Prineville, Oregon

Dear Everybody,
In my last post I shared a strategy for going up hills. Yesterday I discovered a new trick. Those of you who know Dave well probably know that as a child he was passionate about the Back to the Future trilogy. After a couple of beers Dave may have shared with you that he loved these movies so much that he the recorded them on an audio tape so that his family and friends could enjoy the witty dialog and exciting action of these timeless films whenever there was tape player near by. The end result of listening to Back to the Future I II and III over and over is that Dave has memorized all of the movies almost word for word. So yesterday, as we began climbing the Cascades, Dave began to recite Back to the Future II and it was great. He has the intonation and sound effects down. I could see the movie in my head as he was talking.

I have crossed the Cascades many times before in a car but I don't think I have ever seen the Cascades like this. Biking over mountains means going really, really slow which means you see a lot more than you do in a car. Like noticing when the water on the side of the road starts running the opposite direction (which means you've reached the top.) All through out Symposium this year the idea of asking children to slow down really stood out to. We ask children to take their time and notice what their drawing or sculpting or looking at. I feel like this trip has helped me to do that.

Everything is going great. I'm pretty tired today but we have been biking an awful lot, which might have something to do with the full body exhaustion. Dave is waiting with the bikes so I am going to wrap it up. I'll write more later.

Much love,
Catie