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We did it!

We journeyed from Cody, WY via The Buffalo Bill Museum to Mt. Rushmore. There were a few surprises today. Beautiful fluffy clouds–one that looked like a bison–kind people at our hotel, The Sylvan Lake Lodge, who kept the bar open for us super-late arrivals. The manager personally drove me down to the store by the lake and asked me to pick out whatever sandwiches we wanted because every store and restaurant in town were closed. As I type, Candy is at a bonfire on Lake Sylvan with some other travellers.

A bigger surprise, some say massive, is Crazy Horse.



They have been sculpting him for 50 years. And the unbelievable thing? Mt. Rushmore fits in Crazy Horse's head. When complete Crazy Horse will be bigger than the pyramids.

Now that I’m here, and I’ve made this dream come true, what does it mean to me? Does it have to mean anything? Not sure. It'll probably take a little time to sort it all out. Here’s what I’ve learned from the sculptures so far. That making progress and fueling passion are the most important parts of any undertaking, great and small. The belief in oneself can chart a powerful, daring course. And finally, no one can do anything alone.

As I slurped down a little wine, ate my turkey sandwich and visited with other travellers last night I had a secret smile as I contemplated my next dream.

“Forrest, sometimes people do things that just don’t make no sense.”
--Mrs. Gump, Quote from Forrest Gump.

But, sometimes we do them anyway. Like road tripping when gas is at all time highs.

Why Mt. Rushmore, you ask? Why now? There’s a story there. When I was raising the kids there were times when I would get a little, well, overwhelmed. And I would smile at dinner and joke, "If you guys wake up one day and I'm gone, don't worry, I'm just on my way to Mt. Rushmore." Mt. Rushmore became my idea of freedom/sanity. Needless to say, I never did take that trip. [OK, insert joke about my sanity here.]

After Candy graduated from SFSU a few weeks back, she asked if I wanted to road trip to Mt. Rushmore with her. This on the heels of a good friend’s mother’s passing, just days before graduation. Today Candy is attending her friend's mom's memorial service in Los Angeles. So I guess the trip will be about more than just freedom and sanity but also a celebration of mothers and daughters. I feel so lucky that we have each other and a little time to rewild. What will we find on the road? Hmmm...stay tuned.

Yesterday, while drinking Chinese tea that Candy brought home from Hong Kong, we ooogled our TripTik [THE most powerful road trip weapon in our arsenal besides a fully loaded ipod] and talked Gold Country. We discovered that Mark Twain spent some time gaining a life time of inspiration and panning for gold here, in California Gold Country before he became a famous writer. Love the things we are discovering. We also discussed how the Coppertone Logo is sweet and somehow prolly politically incorrect in this day and age. Candy said when she grew up it creeped her out a little.

With an eye to the road:

6 ways you’re wasting gas

And, we’ll have none of these [BTW, why or why isn't an ipod on the list? Well have one of those:)]:

7 top road-trip tech gadgets

GO LAKERS!

1. This week my daughter got her first job out of college! Wooo-hooo! She’s excited and so are we. And…she decided to stay in San Francisco. Feels like home.

2. Hearing my dad say that he’s got seven more years after his pacemaker surgery this week.

3. I love, love, love the library. But you knew that. I hadn’t been in quite some time. Travels kinda got in the way. And, I mostly go when I’m writing, editing a mms. So I’m happy to say I’m on to my next novel. One I’ve written years ago but will be finishing, revising over the next few seasons. I like Stephen King’s idea of looking at writing books with the seasons. My last novel got me through Winter and Spring. This novel will be my Summer and Fall project. I love that Stephen King has a raven perched on the long vertical in the “h” on his logo on his website.

4. I love, love, love AAA. It’s amazing. I walk in yesterday, ask for help planning our road trip to Mt. Rushmore and get a great route and lots and lots of helpful maps and books---all because we are members. Love it. Among my treasures are…A map of the United States with our route mapped out in an orange highlighter [with cute arrows to let me know which way we are headed], maps of all the states involved PLUS a special “California’s Mother Lode Guide Map,” and “Yellowstone Grand Teton National Parks” map. And the AAA Tour books for all the states on our trip [and a few that aren’t but we may stray into]. So cool! If you are ever in the need to go anywhere, stop by AAA.

5. I love when Oso gets dusted with mustard on our morning runs. The yellow dust sprinkles beautifully over his black shinny fur. We met two new friends this morning: Blarney, a poodle [he got him on St. Patrick's Day, and Daisy a large hound, I think she was a Mastiff. And ran into our old pals, Yoggie and Rudy.