest organizers are paid by the government, and the FBI infiltrators are the ones pushing for violence and destruction so the feds can then going and bust some heads. 

I have this sinking feeling he’s correct. Before the current administration started bashing the CIA, FBI, etc. I too was not happy with their handling of everything from starting coupes, overthrowing governments on behalf of our multinational companies who don’t pay taxes, etc...

We will be back to building, cleaning, straightening, etc. but measuring, cutting, etc. is not my forte so we shal do that stuff in the clear mornings. 

We finished it before lunch!

Uneventful flight busy busy busy

The plane was 25% full, if that. Felt safe but glad I’m not flying home.

Mark has a great do-list for me around the house:

1. Repair lawn mover ✔️ 
2. Fix weed wackier ✔️ 
3. Clean the fucking junk out of front yard 
4. Oil squeaky hinges
5. Replace toilet seat ✔️ 
6. Fix front door handle 
7. Clean work room ✔️ 
8. Fix Bluetooth speakers w computer
9. Transfer songs from PC to Phone
10. Install oven
11. Build canoe rack 
12. Install my old frog fountain.  ✅ 

Mark loaned me these shoes to wear indoors. He uses them for gardening. He used to come home from college for Christmas with and empty suitcase. After he left we’d see what clothes he took. 

I was given the privilege of creating a workspace for Mark in his room, soon to be known as his shop. He liked it, let’s hope he keeps it functional. I’m not one to judge but...

On a sour note, we failed miserably on building the canoe/kayak rack. We’ll take a third shot at it this morning. Just because certain things are legal in some states doesn’t mean you do them before using power tools. I’m not one to judge myself...

No glamping this time.

First things first. What to bring!

I'm into Glamping so packing for a plane trip is tough. But the owner of the car is a family friend and they are setting Mark and me up with camping gear. 

I’m more concerned about the 50 lbs Delta limit on my checked bag. Don’t judge me, I like my gadgets. 

I weighed in at 164 at the start of my trip.