Southeast Asia...week 1

Day 1 1.1.18 Monday At Home

The last several days have been mixed...during the day we organize, plan, and pack, making arrangements for the whole trip, planning our work in the Cambodian Orphanage, the Street Kids feeding program, teaching English and thinking about life/English teaching in the Monastery. Each activity distracts from completing the other areas needing attention, leaving us feeling scattered while trying to prepare and engage in Christmas and New Years Cheer/activities. At nite is a different experience for me... I sleep to get rid of tiredness and then wake to ruminate about thinking we should not go because of age and condition/incapacity and thinking about what could happen to us (robbery or not liking what we are suppose to do), not being adequately prepared with ideas and materials, not wanting to be so far from home for such a long time, and anything else negative. Worried about how to safely carry and manage the money and credit cards. To remember and relieve the struggles is why I started writing the log this early. 

Day 2 1.2.18 Tuesday Paying Ahead

We had prepared to pay our Vietnam and Mongolian expenses today. However, we know how and how much to wire to Footprint in Vietnam. but we have not had regular contact and information from Evaneous, Chris Smith the manager of our tour with the Mongolian Secret History company, also referred to as Evaneous. At the GSC Orientation we must present a 15 minute program about teaching; our ideas are two fold- 1. Brainstorm the supplies needed in a first aid kit and where to get them 2. Quick response to maladies ...things one should do in the first 30 seconds of a health crisis... cuts, bite, burns, broken bone, unconscious, not breathing, hit, accident listing in 30 seconds by the group. Paid for the Vietnam tour this am with a wire from our bank. We got a note from our Mongolia tour person and will talk with him Wednesday eve. We worked out this am and I swam after business things pre noon. Marnie shopped and I read in the afternoon. We were given tickets for the UW v IU basketball game tonite - we are eating early to attend. We arranged the means of confirming our flight reservations and checking in thru our ticket booker. 

Day 3 1.3.18 Wednesday repacking and organizing materials

We have reorganized our period to teach in Cambodian training- present several ideas, 30 seconds to respond to a malady, first Aid kits of the orphanage, school attached to the feeding program like in Grahamstown ZA, basic math, and English and concepts of early education. Went to the gym and mall walk before 8am and done by 10. Going to shop for meds and other items to take with us. We have tee shirts, waist packs, calculators, flag pins, soccer balls, footballs, inflator/pump, games, chalk, washable markers, pencils, dodge balls, toothbrushes/paste and some meds packed. 

Day 4 1.4.18 Thursday  Muddle thru

Below zero again with 3 inches of snow. In am I am very apprehensive and scared about going on the trip and working in Cambodia. I feel unhealthy, too weak, not being able to keep my weight program going and unprepared. During the day and as we sort out all the issues to prepare and pay I feel  more positive. Did circuits and walked in the am and swam and visited a friend in the afternoon. Patty Rue, our house sitter, and her husband arrived so we could review the issues and have dinner together. Finally got the finances prepared and now for confirmation of payment for Vietnam Footprint tour during February.

Day 5 1.5.18 Friday confirmed flight to Phnom Penh 

Marnie and I discussed our fearful feelings and apprehension. Payment for Vietnam was confirmed so most of the loose ends are closed...just packing. Confirm flights and do check in. Walked, worked out, and swam. Checking with airline and getting boarding passes. Washed the pilot in the aft and looked for things to take for acquaintances. Patty has moved in and we are in the process of reviewing the home closing for the weekend as she will go home after taking us to the bus.

Day 6 1.6.18 Saturday WE FLY...and fly

Up at 4am, -9 degrees and to the 5:45, driven by Patty Rue. Very poor sleep and anxious but we shall mellow out and make the most of the day..14+6 hours on a plane. Bus was on time and got us to terminal #5 where we checked in and thru TSA by 9am. So far no frustration and now we wait until 11:30 to load. 7.5 hrs-1/2 way thru the first ride we have been in the dark for sleeping and tv watching... we flew over Yellowknife to northern Alaska and across the Bering Straights into  Siberia - we watched the snow covered mountainous landscape and the ice flows from the back windows of the plane. Spent much time reading the “short history of the world”. We crossed the Bering straights, passed over western Russia,  down the Sea of Okhotsk, over North Korean and into Seoul on time  14 + hours. After less than 2 hrs layover we were flying over the Pacific and east of Taiwan, and on to Phnom Penh. We paid 24$$s for pushers and carriers. 29 hours since we left home, exhausted but quite happy as the entire trip went off without a hitch. Even got our 4 bags at the end without a problem and thru customs and immigration with no problems..think the assisted travel really helps.

Day 7    1.8.18 Monday Orientation starts 

We are staying at the Golden Gate Hotel for orientation. Up at 7 for walk around the block and 8 AM breakfast. It is amazing how much commerce is compacted into 4 linear  blocks. The electric wiring is amazing (worse than LaPaz). $1 equals 4000 real, 1000 R = $.25. We went to the National Museum in the late morning and I started to feel woozy- tired, jippy tummy, over heated, and weak-so I got a ride back to our room. After barfing, cooling down and having a movement I spent 3.5 hrs sleeping til a social hour and driving to dinner. I ate very little stable food, soup and chicken. I received a ride back to the hotel after dinner and got comfortable. We are feeling out of place but reading and writing.

Day 8 1.9.18 Tuesday For more orientation

Awake at 3am as too much sleep in aft and evening 2ndary to not feeling well - Poor internet so not much entertainment, but stayed up and prepared for the day and early morning walk then walked the block twice. Breakfast at 6:30 but only had 1 cup of coffee, but much good, solid food. We then had a language lesson for an hour. Next we went to Kings Palace and Wat Phnom. Then a nice lunch and lots of talk about forensic cases with 3 of the students. Only ate cashews and 2 glasses of lemon juice and soda.  Next we went to PCU university for lecture/presentation by Mr. Cham about the oppressive development of Cambodia and his leadership institute at the university - great inspirational presentation. We then went to see the workout and swim facilities at Hawarmith hotel with Rick and Maxine. We came back to mellow and they stayed to eat.

Day 9 1.10.18 Wednesday moving to work site day

Awake at 3 and thinking about our presentation today- ideas at 3am. We will work in two areas: education and first aid. Education includes early education  developmental material collected by Marnie (colors, numbers, calculators, pencils, alphabet, Uno card games, memory games) and I collected physical activities materials (5 soccer balls 10 footballs and dodgeballs, backpacks, shirts, waist packs, etc). The second education area is to attach a school option to the street children and feeding program  like Grahmstown, (township with 80% unemployment)- kids who weren’t ever in schools were placed by skill (15 yr old in 1st grade), all meals provided, weekend packs with family food goes home, family placement in housing and pay rent if losing house jeopardized the kids education. Second area- first aid and self care-1.  First aid materials for complete 1st aid kits at feeding center and the orphanage, and 2. Self care & 1st aid in 30 seconds..bitten, on fire, list, etc. made presentation and then others did the same. We had lunch at VCDO and then drove to the Killing Fields for a tour. Then we drove to a celebration we did not understand called “My Cambodia”. Then we drove back to VCDO in ungodly terrible traffic and it took 2 hours for the return trip which took 45 minutes out. Meeting for tomorrow with Chamroeun, manager of Center. I discovered I left my glasses in the other van, they did not warn us of a change in vehicles for the last part of our trip. 

Day 10 1.11.18 Thursday First day of work

VCDO..Volunteers for Children and Development Organization, Manager Mr. Mao Chammy, wise young man. Up at 4:30 after poor sleep with 76 rating on CPAP, but was able to go back to sleep and ended at 7 with a 96. We had toast and coffee for breakfast and the tuk tuk came for us at 8:30 for a 45 minute ride to the street feeding program. After a short orientation, Marnie worked in the open kitchen distributing as much rice/chicken/broth as children of all ages wanted. At the site the children also were given showers, their hair was washed and they were given clean clothes as needed. The remainder of the time there they played marbles, soccer kicking, running etc. When morning school let out some children came for food in school uniforms (unlike the early street kids - we think). I spent time kicking the ball and providing contact comfort on my lap for 2 kids - a girl of 4 and a boy of 18 months- for 2 hours, til they burned out. At noon we returned to VCDO for lunch and rest (we initially thot we wouldn’t need it, but the heat and activity laid us low). I am not eating yet and trying to recover from jippy tummy– Diarrhea and vomiting. At 1:30 we went to the orphanage (Sacrifice Families and Orphans Development Association) for orientation provided by an English speaking 30 yr old lady who had lived in the orphanage from age 10 til she married. Great person. After touring the facility of 52 kids, 16 girls only, Marnie hung out with the girls while I kicked a small ball with a Down’s syndrome kid and a 3-4 yr old. After they burned out I attended and assisted in a math class - taught by an Univ accounting student to 10-12 kids. The kids are in schools in the morning and get more classes at the orphanage in the afternoon. Most kids older than 5 have some English speaking facility. A  14 year old girl without discretion has not been allowed to be away from the orphanage without supervision. Tomorrow I will begin to assess the first aid kit needs of each facility. The traffic is horrific, cars mixed with thousands of motor scooters driven by all ages from high school on up with as many as 4 passengers, interspersed with Tuk Tuks with few road lines, no one honoring lite signals winding to the nearest small opening allowing a small advance toward the goal, creating massive auto plugs for delays. Interestingly, we saw no accidents (probably due to slow motion) and we made it to our destination, however, slowly. Thousands upon thousands of scooters...main transportation for working people. 89/99 with 7 hrs Miniair score. The girl in the picture was my interpreter for Friday.

Day 11 1.12.18 Friday Full day at work.. First aid Supplies

We started out at 7:30 wondering if we could work the full 8 hours with no ac and rest... but we shall see. I have eaten two consecutive meals and feel  gastrointestinally alive. We got yogurt and jam from the nearby shop to go with our toast and terrible instant coffee. We talked with the top dog this am- Mr. Mao Chamroeun, last name first, so Chamron, volunteer facility manager. Talked with founder and manager of Les Restaurants Des Enfants (LRDE) about funding for health. Went to the feeding center and inventoried the first aid supplies- lots of medicine but limited 1st aid. Went in a TukTuk to see the baby center where hundreds of mothers come in daily or weekly to get formula for their babies and a clean-up shower. Some mothers try to sell the formula for drugs, so the center opens each can, writes name and date on the bottom, and requires return of empty cans to get the next supply of formula. That way babies are tracked and secured if necessary. Then we rode to a very poor area where small make-shift huts are suspended over the open river-sewer, and the houses flood with the monsoons- narrow walkways, no windows/doors, kids everywhere, debris left behind from flooding, old lady tending many kids, scooters riding the walkways, disruption! Back at the center we observed the shower procedure for street kids, had talks with children, and watched as a hundred kids took donated 25# bags of rice home to their families. Much of the center’s funding comes from Malta and Italy, but they still need money (1860$ for the entire year) for weekly medical team visits - trying to raise this $ on Facebook. At noon we Tuk tuk’d to the orphanage for lunch. We took 1st aid inventory and then I was  told to teach English class and then math class with no heads up - played counting games and age games very poorly. Next time we shall make multiplication tables for memory - they use them without learning them. Marnie inventoried the girl’s sanitary needs and skin problems among boys. Then she attended math class as well. Played kick ball. Back at the volunteer center we rested, read and had dinner (we have an excellent cook and the manager, Chammy). Walked the street a bit and slept thru the nite after eating 4 consecutive meals without jippy tommy or diarrhea -hooray. 

Day 12 1.13.18 Saturday first aid shopping & organization

Lunch and dinner - rice, rice and more rice with some sauces and chicken in broth (chopped in 2x2 pieces - bones/skin to be nibbled and spit out the bones). Fresh fruit which is peelable for dessert. Only bottled water or soda to sooth the stomach. This morning we had a late start and went to a health appliance and then a pharmacy store for 2 hours to build two 1st aid Kits - 1 each for the feeding center and the orphanage, as my inventory showed medicine but few supplies to treat mild and long term injuries. After haggling about $150 + 8 for the Tuk Tuk we had nearly all the supplies needed for the First Aid list we brought with us. We organized the supplies and will distribute them on Monday am/pm. Nap time and then posttime. Marnie did a load of laundry in the wonderful top-loading machine then hung it to dry. Went for a long walk and saw an outdoor vehicle body shop and a Chinese construction site from which we were told to leave, talked with a group of men in a coffee shop about age, work, and retirement, watched construction of the interior of a store, tried to talk with people on the street. Thot we would love to lay low today, but it was boring and we needed stimulation, more than 1st aid can bring.

Southeast Asia - cambodia - second week

Day 13 1.14.18 Sunday Rest and walk day

Kelzie’s School News 2017

 

KELZIE'S FANTASTIC YEAR

Some years you kick the can further down the road, and some years the can goes sideways from one gutter to the other. When last we spoke, I was talking about how 2016 was the year I became a counselor. I had applied for PhD programs and I was legitimately excited for that process and the opportunities that awaited. I honestly thought that the can was going to go pretty far down the road.

The late January through early May period of 2017 was the longest, most defeating experience of my life. And at the end of it, I had less trust in my peers, less respect for some of the behemoths in my field, less surety about who I should be when dealing with other people - and two finished masters degrees (with straight As, natch), glowing supervisor evaluations, and in my more cynical moments, thoughts that my aptitude for counseling seemed not to count for much toward where I want to go in the long-term. 

The day after I turned down the one doctoral spot offered to me at a school that felt more like an anchor than wings, I signed up for a third graduate degree at IU just to fill the time. The licensure for counseling is like that of a medical doctor – beyond the academic degree that was one of my first masters, there are a few years of internship and the legal license – so without this third degree I am unemployable as a counselor under the law. But before I could stomach the idea of starting another degree in the same place, I had to get away for a while. In May my foot forced me back into the boot for the 6^th? 7^th? time since January 2016, but unlike Summer 2016 when I acquiesced and went on a road trip instead of heading overseas, I said screw it and got on a plane. I really needed to get away.

This summer was two months in Israel and Jordan, walking through history and bombs, all in a medical boot. Do you remember that scene in Shawshank Redemption when they find Andy’s “pick-axe” after he breaks out and it’s worn down to the nub? That’s what my boot looked like by August. I completed the “Yam El Yam” – translated to “Sea to Sea” – a 4-day, 75k hike from the Med. Sea to the Sea of Galilee. The best thing I can say about that hike is that it’s done and I never have to do it again. I walked the Valley of Tears, the site of the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Golan Heights. I spent 4 days in Petra, refusing donkey rides from the Bedouins.

Jordan reminds me a lot of Thailand: a country that knows exactly why visitors go there, funnels those visitors to those exact spots, and extracts every bit of money possible for things associated with those spots. Still, Petra and Wadi Rum have to be seen to be believed, and Amman is the best laid-out, smoothest traffic, big capital city I’ve ever visited. Other than the nickel-and-diming, the biggest reason I wouldn’t go back is that Arab men living in a fully Arab culture, emboldened by sharia law, and I don’t exactly mesh well. Then again, American men living in fully American culture, emboldened by the Weinstein’s and Neon Cheeto’s of the world, and I don’t exactly mesh well either. It’s sad when I can feel like my rights are more eroded in my own country than in the part of the world where a woman can legally be owned.

And then Israel, oh Israel. Jews individually are nice people, but Israel as a country is an a$$hole. I realize that the Jewish religion lost millions of people in the mid-20^th century in ghettos and concentration camps, but in the 21^st century they have become the jailors, creating two country-sized ghettos, locking millions of people inside, and effectively waiting for them to die. Hitler would bemoan their inefficiency – but approve of their lack of empathy. I think that was my biggest take-away from Israel as a counselor: it is people gathered into a country unable to take the perspective of others and unable to feel empathy for Palestinians stuck in a horrible situation that the Jews helped create. A thought experiment: say someone leaves a home, but 20 years later they decide they want it back because they’ve had a hard time in their new home and remember their former home fondly and just…move into what is now your home in the middle of the night, bringing not only their immediate family but all of their distant relatives as well. How would you react? Would you welcome them with open arms, or would you fight back? And when you fight back and lose and they lock you in the windowless, airless pantry, how would you feel? You’d probably feel like the Palestinians – because that’s who you are in this thought experiment.

Israelis say you can’t trust Palestinians with a gun – but who gave them reason to attack and use it in the first place? Israelis call Palestinians “dirty uneducated monkeys” – but who cut off their running water and literally built a wall between them and schools? And where has this rhetoric been heard before? It mirrors what Hitler said to explain why Jews needed to be rounded up into his ghettos (and yes, what Americans said to withhold rights from freed slaves and their descendants). Sometimes those who learn – or even experience – history are still bound to repeat it.

I wanted to like Israel, I really did, but I can’t condone what they have done and continue to do. And before you @-me, travel there yourself and, unlike the vast majority of Westerners educated solely by the Israeli hype machine, actually visit Palestine, meet the people, and see the truth. At least in Palestine no one threatened or pointed a gun at me.

Peace in the Middle East will not be found at a conference table. A negotiated, polite peace is not possible between the jailors and those condemned to a life sentence. Ask the European Jews how they would have felt if they were told to just go home while the Nazi Party still existed – and were living in Jewish homes. A clear winner must be decided – for those living in the modern ghettos and for refugees living across the Jordan River since 1947/67/73/2005 – and that winner can only be decided in open combat when the Third (or Fourth or…) Intifada starts. Eventually the jailors and the prisoners will fight, and I imagine Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt – and for a real treat, Indonesia as well – join the prisoners.

Oh and fun fact: the reason that Jerusalem has not been and should not be the capital of Israel is because it’s against international law. After the Six Day War in 1967, Jerusalem was declared to be shared by Israel and Jordan (and then Palestine), and the eastern portion illegally annexed by Israel in 1980 is not internationally recognized as a part of the Jewish state. It legally cannot be the capital of Israel because Israel doesn’t own it. It’d be like the US declaring all of Niagara Falls the capital of the US despite Canada owning and residing in half of the city. Just another law broken by the Neon Cheeto, just another day playing at being president.

After I returned from the Middle East, I attended my first big academic conference (APA) and prepared for the coming semester. This year my funding comes from teaching a class required of undergraduates on academic probation, and my clinical internship was at a local mental hospital helping clients with severe clinical mental health issues. But otherwise nothing else really changed about my life: play bells in the same choirs, play hockey with the same people, work the same jobs, and take classes from the same professors. I turned in all of my PhD applications, and now here I wait, again, but this time wondering exactly how excited I should be. I’m working to open a small, private practice in the Spring and if Ph.D. doesn’t work out, I’ll pivot to that full-time once I graduate in the summer. Here’s to hoping 2018 gets the can a little bit farther down the road.

Kelzie: 617/461-8354

800 North Smith Road - Apartment 2I

Bloomington, Indiana 47408

kelziebeebe.blogspot.com

kbeebe@post.harvard.edu

MARNIE and RICK

After our celebrations of Christmas, including R’s sister Nancy, and New Years, M and R went to a winter retreat in Carpinteria CA- an avocado center 12 miles south of Santa Barbara (and now partially evacuated due to the Thomas fire thereabove). We joined a workout facility, borrowed a bike and travelled - to SF to visit Nepali friends, to Bakersfield and the Kern River oil fields, and to grandparent Bb’s house in Hollywood. We joined the Women’s March in SB and enjoyed the famous pier there, toured touristy Danish-themed Solvang and attended the organizational meeting for Indivisible Carpinteria, meeting activist Sarah Gore (Maiani). The weather was in the 70s and rained every other day-unusual but welcomed for drought stricken CA. In spite of the draw of the area, we experienced (mostly weather-related) burn out and left after 1 month to visit K and Bloomington friends on the way home. Mid-April we returned to Bloomington to help K deliberate grad school and plan the coming year. On to Hilton Head, we visited long-time friends Linn & Al, who was receiving hospice care and, sadly, passed away shortly thereafter. Our thoughts are with Lin. On the way home we attended IU’s Little 5 weekend.

With the arrival of Spring we put the gardens in order and returned to B-town to watch K turn her tassle(s) at IU’s graduation (2 Masters degrees earned after 3 years of toil). Mid-May R took a tour of Cape Cod by bike, early June we attended a friend’s wedding in the historic St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis and mid-June R rode to a rainy Zydeco music festival in New Orleans. In late June R and brother Paul rode to Canada to travel the Cassiar Highway (staying at Bell II lodging) and to the Yukon, returning via the Alaskan Highway, across the north plains. On the way out they passed thru  the Beebe-Elford home area of Ipswich and Roscoe, SD. Early Aug R/M & K met in Blue Mound, IL so M could join her high school gymnastic team at the premier of Paul Sheriff’s documentary “Hali”, the story of his sister, Hali, his family and the very successful development of the BM gymnastics team, which started Marnie on her athletic career. Getting together with the gym team and attending the hometown Fall Festival made for a wonderful reunion experience. Soon after, Rick rode the Poudre Pass to Walden CO, Lander WY for Sacajawea’s grave, and the hwy 14-14a passes over the Big Horns to Sheridan and home. In Sept Paul and R rode to Bear’s Ears in Utah (over Moki Dugway..look it up) then across CO to the Poudre on the way home. Late Sept we attended R’s 55^th HS class reunion-and in addition to the usual festivities we attended a Marshfield (WI) high school football game to recall what it was like 56 years ago at a Friday nite game. When R mentioned the last time he was at a HS game and played, the ticket lady sent us in free of charge.We loved the drama of the whole football/community event. It was great to see and reconnect with classmates and their mates again. 

In late Sept a Bb family friend from childhood, Jeannie Wooland Heideman, passed away 2ndary to cancer. We joined many friends and family to celebrate her life of giving, and we continue in thought for her husband, Ed.

Finally, in Oct R started a ride to FL, but age and cold weather blocked him in AL so he reversed to ride home. He had 4 major one-day rides this season – 1057 miles home from CC, 1050 from NO, 804 from WY and 707 from AL. The ’17 season was 21637 miles and a lifetime of 415500 miles since ’99. R was thinking it was time to stop riding… put his bike on the market… but after a day ride took it off the market … we shall see!

The critter problem was acute on Royal Oaks Drive this year and mostly rabbits ate half our perennials. M trapped and relocated to little avail. Again from afar, we have watched IU football, men’s soccer, and basketball through ups and downs and coaching changes. Men’s Soccer playing to the conference championship and NCAA final was especially encouraging (their only loss and only scored on 5 Xs all season). 

We have struggled hourly for nearly a year with the embarrassment and demise of america- enough said, but not enough. Our prayers are with those in Texas, Florida and especially Puerto Rico devastated by hurricanes and CA dues to fires. The Packer season created drama but disappointing outcomes and injuries-we are on IR as well.

Most of the fall was consumed with planning and obtaining proper docs and inoculations for the early 2018 month of volunteer work in Cambodia, 3 wks of travel in Vietnam, and 2 wk visit in Mongolia. Thanksgiving day was spent with friends as has been the tradition for years since Kelzie was in jrhi. The Christmas holiday was spent at home with the old folks coughing and sniffling and Kelzie on the couch recuperating from a busy fall semester. Sister Nancy was with us this year, as her work prevented her from traveling to her family in VT until the new year.

We have maintained our rehab sessions, daily gym workouts, and sessions with our trainers and feel better for having done so. Rick has had a very successful run on WW throughout the fall. We endeavored to end the year on a positive note, ringing in the New Year with friends and family and each going our separate way for new and exciting experiences in 2018.     Love to all

8906 Royal Oaks Drive

Verona, WI 53593

608/497-1123 hm

rmbeebe@gmail.com

beebelog.blogspot.com 

Happy New Year

Kelzie, Marnie & Rick

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Utah and ear's Ears

Utah and Bear's Ears

BEARS EARS & UTAH

9.6-12.17 - WI, IA, MO, CO, UT, & CO 

 with Brother Paul 

Trip 3093 / ‘17 Total 15967+ 3294 = 19260

Life 409738 + 3294 = 413032 

Day: 1 Date: Wednesday 9.6.17

Str Cty: Home Str Mls: 41449 / 41650

End Cty: Columbus, NE End Mls: 42140

Dly Mls: 486 Tot Mls: 486

Time: 7:45 Notes: We changed our trip from 9.26 to tomorrow because of too many conflicts, once Paul got permission from his boss to be off causing rushed organization and packing. Left at 8:30 in 48 degree sunshine. Rode to Dubuque and caught Hwy 20 until Fort Dodge where we dropped down to Hwy 30 to Columbus and the HIx.  70 was high after 2:00. The corn was more mature here than at home, maybe an earlier variety. The housing in the country were very upscale, but not in the towns. State roads were very good all day. It is amazing- the size of commercial grain storage facilities all along the way, but more amazing was the number of grainers on farms so farmers can store their own grain to avoid storage costs and better sell over time when the markets are better.

Day: 2 Date: Thursday 9.7.17

Str Cty: Columbus Str Mls: 42140

End Cty: La Junta, CO End Mls: 42630

Dly Mls: 489 Tot Mls: 97

Time: 7 hrs 47 min Notes: 90 degrees at checkin. We rode every variety of road from interstate to county trunks- left on Hwy 30 in 50 degree weather. Then to I80 before going to the hinterland of fed and state Hwy 383/40 roads, ending up on a county road into La Junta and the HIx. As we progressed on our route the towns deteriorated and the farm housing was poorer than yesterday. I am wondering how many Dreamers live around here. 

After getting to western NE and into Colorado one could not see a tree, crops, or houses around the horizon- desolate landscape except where irrigation was possible. Had a troubled checkin and a second floor room away from the elevator- wrote the priority club. We gained 2400 feet today from 2000’ last nite. We saw at least half a dozen trains lined up going east, most hauling coal.

Day: 3 Date: Friday 9.8.17

Str Cty: La Junta, CO Str Mls: 42630

End Cty: Cortez, CO End Mls: 43016

Mls: 388 Tot Mls: 1363Time: 7:15 Notes: into the mountains and on to Mesa Verde National Park. Left at 7:34 and rose 2000’ in first 50 miles in desert to 4k’. Then rose 3800’ more to go over the 9800 pass east of Alamosa in comfortable 50-75 temperatures. Alamosa was 135 miles from La Junta on a 6k’ plain. Then we rose quickly over the Continental Divide at 10800 before dropping 3k’+ in less than 10 miles to a 7500 feet plateau thru Pagosa Springs, past Bayfied (where Lynne  M lives), and Durango. 10 miles out of Cortez we turn to take the 46 mile side trip in Mesa Verde NP to see the cliff dewellings and the Fairview rooms where marnie and I stayed years ago and went over 8400’ to get there. Got to Cortez HIx at 4:30 and again they had not read my requests again. Ribeye for dinner next door. We saw an eagle and many antelope today, otherwise we have seen no wildlife. Sprinkled on twice for short distance from rouge clouds

Day: 4 Date: Saturday 9.9.17

Str Cty: Cortez  Str Mls: 43015 

End Cty: Moab, UT End Mls: 43363

Dly Mls: 349 Tot Mls: 1712

Time: 6 hrs 10 min Notes: Mexican Hat, Bear’s Ears, Natural Bridges, the canyons, the Colorado river, Hanksville, and on to Moab. Left at 8 am  and rode to Mexican Hat on 160-162-261. In 8 miles with Paul leading we went up a cliff of 1400 feet with no forward progress. Four miles south of Hwy 95 we got the goods on Bear’s  Ears and turned on to Hwy 95 Natural Bridges. We drove the loop and Paul walked to see them. We were at 6k’, hot, and exertion caused me  to be light headed. We then moved on to the Colorado River, the canyons I like, and stopped at Hanksville. Then we took Hwy 24 for 50 miles to I70, 30 miles on I70 to 191 south to Moab. Temperatures started at 60 in the morning and to 88 degrees in Hanksville. Dinner at the Moab Brewery where I've always eaten. 

Day: 5 Date: Sunday 9.10.17

Str Cty: Moab, UT Str Mls: 43363

End Cty: Walden, CO End Mls: 43718

Dly Mls: 350 Tot Mls: 2062

Time: 6 hrs 10 min Notes: 82/86/9600 

Left at 7:45 and took Hwy 128 along the Colorado River for 50 miles and connected to I70 to and through Grand Junction and rejoined the river. We followed it all the way til we turned off in 120 miles at Wolcott. We needed gas but there were none for 50 miles. We rose 8200 and 9600 feet before getting gas. Since we were off route we ended up going to Steamboat Springs. Then we went above 9600’ on Hwy 40 - the second Continental Divide crossing. Took Hwy 14 30 miles to Walden and we are staying at the North Park motel, parking right in front of our room.. ..120$. Dinner at the River Rock restaurant for ribeye.

Day: 6 Date: Monday  9.11.17

Str Cty: Moab, UT Str Mls: 43718

End Cty: Columbus, NE End Mls: 44265

Dly Mls: 551 Tot Mls: 2613

Time: hrs 8 min 30 Notes: 10300 on the second Continental Divide and went down 5000’ in the next 30 miles and 4000’ more to  get to Columbus at 1200’. 4000’ at Moab and 8200’ in Walden last nite..slept well drugged.  Saw deer and a moose family, probably a dozen and a baby. Temperature was a problem..started at 44 degrees and coming off the mountain of 10300 and dropped 5000’ with increased so the temp rose to high 50s. Breakfast at McDonalds in Fort Collins. After 100 miles on 14 to I76 temps rose to the 80s. When we hit I70 the temp rose to 88-94 (struggled on) and stayed there for 275 miles to Columbus at 5:30. It was so hot and close we rode in long sleeved shirts instead of jackets. Talked with Marn to catch up on Nook.

Day: 7 Date: Monday  911.17

Str Cty: Columbus  Str Mls: 44265

End Cty: Home End Mls: 44743

Dly Mls: 481 Tot Mls: 3093

Time: 7 hrs  25 min Notes: 50-80 degrees… 

mpg=45…average speed = 64 mph. On the road at 8:00 in 50+ weather on Hwy 30. After 120 miles we found our road was blocked so we had to take 2.8 miles on a gravel road and then hit Hwy 20 east. We got to Dubuque at 2:30 and home at 4:30. In the last week the green of corn and beans has turned to harvest yellow, especially in southern NE and IA.

Columbus… La Junta, Co… Cortez to Mexican Hat…Mexican Hat to Kane Gulch Ranger Station (4 miles S of 95) to Bear’s Ears…. BE to Hanksville … Hanks to Moab… Along the Colorado River to Walden and 14 in Colorado…. To Columbus NE.. 

Lifetime = 413032 miles

‘17 Summer = 19260 miles