Saturday, July 15

We're doing it again. Really. After last years two month foray west, we're about to embark on another two month extravaganza. Last year was a blast. Our 40th anniversary, California redwoods, the entire Oregon coast, the Columbia River Gorge, Mt Rushmore, unending Montana wheat fields, the Tetons, the Black Hills, the Badlands, one broken foot, one bout of covid, a visit with one of my old work buds, a Harrison Ford citing, miles of hiking and biking, and untold pounds of seafood-all bookended by weddings in Park City, UT and Bozeman, MT. Retirement proved grueling.

The big test of course was how we'd fare for such a long period in such a small space. My ebullient, carefree manner paired with Kari's sarcastic, surly, often grumpy demeanor, what could possibly go wrong? I'll be honest, the last five hundred miles couldn't come soon enough, we'd worn out each others welcome... But it truly was a trip of a lifetime, I can't imagine a better adventure for our 40th.

This year we're headed up the St Lawrence River on the way to Canada, where we'll spend time in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We'll stay in four Canadian national parks and several provincial parks along with numerous other stops. We'll loop around and spend some time in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire on our way back. Most of our time will be on the coast so we're lookin forward to lotsa seafood, lotsa dark skys, lotsa waves, lotsa hiking and biking, and lotsa love. We're psyched. 

We'll be in the same rig as last year. Shirley is a 26' Airstream named in honor of my mama (all little boys love their mama). As for the blog title, Refuge of the Roads was an easy choice. It's a Joni Mitchell tune from her album Hejira. She's Canadian, she's one of my all time fave artists and this is one of my fave albums of hers. Hejira has a "travel theme". It was written during 3 road trips Joni took across the US in 1975 & 76. Hejira means "running away honorably". At the time she was running away from a failed relationship. We're not running away from much more than the summer heat...

Hopefully you've seen Joni's recent reappearance in live settings after a long recovery from a brain aneurysm. She made a surprise appearance at the Newport Folk Festival last year, then played a show recently at the Gorge Amphitheater with her friend Brandi Carlile. You can read about the Hejira album here: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=10 and you can preview an upcoming album of her Newport appearance here: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=46

I'll do my best to keep up with our travels and travails, though spotty cell service sometime intervenes. Comments from all are welcome, just make sure and leave your name so we know who you are. If anyone is inclined to get an alert when I post something new let me know.

Love ya all!