It's hard to believe, the time has nearly arrived for me to resume the cross-country ride I began in the summer of 2015. The attempted ride to Galva, Illinois, (my hometown) for my 50th H.S. reunion was rudely interrupted by some dogs and broken ribs. Tomorrow I'll pick up the ride from that ill-fated spot near Mandan, ND, and ride to Bar Harbor, ME.
Dee and I left Lynden, WA (our current home) on Tuesday morning and drove through thick forest fire smoke to Missoula, MT, where we visited long-time friend, Barbara Theroux. Barbara, who spent 45 years as a bookseller, opened Fact & Fiction in Missoula in 1986. She and I served on the board of the American Booksellers Association together, and we've visited her store several times over the years. She sold her store to the University of Montana, who also renamed their bookstore Fact & Fiction. She continued to work in the stores until she retired this year. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo of the three of us together. We ate burgers and drank beer at the Depot, where we ran into authors Annick Smith and her husband Bill Kittredge. It had been several years since they last visited Bellingham. It was great to chat with them again.
On Wednesday we drove from Missoula to Medora, ND, the home of Theodore Roosevelt National Park -- a relatively unknown gem in the National Park system. We spent some time here two years ago and will stay again tomorrow before driving to the ride-launch point. On the way to Medora we stopped in Bozeman, MT, at another favorite store — Country Bookshelf.
Unfortunately, owner Ariana Paliobagis wasn't in the store, but we did get to talk with booksellers Katie and Jamie and told them about the ride and specifically about the fundraising for the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Binc has already reached out to booksellers affected by Hurricane Harvey and they do great work all of the time with booksellers in need of some financial assistance due to some crisis.
Here's a photo of Katie, Jamie, and me (I'm the one in the middle, as if you couldn't tell). The shirt I'm wearing is from our friends' store in Phoenix (Changing Hands' second store) — another great place to visit.
I'm excited about beginning the ride, but am now curious why I scheduled 82 miles on the first day — what was I thinking? Join me back here tomorrow, assuming I survive.