In 1999 I moved to Arcata, CA. I had just gotten out of the military and found a university with a great outreach program for veterans, Humboldt State University.   When I arrived the first person I met was Jason, he and I met with our veteran advisor who informed us he was sorry, but he was about to go on vacation for a few weeks. We had no place to stay so our new advisor, Dave Shaw -a Vietnam vet- proceeded to hand us the keys to his house and say something like: “just don’t burn it down.”   Welcome to Northern California. I have been friends with Jason (and Dave) ever since and now we are visiting Jason and his family in Show Low, Arizona.

The drive from San Diego to Show Low was long and boring for Tie, not so bad for us, but the seats of the Landcruiser are showing their 23 years of age…  We arrived way past the family’s normal bedtime, but they were up and waiting for us.  After brief welcomes and hugs we all crashed.  We woke up to great coffee, packed some sandwiches, water and our cameras and embarked on a much needed hike in the White Mountains.  Tie and his new friend Brodi had a blast running around non stop in and out of a creek that ran all along the trail.  What a beautiful spot.

Today we are heading to New Mexico… destination: we are not so sure yet. We’re hoping to find some anasazi ruins and a free place to camp for the night…Wish us luck!