Anyone noticed the backtracking I’ve done lately?

I left my camera in Missoula. One thing I’ve learned about Big Sky Country is that nothing ever goes as planned here. So there’s no point stressing out. It was a late start anyways and so I had to stay put once I retrieved the camera. It’s Montana afterall. The deers come out in gangs and the evening light can make forests hard to pass.

It was a hundred mile ride, I got to test out the scoot-and her performance is MUCH better after simply changing the air filter. The handling still feels awry, probably getting used to the new fork.

I took a look at the schedule to see what this means for my time. I must have had a lot of coffee when I set it up. Wow. I have some trucking to do, but as long as there is no dawdling in North Dakota, I should be fine, just exhausted.

It’s hard leaving Missoula and all day it felt like another day after the day after planned departure. That’s how it goes sometimes. Funny that I’ve never left behind such a big piece of my gear-just phone chargers and USB cords.

All the keychains were mailed out today. More than half are spoken for now, THANKS. The new raffle is up, thanks to Daphne, so place your bids. This week features something for civilians and scooterists alike. ;)  All this action lately has helped bump up the fundraising but boy has it been WORK.  It’s kinda fun, but I wish there were more people involved-this two woman non-army thing makes life hectic. Without Daphne’s help on raffles I would be spending all my time behind the computer.

The holiday weekend made it difficult to fit in some of my plans. Like hanging out at the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center. Obama was in Butte, eating hotdogs and winning the starry eyes of Montanians on the Fourth. Everyone from the center was there. It’s a really neat place though. Yesterday I had a couple of hours in which I could do two things: visit the Peace center or volunteer. Basically, I could spend two hours talking about Peace with people who are obviously working hard at it OR go work hard at feeding the homeless. It was a hard call to make, but the volunteer work was rewarding.

It was so nice to serve people that I decided to fix up a big suppah tonight. I arrived BACK in town at 7:30 and somehow managed to load a ton of groceries in with all my gear. The feast was my special veggie tacos. We spent the night joking around and I sang a horrible rendition of Peace Train, substituting the key word, Scooter! It was a more memorable last night I suppose, but I hate goodbyes enough as it is.

Today I spoke with Matthew from Birmingham, Magic City Scooters. He gladly took some keychains off my hands and then asked about AmeriVespa. It’s THE scooter rally for those who don’t know. About 3/4 of the scoot population will be there. Which means it’s the ONE place I’m likely to see the most people I’ve met all gathered together.  That would be cool, so many people have contributed to this story. However, I feel as though it is too indulgent to take him up on his offer. I would rather that money go towards charity. That’s the cause this year, there is always next year….

Goodnight!