Intro

Welcome to a story, or stories I should say. A compilation of adventure tales. An ongoing itch to see, smell, and touch the world, or at least the deserted roads and rarely trampled mountains of America. Characters within the descriptive paragraphs of these stories carve out the coming and going companions in life; vital life people and pieces that parallel a universe for moments, days, years. And then spear off, leaving granules of magnificent memories of magical places. They leave a lasting trace, a gained sense of courage to stand tall on oxygen deprived mountains and shout absurdities like: I love you Ralph! Ralph is a teenage reindeer stuffed of the finest synthetic polyester fiber poof; he says made in Indonesia but really tells me he is from the North Pole. Delivered through a chimney one December night 20 years ago, we instantly became cuddle buddies upon that morning's sunrise. He is the instigator. The inspiration. And the imagination. He breathes creativity. Laughter. His is a dear companion. And yes, at 4lbs he tags along atop a pack or strapped to a rack. In delirium of 107 degree heat, the small possession of material belongings gain a persona. Innate objects become friends of the road and trails. And as for the humans who accompany, their presence reads priceless. Without O'Reilly, a 29 year old New Hampshirian with superior taste buds, the mathematical six foot four inch tall German, or handful of organic peanut butter and 99 cent jam eating munchkins, there would be a lot less excitement. The encounters we make with our specie, encapsulating the world with their awkward ways and over consumerist love, somehow we have managed to become overly adored creatures. Their generous hearts restore a faith that goodness prevails in the upheaval of a sometimes lost humanity. As for myself, I'm just the navigator, paddling up the stream of life munching on Clif Bars, with an iPhone documenting the frailties and goodies underneath all the simplified complexities in the world we reside. So again, I welcome you to get lost and dream a little through this typed text and your imagination. My name is Kristen Gentilucci. I live in Berkeley California and I love dogs.


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Day 38. 500 flavors of pop

Miles:62
Me: Buggy Captain
Weather: 95 and cloudy

I've always wanted to see the largest soda pop bottle in the world. 500 flavors Pops could boast of from every neon color to country one could pull from a hat. Pumpkin pie to sparking maple, to tree flavored spruce beer, we must have bought over 100 bottles. I guess one can say, you know your family when, without question you are sharing soda bottles with 32 other eating breathing friends.

Today continued, and was just one of those days. Just one of those days you question the concept of people.

As buggy captain, still rising from a restful sleep, I got flagged down at an early 8am by and angry driver who wanted to explain to me how, "my riders were in the way of his driving lane." I smiled politely and nearly bit my tongue off before lunch.

Mom made it all better because, Christmas arrived at 2pm, a shoe box full of every type of vanilla power bar sugary protein morsel they have marketed.

Neighbors of the church offered us their Icy cold pool, but it wasn't without a price. I sat there for 20 minutes being lectured on his favorite subject after the gospel, the controversial topic of fracking, a money making way to drill for oil by fracturing rock with over 20 million gallons of water. Such a nice fellow, a hard working family man, who struck it rich in life. The type of character you are friends with until you mention that your a democrat or weren't a fan of Bush and then the tables turn and it's time to leave.

In Yukon OK, our host is a generous private Christian school. Director Bob, a proud cyclist and Oklahoman, is an example of someone who proves that there is such a thing as being too organized in life. Our bikes were all ready to be numbered as we rolled in to keep them in order. I didn't dare want to say that our life is a chaos of functional disfunction; we had to hide the laundry burrito from him, which might have just thrown him into a full blown panic attack. However, their generosity could not be topped filling our sugar carbonated bellies with BBQ steak and chicken, sweet potatoes, chocolate milk and pitas with hummus.
Setting aside character flaws we all have, these people truly have opened their doors with only gratitude for us.