Kevin - Tuesday. The wind is howling this morning and the forecast is for something like an inch or more of rain starting about noon with the storm extending well into tomorrow. The clouds have started moving in. We decide to change our plans some and move forward to Greeley. We rent a pad at the RV park east of town – the direction we’ll be going eventually and decide to not bike today
Our phone hot-spot feature isn’t working properly despite days (weeks actually) of trying to get things straightened out. Denny is our technology expert and she’s just about to sink into deep despair over this issue. Having the hot spot working is crucial as we are about to leave civilization for the next 10 weeks. If the hot spot doesn’t work … no blogs. No vlogs. Only phone communication as cell towers are able.
We have other tasks to complete before we go rural. Meals to obtain perishable supplies for. Clothes to wash. Repairs to make the RV. Blogs to catch up on. People to communicate with ‘one last time.’ The list goes on and we won’t bore you with all the details. But suffice it to say that we’re no different from the pioneers – except that we’ve burdened ourselves with far more than they had to deal with.
There really is a simplicity to a moving camp – if you’re willing to simplify. You get up early. You have a simple meal. You pack your necessaries (Aye; there’s the rub!). You travel your planned distance. You stop early allowing adequate time to prepare your evening meal and camp before the sun sets. Then you rest. Rinse. Repeat.
People don’t realize the thought, planning, effort, time and energy that goes into providing blogs and vlogs. Don’t get us wrong. We appreciate all you who are actually reading these posts. We took on this project for multiple purposes and providing a running narrative of our experiences was one of the most important to our thinking. (We MUST thank Heather Nuffer for proof-reading Denny's coding. She's the hero here!)
After our first long hike (2008-09), BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library Special Collections was interested to know the process behind doing something like this hike. What prompted the idea? How was it planned? Financed? Promoted? All that detail ‘stuff’ that gets lost in the fog of half-remembered details. We really should keep a journal. Thankfully, Denny does.
We are happy to report that Denny has finally (we think but are keeping our fingers crossed) been able to get the hot spot issue resolved. She believes the technical support group finally set a parameter in their software because it wasn’t anything we did on our end.
Our RV’s wobbly structural half-wall at the entrance is now solidly secure. Denny can now sit at the table and lean back without fearing for her life. And our clothes – “we hold them up them to our nose and they smell as sweet as a rose.” (That’s from an old run-on skit). We are happy to report we have sufficient food for our needs. The water tanks are full and the waste tanks are empty.
At the High Plains Library, we spent part of the afternoon using their internet access and a small study room. We can work side-by-side in collaboration without worrying about power and connectivity. We love libraries. Kevin finalized three blog posts complete with editing the attending photos.
After the library closed (8 PM), we snagged a quick burger and took in an action movie which Kevin wanted to see. And, late at night, as we exited the theater, it started raining. We could have gotten our full day of biking in. Drats!