Aaahhh... Back in Oakridge again. Life is peaceful here, especially this time of year. The shop has slowed down, leaving only the hard core riders, local characters, and the always unpredictable highway traffic to enliven my days at the Mercantile. I timed my trip to Flagstaff well, as it rained and rained in Oakridge while I was away, but the sun followed me back from Arizona, and it has been quite sunny and dry here since my return. I took the above picture last night in my back yard as the full, Hunter's Moon, rose across the sky and created a neat silhouette of the locust tree.

I do love the fall here, as the forests are so very vibrant and the weather is very tranquil. The reds and yellows of the vine maple contrast against the green moss and chocolaty brown soil that accompany the rain and the cool weather that the autumn brings. I enjoy getting out in my yard, raking the leaves, breathing in the air and taking in the change that comes as the sun drops lower and lower on the horizon. For me fall is a time of renewal as the leaves come down. It offers an opportunity to start anew, to leave behind that which we don't need, and to think about what it is that we want in our future.

For me this fall has provided a nice time to reflect upon my goals for the future. In no specific order some of my goals are as follows: dance, travel, simplify, learn to play the guitar, write to my friends more often, help Steve at Coconino Cycles in the shop, eat well, grow food, stretch, help my dad to make his life enjoyable, ride mountain bikes, unicycle.

Right now I'm thinking about an upcoming trip to Chile. I am going to go to Chile in February for about 6 weeks to explore the culture, explore the mountains, spend time with my friend Lindsay, and see what adventures I can find. I am interested in going to the lake region, and the Patagonia region, but I haven't narrowed down my objectives too much just yet. I'm going to buy tickets sometime in the next few days, but I first have to create an itinerary of just what it is that I'm going to do so that I can fly in and out of the most reasonable locations.
Steve at Coconino suggested flying to Quito, Ecuador and booking tickets within the continent from there, to make it more of an all encompassing South American journey. But, I'm feeling intimidated about the idea of getting to Chile via Ecuador... Maybe it would be worth it, so I could see more of the continent and have a grand adventure. Any ideas you have are welcome.

I have more pictures to post, but Blogger isn't letting me add them to this post for some reason. I'll try to add them to another post after I publish this one.