Heading Home

Despite so many wonderful experiences during my recent time in foster care, it's time to head towards home. Before I do, however, let me take a few lines to acknowledge many of the people, in no particular order, who have made this such an enjoyable trip:

• Eliza and Sarah, for the High Trestle Trail ride;
• Jim from Charter Oak, for opening the town pool early, and for sharing his love of pedal tractors;
• Boudreax, of Boudreax's Butt Paste (it really works!);
• Grandma, of Grandma's Ice Cream Shop in Wood Lake, Nebraska, who became a great-grandma while I was having lunch;
• Sheriff outside Chadron, NE, who had ice-cold water and was willing to share;
• Hajar, Carl, and their families in the Black Hills to scatter the ashes of a friend;
• Mark and his wolves, outside Deadwood, SD;
• Jim Davis, rancher with land on both sides of rt. 212 in Montana, for the refreshments and the natural history lesson;
• All the people in Crow Agency who told me where to go to get out of the path of the coming storm;
• Tom and Marina, for taking in and taking out a total stranger in Billings;
• Dan and Marcia, such wonderful company in Bozeman;
• Milo and Alex, kind libertarians at the Big Bad Lunch Box, in Columbus, MT;
• Nick, on the way up to Glacier to hike with his dad;
• All the suitably insane riders in the Tour Divide, whom I met in Ovando, MT;
• Cathy, Isabel, and James, who somehow get along with an ornery ram and a spitting llama - and let's not talk about the turkey;

To be continued...