Meet Our Family For the Week

When you sign on to in a group trip, you agree to spend a helluva lot of time with a bunch of people you've never met. In the first moments, you never really know that to think. Who are these people? We got lucky: our small group consists of happy, quirky, genuine souls. We've begun to gel as a group, with some affection for each other. For our second night together, our guide Brad (part of the family, naturally) took us to dinner at King's Estate winery, where we dined at the top of a hill overlooking the Willamette Valley.

On the far left is Don, our resident engineering geologist. Don rides at a quick clip, leaving Deb and I far behind. Soft-spoken and knowledgable, Don enjoys a glass of wine with dinner along with a little conversation about dirt, dams, and hydrology.

On the other side of me is our patient and fearless leader, Brad. He cheers us on at the tops of hills and devotes his notable skills as a trail cook to his preparation of our midday meals. His warm and generous spirit fills the space around him, and he somehow manages to keep our grab bag of personalities rolling along smoothly together.

Behind me is Deb. We already know how fantastico she is, but let it be noted here that she quickly went from sick-with-a-cold and out of shape to power legs over just a few days. Kudos to you, girlfriend.

Next to Deb is Nancy, who's left her husband behind for the week while she blazes down the trail at the same pace as Don. Nancy has hair down to her butt, is quick with a laugh, and tells it like it is. She's alluded to some juicy escapades as a 20-something gal which may qualify as good fodder for hollywood screenwriters. 

And finally, on the far right is Lilijana, a Serbian linguist who teaches Spanish somewhere along the Jersey shore. She is very fond of coffee and chocolate but not of steep hills or early mornings. She lost a lot of what she had to Hurricane Katrina, and has expressed understandable envy for those of us who live on the west coast.

Tomorrow, we roll on together again. And I know by the time the tour is done, we'll have shared many meals and memories, and I'll be sad to say goodbye to our little family.