Random thoughts from the road

Checking in live this time from Milagro's coffee shop in Alamosa Colorado. The computer upon which we are banging out this correspondence does not appear to have a port for our photo card... wait, here it is... but not working - otherwise we would share some pictures. Tomorrow, perhaps

One of the cool things about great American road trips are the people you meet out here. Last night in Monument Valley we camped next to some retired people from Michigan who had never seen any of the desert southwest and were overwhelmed to the core by the majesty and expansiveness of the scenery. On the other side was "Norm" and his wife from Phoenix. Norm is originally from Great Britain but had moved here stateside a few years back. He just became a naturalized citizen a few weeks back saying it was "quid pro quo" for making his wife live in England for twenty years. We welcomed him to the "fam" with a hearty handshake and a cold one.

Then there was Bastian and Vivien from Germany. Mere pups on a 3-month western U.S. odyssey that took them everywhere from San Fran to Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon and even a Pacific Coast League baseball game we surmised as Bastian was sporting a Stockton Ports t-shirt. That every red-blooded 23 yr. old male could do a 3-month roadie with company as delightful as Vivien. Yikes.

Uh-oh... coffee shop is closing. One more thing. G-20 is in Pittsburgh and you know wat that means? Yep. The planet's perpetually aggrieved will descend upon the steel city to wreak havoc and generally make themselves walking, talking, rioting counterpoints to whatever points of incoherency they were trying to make in the first place. Wonder if the 'Burghers were wishing instead that a few hundred thousand tea-partiers were there instead that would leave the city cleaner than when they arrived.

Out.