Escape from Gillette

Shortly after I got on Highway 59 and started the long drive from Northeast Wyoming to Denver, I pulled the Mazda over at the outskirts of the city.

“Welcome to Gillette, Energy Capital of The Nation,” the sign reads. They don’t have a “Come Back Soon” sign for outbound traffic. I am not coming back soon.

I did set up my camera on the small bendy tripod to take a parting shot to remember the place where I’d spent a year and a half of my life. I'll remember the good times, good friends and a lot of lessons. Many people who have lived in Gillette and done similar work also know that it can be a pretty tough gig. My gig ended with a layoff.

Tough gigs are part of life though and I’m not complaining. OK, maybe I complain over drinks with friends, or mutter to myself occasionally to myself on runs. This doesn’t mean I feel like I’ve been through anything special. Nor does it mean that I don't think payoffs in job experience, meeting new people and trying out a new life in a different part of the country weren't worth the time and effort.

So long as I have friends, running, beer and friends who will tolerate/participate in bitching sessions over beers and on runs, I should make it through all right. Bitching has its place, but if I put too much of it in writing I might become Drama Dude and shrink the small cache of people who read this blog.

I’d rather write about what’s next. I mean, I haven't figured out a lot of what's next, and again, that fact does not make me special.  Leaving Gillette has been the blessing that has given me time to breathe, reevaluate and start to do some things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t had the time for. 

Lucky, happy bastard that I am, I got back in the car and started driving south to start doing some of those things.

My progress so far has included a brief visit to Denver and a Greyhound east ride east into New York City. I just touched down in my wooded homeland in Connecticut. 

It’s exciting to reconnect with old friends and family, and it’s also exciting to wrap up months of training and run the Boston Marathon April 15.

I’m not settling in on the East Coast though. Soon enough I will get back to Denver, meet up with a friend and visit some of the great national parks of the west. I plan to fill the next month with a random series of adventures in canyons and over mountains.

It’ll be something to write about.