Alas ! the crescendo of this trip ended somewhere back west, and all the visual appeals ended after descending the Loveland pass in Colorado ( 11,999 ft) yay! no more altitude sickness! So yea the past 2 days, today, and tomorrow have been, are, will be, pretty anti climatic. But despite the uninspiring scenery of the plains of eastern Colorada, Nebraska's nothingness, and Iowa's... what was in Iowa again? oh right Iowa had the biggest truck stop in the world... It was a really great experience to see some western united states, but i think me and anthony both agree it should only be driven once. i'm excited to get back east, where the rainfall is generous yet modest, where the people arent hunted by mountain lions, a place where the government has not tested it's nukes (Nevada desert) where the beauty is not necessarily found in dramatic scenery but in the faces of family and friends. Awwww guys! I should write for Hallmark.

Just a recap on the actual "business" part of this trip that we had originally intended. We stopped selling books waaay back in Michigan after our meeting with Ruta, the children's book buyer for Borders. She ordered 800 copies of the Turtle Story for a trial run. If Borders sells 60% of the 800 book order ( 480 books) in 60 days, they wont return any AND they'll reorder bigger. So if you plan on buying a book.. Borders is probably the place to do it. Also , Ruta hooked us up with Richard Williams of Small Press United, a sub division of International Publishers Group, who is going to take on the Turtle Story, The Color Guardians, Sancho, and Things to Do.. for a 1 year exclusive, which means they're going to do a damn good job of marketing and distributing (they take 30%). We can still promote the books but they'll be sold through SPU. As soon as we get back to VT we'll have to pack up and ship out the few hundred book orders we took before signing with SPU- a big job. We'll be back in vt some time early tomorrow morning. thanks for being a part of the experience! :)