Finding the road again

No, I haven't become a mortician.  I am not smuggling drugs, dead prostitutes, Bibles, or any other such thing in the back of my truck.  I have heard all of those already.  I just wanted to share some pictures of my upcoming palatial 40 sq. ft. bachelor pad.  What you see is basically a big plywood box that I can lock up all of my climbing hardware in that also serves as a sleeping platform.  The sides of the platform are detachable so that you can stow a bike along either side.  The resulting 5'x8' platform is more than enough for two people to crash back there.

After I decided that I didn't really want to ride a overloaded bike across the mid-West by myself, I was at a loss for what to do next.  Travelling around to see my parents and brothers gave me time to ponder my next step.  My goal was still to climb, bike, hike and see friends and family throughout the West.  However, the prospect of covering all of that distance alone on my bike was just a little too daunting right away.  I would go so far as to say that it scared me.  So instead of allowing that to completely stop me, I have compromised a bit on my original plans.  My good ol' truck will be making the journey with me.  I figure that after a couple of months spent exploring the stretches of the West and meeting more folks out there, a bike/climb tour in 2012 will be much easier to stomach.

There's really no fixed itinerary yet.  I'm leaving in several days I believe.  States that I definitely plan to explore in are Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho.  The Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City is definitely in my plans.  What else?  I may even make it up into the Canadian Rockies, unless the border patrol finds those prostitutes in the big wooden box in my truck...