Catching Up Part 3: Road Trip and Arrival at the Foundry!

Since I lived in Colorado for many years I would make the drive occasionally to Virginia and back again for vacations and holidays with friends. It's a very long drive, a little over 1,600 miles each way and boredom can set in quickly. Fortunately, the van had a great sound system (thanks Enterprise!) and I had a lot of tunes to play.

I set off bright and early Monday morning, June 9th, with my suitcase and tools packed and a van loaded with waxes, nervous but excited. That line from the movie The Blues Brothers kept playing through my head on repeat: "We're on a mission from God." It certainly did feel that way for most of the trip.

Not pictured: my white knuckles.

The weather was horrible for most of the second day of driving. Missouri was black and dismal and the van was renamed "Moby" that day as it felt like I was navigating a great white whale. After a few phone calls from concerned friends that had been kind enough to monitor the forecast for me, I finally emerged into the beautiful puffy white clouds of the great American plains.

Wind farms! Too cool!

I made it to Manhattan, Kansas by the end of the second night on the road and was now facing only 600 miles left to go! Piece of cake. I had mastered Moby by this time and was oddly referring to myself in the third person only as "Ahab". Funny how too much time on the Kansas plains can quickly lead to madness.

Another long day of driving and I was finally pulling into the parking lot of Madd Castings in Berthoud, CO. The Waterbearer had made it!

Behind this door magical things await.