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August 6, 1999 |
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Happy to have found a home before the rain resumed, we hunkered down in the RV, in preparation for a damp night. Thunder reverberated louder and longer than I'd ever previously experienced, and I comforted myself by saying it must amplify as it bounces off the mountains. Savoring a day off, Brian hung out at camp while I rode into town. At an antique shop, Canyon Mount Traders, the owner, Jane, spoke how lightening strikes sparked fires, ranging in size from a quarter acre to more than 1400 acres, at various locations throughout the state. After hearing the story of the ride, she donated an antique photograph of a family, from decades earlier, camping in the wilderness! She shared her story as well; after she was widowed at 46 never having lived more than mile from her folks, she answered a personal ad, fell in love and "ran away from home at 50! She'd inspired her sister to enter the seminary at 50! Jane and I shared a zest for life and the belief in the best that is yet to come! I rode on toward the small grocery, and was encouraged to sign the 1999 Cyclists Book' listing the names and destinations of the riders who stopped in. The nice owner offered an internet connection and I took a rain-check for the next day. Returning to camp, a white and gray young cat caught my eye at a nearby site and I queried the campers how well it traveled, wondering how our two felines would have fared. It didn't belong to them, or anyone in camp I soon discovered. Someone dumped him here. Coming to me when prompted, I directed him to Brian who immediately complimented his beautiful green eyes and sweet demeanor, subtle signals he could soon be a part of the Kaplan clan. After a little detective work we learned he was indeed a stray in need of adoption. He looked thin to me, unlike Keppy, our armadillo-shaped cat in Atlanta. I fed him some cooked hamburger and soon the cat was stretched out on our couch, in Brian's favorite spot, in just about the same position! We dubbed him Clyde Holiday Kaplan, in honor of the site where we found him. The local vet, was, lucky for us, only 2 miles away. Some locals have to drive 60 miles to find the nearest animal hospital. She examined Clyde immediately, pronounced him healthy and kept him overnight for a vasectomy, prompting fear and questions from Brian. We celebrated the new addition to our family by driving 20 miles back to Prairie City for dinner, in a "fine dining establishment called Ferdinand's which housed the most immense, magnificent mahogany bar with two beautifully carved, well-endowed (topless) Italian figurines, from the late 1800's. These lovely statues were originally shipped by boat, from Europe by ship, around Cape Horn (before the Panama Canal) and then by boat up the Mississippi to St. Louis where they were attached to an equally impressive bar, and then shipped by wagon to Prairie City. I wished they could reveal the stories of their voyage and the miners they'd encountered since arrival. My mind shot back to the raucous bar in Ennis Wyoming and I envisioned the flush days of the ole wild-west, men imbibed and uninhibited, prancing up on the bar with the ladies! There was no prancing for us tonight,
we were tired and in need of sleep. |
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