We quit. In case you didn’t already know. I’m still too exhausted to write about it much, but it stopped being fun after a while and I just was not mentally prepared to ride and deal with not having any services for 50-100 miles at a stretch. This began to become a reality once we started heading south in Texas.There were other reasons as well such as the constant aggravation of dealing with dogs that kept chasing us, cars that kept buzzing us, and unpaved/unlabeled roads. Not to mention the constant pain which made squatting down to do my business in the bushes a very painful ordeal.

So we decided to burn some dinosaurs and drive to California. I managed to get it all together to meet Chile and her sweetie, not to mention that angel of a dog, Angel. If only all dogs were as angelic.

Here is what Chile looks like in person: 

Its a bit off since Chile is much greener in real life.

It was somewhat of a shock to be in Chile’s house. It felt like home. Every piece of furniture had a story, every book on the bookshelf was either a favorite (like the Tightwad Gazette), or on my to-read list. The fresh ground flour reminded me of my childhood (Chile’s pancakes ought to be in a contest with Melinda’s). Her bathroom even looked like ours. And of course, Chile’s liquors are to die for.

It was so comforting to talk to someone and be on the same page on so many concerns. There just wasn’t enough time to chat about all the things we wanted to chat about. If community building involves meeting kindred spirits such as Chile, I’m signing up!

—–

My brain is still too fried for me to pontificate about what I’ve learned and where I’m going to go with my life from this point onward. But I think its a new chapter. And thus a new blog, The Middle Way.  I won’t be blogging here anymore so all your blogger people can rejoice that my blog can now be wigitified on blogger. The blog’s title will serve as a constant reminder to me that I ought to quit swinging from one extreme to another and instead choose the middle way.

And obviously, I’ve gained enlightenment. :)