I must admit I have been hooked on The Yukon Quest. The 1,000 miled sled dog race from Whitehorse, YT, to Fairbanks, AK takes place the first Saturday in February. I'm not interested in following many sports, but as an aspiring dog musher, this year has been the year to follow the YQ. Last night, Valentines Day, I eagerly and sometimes frantically checked the live tracker radar as well as the Quests Facebook page until three in the morning. Some craziness went down, as it does when you take a team of 14 dogs into the Yukon in hopes of racing for 12 days. This evening the winner will pull into Fairbanks, with more stories about survival than any Everest expedition. This sport keeps blood pumping as it stands as the greatest race on Earth. To think that the Idiatrod is only a couple of weeks away keeps my blood pumping for sure.
I have been in Boone, NC since the first of Feb. Erin and I have been hiking with the dogs, taking lots of pictures, and driving along the Blueridge parkway whenever we get a chance. I feel like my mind is finally coming into its own as I begin to head down to Florida tomorrow. I am so fortunate to have great people in my life, it seems that whenever you are high or low, those closest know just what to say to keep you on track. It's nice too to have self confidence, I learned way back when I started playing live music that you HAVE to be your biggest fan. You must believe in what you are singing, playing, and feeling. Without that, you are just another wondering soul. I get caught up sometimes and this trip had really given me a chance to find who I am and what goals I want to accomplish. Though I haven't played as much live music lately as I would like to to stay fresh, I have gained all this experience in just living life. The best songs are those drawn from life's mysteries and realiizations. I am trying to dance on the mountain where these two ideas meet.
I have been planning my next visit to my brother in Florida's, St. Augustine. I visited them about three months ago, and have gradually basktracked my entire trip down towards them again. I love that I am able to see family this winter. My brothers have been spread out, like me, for some years now. I get a chance to watch my nephews grow, and also see both of my brothers become successful at what they love doing too. It is a tough time in my life to think about settling down. There is so much I want to see and experience, and after traveling around half of the United States, I feel no need to stop and bunker down. I would love to eventually have a house, farm, chickens, pigs, goats, dogs, and watermelons, but I also want to find the perfect spot to have all those things. It's funny that this book about beer has turned into such a life force in what I am doing. I am able to promote local growth and sustainability by bringing information about local breweries to the people that live close to them. I am suggessting so many good beers to people that didn't even know there was something better than Budweiser out there. The truth is that these huge macrbreweries snuff out the craft brewers, or offer them lucrative deals. It's just like any business, but when you have tasted the beers that I have, you will agree that there is something special about drinking a frosty beverage that was brewed from local ingredients shipped to your favorite watering hole with very little travel and energy. That is a good thing! As the trend for local bought, local grown foods increase, we will see more and more microbreweries becoming successfull. You should be proud to drink beer in your hometown, it's a very noble and smart thing to do. It may cost a buck more, but what your spending at the pub your saving in miles the beer travels to get to your lips, which results in a lower environmental impact. I'm not converting you all to hippies here, I'm telling you that if you want to see our children grow up in a world that is submerged in marketing campaigns and attractive themes, then order your oranges from florida and salmon from Alaska. This book is all about community!
I am super excited to head to Orlando Brewing Co. again. Their beer has been on my mind since November, and cannot wait to drink me some of that Brown Ale. I must admit North Carolina has some great breweries, and I will miss that a lot when I leave. But as you all know by now, I'll be back in North Carolina soon enough..
The plan after Florida is to drive westward to Alabama, then up to Indiana and Illinois. These three will put my total at 27 states this winter, a good start on next year's road trip. I am on the fence on wether I will drive out to Alaska this summer. It would be nice to say I road tripped for six months and 14,000 miles, but I need to make sure the Ol' Red will make the journey. The truck has been running great, and I just vaccumed and duck taped about three dogs worth of hair outta her. It's nice to travel clean, especially when you're headed south into the heat. I find that Alaskan winters are forgiving in the sense that you layer up so much, you can't smell your armpits. Now that it's warming up, I am re-learning what it means to be hygenic. haha, maybe not, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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