A Companion to Beat the Odds

With less than a month until I am due to depart, I get an unexpected opportunity for a companion to join me. The dots are not quite connected yet so it is not completely set in stone but as of now, he will join me for the majority of my journey. He is an older gentleman from Cheyenne, WY. I must admit at first I had mixed feelings. I usually attempt tours solo but the more I talked with him I realized this might not be all that bad. Good companionship is hard to come by and this may present some unexpected blessings, especially during the rough stretches and when things go wrong because they always do. He has a friend in Bend and La Pine and our tentative plan is for him to fly into Bend and visit his friends there and south in La Pine and meet up with me a few days later south from there. He hopes to make it with me to Moab and return home from there.

My itinerary is set and printed. Thank goodness this is but an itinerary and not a schedule. Plans change and routes get disturbed. I will leave June 14th and ride like the wind south to Lake Tahoe after meeting up with my new friend and we will cycle through Nevada making that my 30th state visited! We will make our way through Monument Valley and Four Corners. I am so stoked for this route! After that it is on towards Moab and Arches where my newly acquired friend will depart for home and I will make my way towards Salt Lake City, Idaho and Eastern and Central Oregon...finally arriving home on August 7th. That is my goal because I wish to be a part of scattering my good friend's ashes at a place where we bonded. He passed away a few years ago and on his birthday, August 7th, Lord-willing I will be a part of this. I miss him so...

I am eager to get back on the road and forget about my troubles at work, at home, finding a place to live, worrying about whether I should stay with my job or not...just get away from it all. That is all I ask. Into the wilderness I will embark. I am struggling in life right now...and when I am on the road I find peace. Some ask me if I get lonely and to be honest, I am more alone in my real life than when I hit the road alone... Not many will understand that, but it is true. I am surrounded by a forest, but I am a lone tree that stands unsupported. If I didn't have my bike and tent, I don't know what I would make of this life. Yea, the God above loves me as His child even though I blow it time and time again but that never changes the fact of His love.

Therefore, I will ride and camp and camp and ride and see the sights and visit my 30th state and make a new friend and the perfect circles will keep rolling...