LATEST TRICKS: Learning As We Go

Sunday, October 24, 2010 

We are over half way into the Old Dogs, New Tricks expedition!  As we hoped, this journey is bringing with it discovery, exploration and thinking outside-the-box.  But what we are learning is not always what we expected—indeed, looking up the definition of discovery we find the words “uncover, reveal, unearth, disclose”.  We are grateful for each and every aspect of this journey, especially the unexpected discoveries. 

Some discoveries are more personal, others are more practical.  We’ll let those personal discoveries keep percolating for now, but on the practical side, we’ve discovered that keeping a blog up-to-date is much more challenging than we expected!  When it was just the two of us traveling in the north central states, we could stay on top of our entries pretty well.  But, when we added in traveling with friends, visiting family and friends, and the fatigue that comes from high altitude (yet another discovery), blogging regularly and creatively became more challenging.  So, while we have our notes, memories and photos, we find ourselves about a month behind on the published blog entries.  That’s a lot to catch up on without sequestering ourselves in a motel room for a couple of days!  Meanwhile, trying to get caught up none-the-less, we haven’t been posting current entries. 

So that we can once again provide you with a near real-time travel experience, we have decided to temporarily set aside the catch-up process and start moving forward with blog entries starting today.  This was a difficult decision because…
-- We’ve met some marvelous people this past month and we want them to know how much they have touched us. 
-- The time we shared traveling with our friends was precious and we want that experience reflected on the blog so that we can all share it with others.
-- The visits with friends and family in Nevada and Arizona were so special and we want to share the love.
-- And, we’re organized people that like chronological sequencing. 

But, “on-the-road and off-the-leash” is teaching us about flexibility.  We WILL get that missing month filled in but that may come much later or after we have returned home.  There is much to tell about our experiences in South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.  (Oh yeah, we made tracks in that missing month!)  In the meantime, hop on board once again.  We’re in Santa Fe, New Mexico and we’ve got things to tell you!    
-- Ted and Laura