A 'harmonic convergence' of circumstances led to an emotionally charged weekend trip to the SF Bay Area...

Yes.  In a rush of unlikely and closely choreographed twists I found myself booked on a flight from Salt Lake City to SF for the week-end in order to attend the very moving funeral of a dear friend, the husband of another dear friend, both of whom live(d) at the Buddhist community where I was also a resident for many years. Brief encounters with many old friends; many hugs and memories exchanged.  How amazing that this trip was even  possible. A main factor was having a place near SLC to park my trailer and stay myself before and after the week-end.  Boundless gratitude to a family of new friends in Elberta, and another family from a SLC suburb! Thanks to these serendipitously met road-angels I will resume my walk from here this week.

On my second night in SF our (Anne's and my) gray kitty Pushkin, who had been ill and fading for some months, had his final health crisis; after being up with him for much of the night, we took him to the emergency vet to say good-bye very early on Saturday AM.  Did he time his exit strategically? On my first night home he was alert and attentive; the next night his distress was so obvious that we did not even wait to contact the daytime 'house-call' vet.  In any case it made for quite a week-end of  'letting go' practice, and I am not adjusted yet, even from this distance (back in Utah).

From the valley around the lakes the mountains here are emphatically mountainous; these mountains are not kidding -- no foothills to speak of, or big trees to block the sight of the peaks. You can name any street (although most Utah streets are numbered...) or place of business 'Mountain View' without a bit of tongue-in-cheek or exaggeration.  Last week I had the pleasure of a visit to Sundance Valley, which is like being in a postcard.  And I know, I know - I haven't reached the Rockies yet.

Inside a beverage and sweet shoppe.

Rest in peace, Baby Pushkin!

PS - I have recently met several other long-distance cyclists and runners out on the road.  One is Aprylle, who is running Rt. 6 to raise money for a San Jose center for at-risk kids.  Her story can be found at Route6tour.com.  And earlier I met Dave, a cyclist from the Pacific Northwest, whose site is called Three Wheel Journey (It's 2 wheels actually; he used to pull a trailer!) In a YouTube post he included some footage of our encounter by the side of Rt. 6 between Delta and Eureka.