Time to hit the Road

Rainbow over the Valley

Bright and early this morning was First Gear from the Thirsty Dirt Ranch. I was a afraid they would be still packing at midnight last night, but the crew was all tucked into bed by 10:00pm.

They had a fine evening for packing. It was a very hot day, but just about the time they were ready to start loading, we had a brief rain shower. It cooled things off nicely, and gave us a partial rainbow and a colorful sunset.

Nate tying things down

After hooking up The Cave to Greg's F350, they got Electro-Willys and the Juice Box loaded into The Cave. Then the fun began loading up all of the rest of the gear. When you're going to be on the road for over a month, how do you decide what you really need, and what can stay behind? Seems like the guys have thought of just about everything.

All loaded up!

A big thanks to Jack and Steve for assisting in the loading. Neighbor Tom stopped by, and come to find out, he and Owen grew up about 10 miles apart in Minnesota! Another neighbor, Debbie, had stopped by earlier in the day with a copy of her just published book about one of her great adventures.

Owen, Mike, Greg, Nate

After a good night's sleep, the crew was up by 6:00am. A few last minute things were packed into The Cave, and a few last minute photos were taken of the crew with the travelling rig and The Cave.

I will miss the adventure. A tight hug and good-bye kiss with Mike, and they all climbed into the rig and headed down the driveway. I watched til they got to the paved county road, and then I couldn't see them anymore. They are heading north through the Colorado Rockies and into Wyoming today.

Heading out

After lunch, I checked Mike's SPOT page to see their progress. It looks like they had lunch in Craig, CO, and 30 minutes later crossed into Wyoming.

- Ellen