Montrose to Ridgway, CO Thu 7/16/2015

This is the beginning of an uphill climb to Lizard Head Pass (5,807 elevation to 10,222 elevation).  Not only was it the beginning of a long ascent, but the beginning of a very memorable day.

     Met Mr. Romney just as I was preparing to leave the motel in Montrose. He and I have something in common in that our ancestors lived in the "mormon colonies" in Mexico.  My mother, Mary Cardon, was born in Colonia Dublan Chihuahua, Mexico in 1905.  Her family and many other families fled their homes and returned to the southwestern US because of the rebel uprising of Poncho Villa around 1912.
      Mr. Romney came out of the motel and we were talking about my adventure when I told him about my blog site and gave him my business card that had my blog site stamped on the back.  He turned the card over and saw that I was a "Sexual Awareness and Dating Abuse and Violence Prevention Educator" in Mesa Public Schools in Mesa, Arizona.  He started asking questions about those subjects and what really piqued his interest was that the sexual awareness program is abstinence based and that the abuse and violence prevention was being taught in the public schools, and that I had been teaching those subjects for twenty-seven years and fifteen years respectfully.  I was having to do too much explaining off the top of my head so I asked if he would like to see the power point presentations on my laptop.  We sat on a bench under the canopy at the entrance into the motel for over three hours and talking about those subjects.  It was almost noon when we parted and I was back on the road. The late start put me a day behind in my travels, but I didn't mind as it all worked out perfect in the end. And besides, it was great conversation and had relevancy in his life.  It was one of the most memorable days of my trip, how the timing worked out that brought us together at that moment and we talked about things that were of such interest and perhaps help to him.

I like it when the flags are blowing in this direction. It means the wind is at my back.

Overlooking the outskirts of Ridgway, CO with more ominous clouds and rocky mountains to the west, the direction  I'm   traveling.

Downtown Ridgway and the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  Reminds me of John Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High".

This concert going on in Ridgway is why there were no vacancies in any of the motels and I ended up
 sleeping "down by the riverside".

Met this young man, a high school student, as he was straightening the shroud lines of his paraglider.

Getting it ready for his next glide.

Giovanni Boyd-Bonanno.  He wants to be a pilot.  I told him what I tell my students at school about dreams and goals. That a dream is a goal without work and a goal is a dream with work.  I told him about my grandson-in-law, Curtis Hall, married to my granddaughter, Chelsea, who aspired to be a pilot and that he just went to work on that dream and turned it very quickly into a goal and eventually into a reality.  He now flies a Lear Jet.

This is one of the Lear Jets Curtis Hall flies.  He refers to it as his home away from home.

The Uncompahgre River.  About 50 yards from where I slept that night.  Cool temperatures during the night caused dew to seep into my bedroll. 

My outdoor motel in Ridgeway.