Mark's First Post

As everyone knows, Margot arrived on beautiful Pitkin Mesa exactly one month ago.

I have been here, unbelievably, a whole week, and it has been a whirlwind. 

 

Linus and I rolled away from Seattle early the morning of the 21^st of September in the monster rental truck. I had a few tense moments driving it around on Tuesday gathering our stuff from the house, the Shepherd, and the packed to the gills storage unit. All went well, actually, with no mishaps, and once we got out on the open road, it got a lot easier to maneuver as we got more and more used to the way the beast handled.

Our goal the first night was to get to Southern Idaho, to a place called “City of Rocks”. It is an amazing place, one Linus had heard about through his climbing buddies, and according to Google Maps, was a 10 hour drive from Seattle. We discovered something, however, about the fully loaded 22 ft truck... it doesn't go up steep inclines so fast. 17 hours after leaving Seattle we rolled into the visitor's center, having been unable to find the camping area in the dark down the narrow dirt roads in the big truck.

The next day we had a fabulous morning scampering over rocks together, scoping out the area, and looking for particular features that Linus had heard about. That afternoon we headed for Moab, where we set up camp and met with our dance buddy Paul Bullard, who was down in the area on a big motorcycle riding event.

Friday we went to Arches National Monument, where Linus couldn't resist climbing around a little. He did some research and found that climbing is officially allowed inside the Park, something we were surprised by. He also learned of other world class areas right nearby. We hope he will arrange a climbing trip with some buddies someday soon, since it is only a three hour drive from our new home!

The trip to Boulder and Denver to see Linus off on his flight to Seattle was really fun and bittersweet. I so enjoyed the time I got to spend with him and so appreciated his help, even though it may mean we don't see him again for awhile. He is a good man and we are both very proud of him.

Now life on the farm. Lots of work, lots of learning. I do feel good here. I do feel a sense of well being. I miss our dear friends every day, but there is excitement and possibility here.

Today we took a drive across Kebler pass to Crested Butte. We heard the Aspens are at peak color right now and they did not disappoint!

This week we begin a new phase of our lives as dance teachers! Our first swing one sessions start this week. More on that later.

We wish you all the very best from our new, sunny, soon to be chilly home.

M and M