Countdown to departure - phase II

A trip to Tut's Tomb provided the gear we needed to go off to Colorado camping for the next month or so. Jack took his fly fishing equipment just in case he should want to tempt a wily trout. We started out and in South Dakota ran into what I'm convinced was a tornado. Luckily we were able to shelter under a concrete overpass - but even then the wind, coming from all directions in turn, threatened to capsize us.

It had come out of nowhere and was over in minutes leaving a bright blue sky. We emerged from our shelter and saw cars and trucks that had been tossed about and overturned. The scariest was a camper that had passed us shortly before with a little girl in the back who had waved at us as they passed. The camper was lying on its side and burning - I was shaking and horrified. We stopped for the night in a motel because both of us were too shaken to continue. We talked about fate - how one can get up in the morning, looking forward to the day, and suddenly be picked up and smashed by forces completely beyond one's control. It made us even more convinced that a person should do what he can in life while health and opportunity still exist.

The rest of the trip went beautifully - we drove through the high mountains, camped in meadows, ate trout for breakfast, walked through aspen woods, visited with friends and family, heard elk trumpeting in the high valleys, and best of all, spent four days in Mesa Verde. We had only expected to spend a day or so - but the mysticism of the place captured us completely and we clambered around through the cliff villages and gazed off accross the Mesa to the Four Corners and Ship Rock.

It was a lovely way to spend the time of waiting before returning to our friend's hospitality and the final preparation for departure to Scotland.