Difficulties

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It's been a while since I've last updated my blog..maybe a month or so. I've had some downtime recently to write about my last couple of trips and my time back home.

However; the universe had different plans for me. First off, after my last trip I still hadn't heard back from the guy from the dog sledding place, so that job feel through. I had already asked for that time off work , at least the month of December, so I had to figure out what I wanted to do for the month until I got back on trail on January 2nd. I didn't really have the money to drive home. A co-worker Corey had 3 weeks off so we decided to travel around together to save on gas and other expenses so we headed to Missoula, Montana to get Corey a license replacement and hangout with our friend Sam and stay at her place. We had a good time just hanging out and relaxing after our time at work/on trail. Oh...about my last trip...my first week I was Dallas' assistant in a group of 8 girls. So it was me and 9 women the first week. It was a good week, it snowed and we slept in shelters with wood burning stoves. The second week was to be my first week as a head instructor. We got another student, now totaling 9, and another instructor. Dallas switched out with Pam and Tamara came in. So my Thanksgiving was spent with 11 females. It was my first Thanksgiving spent away from home. We had cornish game hens, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream! Much better than our usual vegetarian fair. It was much different being a head instructor than an assistant, a lot of responsibility, giving meds, making trip itineraries, and dealing with every detail of what comes up with in the desert. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go on trail in January as a head.

So...back to my time off. After Missoula Corey and I headed to Portland, Oregon so we could hang out with some of his other friends and then we were going to go snow camping or something outdoor. We stayed a couple nights in Portland and one night we had an amazing dinner at Monsson's place. We weren't planning on staying there so we only had the clothes on our back and my camera on me. However; we got fairly drunk and ended up staying there. When Corey got up and went to get something out of his car he realized that his car was gone! Yes...his car got stolen while we slept. Pretty much everything he owns other than some stuff in storage was stolen. Everything he needs for work, all of his camping gear, all of his outdoor gear, everything and mine as well. All of my camping gear, all of my warm clothes, and my laptop. Worse than all the material things...every piece of data I've accumulated over the past 15 years was on my laptop or on an external hard drive I had...all the digital pictures I have, all the music I've accumulated, all the e-mails...everything. Plus a quilt that my grandmother made me and my grandfather's wedding ring. That is why there are no pictures included in this entry...I have none! :-( And the shitty thing is that Corey didn't have theft insurance on his car...so he is without a vehicle until he can afford another.

Over the past three days Corey and I have made to various Goodwills, used outdoor gear stores, and army surpluss stores to buy some essentials to survive. I bought a journal and have been writing my thoughts about the situation and have just been thinking about how much energy I've put into things that are no longer around. It's hard and terribly inconvenient, but they are just things. I can take more pictures and write more....I have no other choice.

Entries to this blog will probably be shorter and less frequent because I will only be able to write them when I have access to a computer...until I can buy one...which I don't know when it will be.

I have a request to make to all of you, my friends and my family. If I have recently sent you any e-mail with pictures or anything I would appreciate it if you could send them back to me and I can put them somewhere online so I can save them.

Also...my friends...I have no music to drive to (all of my CD's were in the car as well). If you could burn me some audio CD's and mail them to my work I would be so grateful. You can mail them to my attention at
: 911 Preacher Creek Rd., Shoshone, ID 83352.

Luckily at my work we get "Pro Deals" which means we get discounted outdoor gear. So I should be able to get all of my gear at a decent price. I have enough regular clothes now, plus I have some other stuff at work in my truck and luckily I know how to break into my truck and have an extra key in there.

It has been an interesting few days...tomorrow we are getting a ride to Bend, Oregon and staying with some of Corey's friends then taking a bush to Twin Falls, ID and having a co-worker pick us up to take us back to work so I can get my truck and figure out what else I need to buy or make for myself.

Ultimately we are ok...luckily we got paid on Friday...so we will live simply until we work again and get some more funds. It's funny...but I feel sort of free right now. I know I'll get a lot of reading done since I don't have my computer to watch movies or tv shows.

I'm thankful to good people here in Portland that have helped us out with their time, places to stay, and general hospitality.

I'll write again when I can.

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Comments

[Rick]

Man...
...I'm very sorry to hear this. I'll try to get some music together. I think I have some "3:38" laying around somewhere, lol ;-P