Remnants

Despite leaving early, and with only minimal stops for stretching, sustenance, and soda pop, it still took me 10.5 to 11 hours to get back to Los Angeles.

During the long drive, my mind floated along a stream of consciousness.  I came to realize certain memory buoys I thought were solidly anchored had unmistakably come unmoored.  What I have at times taken for granted as being solid safe haven signposts for who I am as a person are apparently adrift.  Such a realization proved a vivid reminder that memory and the past itself are both more fluid than I would like.

As a result, it seems only befitting that I include a few photos from this weekend that didn’t get uploaded previously. Some just didn’t fit thematically with what I was going for in the moment; some were corrupted during the initial upload and thus never made it into the layout proper; and some are, well, just silly.

The Breakfast of Champions:


Apparently, this is where Pluto was discovered, or as Percival Lowell called it when he originally postulated its existence, “Planet X.”  — Flagstaff, AZ

Also here — a weird cat statue.  Roadside America lists it… ergo, I snap a pic…

Of course, RA also lists two Lumberjacks – actually they list A LOT of Muffler Men and Lumberjack Statues, something I don’t quite get… but here’s the photo of one of them outside of the now defunct Granny’s Closet restaurant.


On the road out of Flagstaff toward Tuba, AZ, a sign seemingly built for me:


This is a shot I posted on Facebook.  It’s taken from the parking lot yesterday morning looking up at the mesa… hours later, I would be on top of it, right at the edge for the turnaround of one segment.  That daytime “top of the world” photo was corrupted and didn’t get posted in the recap… so here’s a second try.


Post race, I returned to the Amigo Cafe and indulged in a Navajo Taco — it’s a good thing I don’t live in that town or else I’d be eating this pretty much every day and weigh 500 pounds.  They also had some reading material that seemed meant for me…


On the road out of town this morning…


Vacation Races just sent out the results — here’s a screengrab of my finisher’s certificate.