Plans?

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”

– Robert Burns

We are on the road again, heading to Durango, Colorado, for the Durango Independent Film Festival. Our movie, “Strictly for the Birds,” is one of the festival films. We’re excited to participate, to meet some of the festival people, and to see some of the other films. Plus, Maria’s Bookshop in Durango is carrying my book, “In Between,” and they are coordinating opportunities for me to meet some readers.

Now, going to Durango in February requires some planning, especially for people like Andrea and me who hate to fly.  The most direct route is through southern Idaho, but weather can be a problem on that route this time of year. So we decided to head south through Oregon and California and then east across Arizona and into New Mexico.  But sometimes that road can be a problem, too.  We’ve been watching the weather and hoping for the best.

In December we had a difficult trip to California, waiting for the pass on the state line to clear and then hurrying back before the pass closed again.  This time we decided to leave a day early, just to make sure we could get over the pass on dry roads.  And then we woke this morning to find un-forecasted snow decorating the yard.  Oh well.

But the flurries stopped before we got very far, and this afternoon the sky opened to sunny blue skies.  It has been a good start to our first real road trip in over two years.

Today was a day of leaving – packing, getting the house ready to be left, saying good-bye to some friends, and driving away on the familiar streets and roads.  Tomorrow will be a day for traveling.  We’re ready.