okie.

SOLO road trip fiend. hell yes there’s a difference.

flyfisherman.

ditched 21 successful years in the financial services industry (CPA and CFP, launched Bank of Jackson Hole’s Trust Dept),  to attempt a life of freelance writing. can write more about a fly on my arm than the sweeping beauty of some cheesy tropical sunset. figured that was a sign. tough haul. broke. no ego remains.

hard earned every road trip badge of honor ( ‘horror’ as one reader put it) but most triumphant fist pump was technical mountain summit, September 2009 of Grand Teton (rated 5.6). words here about that would be a waste of time, so blog posts: Mountain Climb.  for the quick and dirty: Tulsa World article.

favorite self portrait. taken in a cheap motel room with no heat after a long day of driving. South Dakota. 

ss (superfluous stuff): married. one child, a son and between husband and i, a large extended family. hair long and blonde until chopped and died chocolate for 4 week backpacking adventure to China.  news flash, i didn’t look Chinese. fan of the Old West.

rs (relevant stuff):

#1 on my way to Jackson Hole to visit a friend.  upon landing in Salt Lake City discover i’ve $5 cash and no debit card.  cannot call my husband. if he knew he’d feel terrible then he’d kill me. doing the run walk with phone pressed to ear to hear Am Ex say i can get cash at an ATM, i become vaguely aware of a full sensation down there. during a lull in the panicked conversation, the idea lobs that i sat on my tail bone in a way on the plane that numbed the nether region and the feeling was just returning. blunder off the moving sidewalk and belly up to an ATM. wrenching the backpack off i discover during the quick paced walk the friction of my legs had caused both ends of the long loosely woven scarf to lodge completely and firmly up between my legs. nice.

Airport Tale

#2 getting ready to depart for return trip to Jackson Hole (during courtship with tulsan husband-to-be), he asked if i’d tried Burt’s Bees chap stick. i hadn’t so he handed me a stick saying how great it was for winter conditions. since my lips were chapped from the Jackson winter i dabbed some on in the Tulsa airport before boarding the plane.  containing peppermint oil, it felt awesome on dry lips so i reapplied a lot during flight. upon landing in Salt Lake people noticeably looked my way. thinking i must look especially HOT today, i strutted my hot self into a bathroom. washing my hands i glanced up at the mirror to see the ghastly sight of ghostly white lips. the chap stick was “sun and sand” with zinc oxide. i called him, “why didn’t you TELL me the chap stick was OPAQUE!?” “well I didn’t know you were going to TROWEL it on!”

#3 land at a connecting airport. i stop at the first restroom. upon entering it appeared empty (oh happy day) and I duck quickly into a stall. i finally exit the stall, walk around a sort of dividing wall to the bank of sinks, begin washing my hands, look up to see men standing on both sides of me doing the same.  momentarily confused until in the mirror I catch a glimpse of the backside of several men and corresponding row of urinals now directly behind me. with dripping hands, avoiding eye contact (but seeing amused grins), i run walk out.

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