Almost two years ago, Rich and I began to plan a ride to Colorado and New Mexico for mid-May of 2026. I’d leave from SoCal, Rich from South Dakota, and we’d meet in Grand Junction CO. But I finally got a date scheduled for my much needed total knee replacement—April 1. Appropriate, I guess. My optimism for the ride said mid-May, my surgeon said three months. Yielding to his expertise, we penciled in Monday July 7, after the rush of the 4th. Remember the word “penciled.” Then Rich realized he forgot a commitment, so we pushed it back a week. In pencil. I had a hard deadline to be home by July 29, to teach at an online writers conference beginning the next day.

But Rich’s wife…