Natural Formations

 Early on in our journey, one of our first Warm Showers hosts was talking to us about riding the Continental Divide. The guy was downright poetic about the beauty of the entire experience (so much so that I, who never wants to tour again after this is over, thought it sounded like a great idea). He then mentioned that a number of guys are just there to “get it over with” and drive all night and completely ignore the scenery. I kid you not: he sounded downright angry that anyone would skip such natural beauty.

As a person who isn’t really wowed by nature (e.g., Robert will tell me about an upcoming waterfall, and I just think “Oh, water dashing off a rock” and shrug; I have also missed all types of animals because I am far more interested in watching the road than what is to the side), I took his comment as something of a private affront.

That is, until the other night.

Now, I understand that what I am about to observe does not negate Mr. Continental Divide’s point, but it does suggest that there are a wide variety of natural formations to appreciate.

At a bar in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, a very interested and engaging bartender asked Robert and I to name our favorite part of the tour experience.

“Oh, this,” I said, “meeting locals, getting to know people like you.”  While there was just a smidge of flattery in my comment, the point was true in the broadest sense.  Everyone we meet seems like a story . . . The natural formations of a life.  What slow drip . . What personal earthquake . . . What traumatic flood put you here, where our lives now intersect? (As an aside, I think Robert agreed that this is the most interesting part).

In the case of this bartender, why is this pretty and smart woman—married twice, divorced twice—living in this tiny town serving shots of tequila to clientele that seem no where in her peer group? What about Crazy Carl—the small town hotel owner who only took cash because he lives “off the grid” and couldn’t wait to tell us of the travails with his daughter—how did he become Crazy Carl?  And the multiple overly competent middle aged women we’ve encountered doing service jobs while refusing to suffer fools . . . How did they end up there?  The young man we met the other night who was busy checking stats on creamery silos, monitoring temperature and quantity while at the pub—we learn that he lives in Twin Falls because his ex lives in town with their child . . . Is his life what he expected?  Is he happy? The divorced Indiana deputy who is a Warm Showers host but never bikes?  He spent several interesting hours talking to us before we left, giving us coffee and snacks?   I could only see the thinnest sketch of his life. The alcohol soaked guy we drank with at a riverfront who told us crazy stories of domestic abuse in his community while he got  repetitive?  What are his dreams? What were his dreams?  Or Florida Man, who I only spoke to for only a few hours but had a shared sense of humor . . . What is your life like?  The couple trying to recover the reputation of a well known old bar in small town Iowa . . . The idea seems crazy . . What made you think it could work? The old man trying to reopen a roadside motel in a 100 mile gap in Wyoming where no other businesses exist? What are you thinking? What drove you here this late in life? The young woman with emergency room medical credentials who seemed so unhappy running a convenience store that her parents had purchased in tiny town, Nebraska?   What drives you? What drove you? Where will you be next year? The out of place, middle aged goth-looking woman who did a double take of Robert and I while we stood next to a six pack of Stella outside a Dollar General in a town with nothing else, and asked, “What are you guys doing?” . . . Because we mistakenly didn’t invite her to have a beer with us, I can only guess at her narrative.

I will never know the answers to these or any other of the hundreds of questions I have about so many people . . . So many natural formations . . . We encountered along the way.

And what do they think of us? If at all? What did our encounters open or close?  

Nothing against bison . . . No shade on rivers and mountains. None at all. But these are the formations I want to know about.