Wednesday, June 20, 2007

sooner or later you'll bare your teeth...

right.

so.

as you keepers of tabs know, we cut lengthwise across the mountainous terrains of kentucky and missouri more or less unscathed, surviving dog after unleashed dog, all of them giving chase, a few of them frighteningly ferocious but thankfully slow, neither dave nor myself ever really coming close to being seriously hurt by any of them. and now of course we are in colorado. but, well...a quick anecdote: dave and i had just made ourselves dinner in fairplay, CO, a typical traveler's meal of pasta and broccoli and bread, our tummies adequately sated, the gorgeous colorado rockies providing a breathtaking and picturesque backdrop for our big night before we face hoosier pass (the highest elevation point on the route), and so, somewhat zenned out, i walk towards the campground bathroom to wash the dishes, the sun to the west just beginning to sink heavily behind a distant mountain, when, quickly, instantaneously, like a flood of light from a camera flash, a dog bursts out from behind a trailer and BITES ME. like, bite-bite. as in: the breaking of skin. the drawing of blood. bites me. i wasn't even on my bike!

but that is neither here nor there, that is just funny: we move on: we progress to the present: we are here in walden, CO; last night in kremmling we opted for a motel for the third time on this trip because of the overwhelming and otherwordly mosquito infestation, the mosquitoes swarming around us like flies to roadkill, our legs pimpled with bug bites, the sheer ridiculousness of the scene almost comical. i am sitting in the small town library and wearing my zories and the certifiably offensive smell of my feet and my armpits are clouding around me invisibly, fatally, and i feel actual pity for the young lady sitting across from me, knowing that there is no possible way that she does not notice. as i alluded to above, we have cleared hoosier pass, the highest point of the trail at 11,500(ish) feet, the ride outlandishly beautiful. we are still breathing deeply the air of Denver, though, our five-night-and-six-day vacation there one of the absolute highlights of the trip so far.

and, as it often the case, i am running out of internet time, SO, i leave you with two things: (1) a photographic ode to Denver and vicinity, and (2) the next mail stop address, for those who are interested.

so then, our ode to denver: (and, specifically, an ode to the dutchess of Denver, Danielle Slavick: Danielle: disliker of fruit in general, bestower of questionable nicknames, archetype, template)

danielle:






rachel's and joe's house:





hoosier pass:




for Momma Ulrich:



and, lastly, the next mail stop:

Dave Ulrich
General Delivery

United States Postal Service
208 S Main ST
Sheridan, MT 59749-9701


we'll be there in seven or eight days.

our love for you all bursts forth from our hearts. like camera flashes. or unleashed dogs.

8 comments:

Shankar said...

http://www.tfd.com/watershed

Just in case anyone else was wondering, "what exactly IS a watershed?"

i'm psyched, you have almost conquered the continent, soldiers

Anonymous said...

Um. You got bit by a dog and ... it was funny?!? You spoke with Cugo's irresponsible owners, right? There were owners, not the campground stray wandering hither and thither picking up rabies from the local racoons? Don't do that to me.

g said...

hey

i love you guys. someone once said that love is all we need. so...hopefully that love will, by osmosis or whatever it is love and cooties do, traverse the wide expanse from my tall head over the the far reaches of landscape and into your bellies some warm summery night. and im sure love has got mystical, magical properties nicky, so itll heal your dog bite. in fact, im sure of it. and right before it wafts up through your nostrils itll kiss you gently on the cheek (or your still amazingly bald head doug) and whisper how much i miss you guys.

talk to you soon
g

...as in
the double g
double z
with the triple y
(its been a busy couple months..ive had to expand and add an extra y)

Matty U! said...

Woah - dogbites.
I've been following this religiously, fellas, just haven't been commenting.
Congrats on the hillclimb, how was the descent?
So - now that y'all have covered so much ground - do you have an estimated arrival at Portland?

Here's a touch from a moment of Pretty Toney that I enjoyed with Davis a few months before your expedition: run it through your head biscuits:

... get smacked with the put down, wasn't you the same clown? Uptown, yappin'. I keep big shirley on my side so what's happenin'? Try eatin' these shells, they non-fattenin'. After you digest gat, Imma stop you bastards, so take that - blaow, blaow! Ghost he still breathin' - blaow, blaow! Anything after that, it don't matter, your homies and your close relatives; even them nosy-ass pigs'll get splattered. It's the T-H E-O D-O-R-E, send me to Iraq I'll come back w/ don heat. Teeth, less than a week, they be callin' me - keep w/ the fists, 'cause I sure do cook when it's beef...

Anonymous said...

awww shit man, joe is one of my old friends from Seattle Nick! Small world we wander in.
-karms

Anonymous said...

brohams, as i sit here in the comfort of my apartment, sipping on a lovely 3 dollar cabernet, i cant help but envy your trek across the nation. every time i read the updates, i feel compelled to go off and do something incredible (which yall are doing). Nick, I know you aren't one to resort to violence, but i hope you kicked that dog in the teeth. also, i got your postcard. it resides on my refridgerator door. keep up the good work fellas

Anonymous said...

i sent something towards wyoming....will you get it?

Numaketsu said...

I miss you regularly, like a bowel movement.

You boys look lean and mean out there. Way to go. Ride safe.

Jonathan