July 11, 2023: The End of the Road
We finished our weeklong trek tonight. The horses are now back safely in their enclosure. It seemed to me that they, like me, were not ready for the trip to be over. They were milling about, wondering why they are back here. It was a long day. I was right to wish that we’d gone a bit further yesterday. The odd thing is, if you are looking for, and in need of a campsite, one will materialize. If you have already spent the night someplace, you won’t be looking hard for a site the next day. The Tangle Lakes Campsite was okay. This morning our new friends from BC pulled out at 7:30 a.m. and immediately, another car pulled into their spot. Shit, the site wasn’t even cold. This fellow, who obviously had had too much Folgers, began talking at me as I was taking down our tent. I caught that there were going to be 13 people in this, the group site. It was, of course, a religious group. |
|
Enough grousing. We headed in the direction of home, stopped at the Glennallen Library and I picked up some free children’s books. Later, when we were in Chickaloon, we dropped them off at the Chickaloon Post office. The Chickaloon Post Office is one of the nicest post offices that I have ever visited. The waiting area is a living room – and it now has one of our bookcases. A mother, who has two daughters, runs it. The family has a husky-like dog that loves everyone. There was a fellow sitting at a desk, he was writing post cards. He was on the third day of a lengthy bicycle trip. He said he is 81 years old and from Japan. Pretty amazing. While we were at the post office, our old friend Alli pulled in. She farms in the summer and does avalanche work in the winter. It is a very two-sided life. We decided to go to her place for a bit so that her dog Chaga could play with Shadow. Shadow was a bit out of it because she hurt her paw and because she was tired of travelling. She seemed to forget that her paw was sore as she did play with the other dog. On the other hand, Pete and I were given a tour that took well over an hour. Alli raises ducks and chickens and pigs and vegetables. She also composts and owns and runs a sawmill. She has done this, this month, with assistance from a woman who is up in Alaska for the summer from Utah. She will return to Utah in another month, and there she’ll finish getting her degree. I talked to her for some time – she was both knowledgeable and personable, an unusual combination. We got home at 7:00 p.m. The very odd thing is that I am now back in horse mode. How I am going to strike a balance is beyond my comprehension. |
|
