Tales from the Trails

Tales from the Trails Post #6 People, Places and Things Revisited... PEOPLE We gained a new BC Boy in Fernie, Ed's law school buddy Bret,  who  looks like he wants to sue me for taking this pic Ed contemplating the scenery from the top deck of the longest FREE car ferry in the world: the Kootenay Lake Ferry Not to be outdone, James on the trail contemplating as hard as Ed The new core four posing for a ubiquitous selfie Johni, one of the amazing characters we've met along the way, and owner of Old Cowboy Ranch.  Here Johni shows me to our campsite amongst her peacocks and horses One of the many, many, many ice cream vendors we've had the pleasure to meet Somewhere along the way I lost a tooth, but kept smiling Halfway through the trip we began taking pics before the day's ride, with fingers raised indicating the number of days spent on the trail. We rarely agreed on the number, and here Bret refuses to take part altogether, as he'd been on the road longer than we.  ...

Tales from the Trails Post #5 During this trip, particularly when driving alone in the sag wagon, I've had time for contemplation, and invariably think about my family, meaning my wife and our two kids, and also my parents and siblings. Both of my parents have died within the last few years, and while I miss their physical presence, I feel them with me in the van. I promise this post is about our bike trip, but bear with me during the dad forward parts. As I recall, my father, a fairly serious man, said three funny things to me during his long and happy life. I'm sure there were more, but three have stuck with me.  One of the three was uttered as he and I sat on the back deck of the early nineteenth century Colonial he'd moved the family into after we headed east from Michigan to Connecticut, when I was twelve.  I was in my mid-twenties at the time of the quip. The moon was high in the sky, lighting all of his three acres. I could make out the large pine at the property lin...