“The Journey” began with a double-stop plane ride on a double prop plane. From Denver to Farmington, then Farmington to Page. Each ride was about an hour, but in this cramped sardine can of a ride, there’s never a dull moment! The pilots did their level best to keep the plane not only aloft, but sailing sans bumps. Given the snow in Denver on Friday, the outbound trip was no picnic. Thankfully motion-sickness is not normally a factor, but alas, no in-flight naps were possible for all but the soundest of sleepers!
After the trip, the question was now whether the unknown stranger would reveal himself. Of course, having talked to the guy for over a year via email exchanges, shared podcasts and blog posts, it was a pretty safe bet this guy wouldn’t hack my head off with an ice ax or anything. Still…with a trail name of “gadgetat” when he hiked the Appalachian Trail for over 4 months straight – you never know what you’ll run into. This guy has already indicated he beats to his own drum. A former engineer with AT&T, HAM radio operator, and New Hampshire resident found enough internal strength of will to head out and travel the land in an airstream – not a lot of space to live in, but enough for him!
Not only did he reveal himself, but the easy-going nature and willingness to really engage in conversation and talk similar interests was evident. So off we rode into the desert…with the rocks, the cacti, and the sand. Oh yeah, and the heat – because it is a desert, so it’s warmer there than anywhere right? Don’t forget the heat…
We traveled in his Titan, not the Airstream (thank God!) – and this was a monster of a truck! It flew down the paved roads with ease. The size and strength was enough to reassure me that this could probably handle most off-roading adventures. Of course, having never off-roaded much myself, the durability remained to be seen…
More tk…