Still Sideways by Devon Raney

Author:Devon Raney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patagonia
Published: 2020-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

Camping with Temple Cummins in the Washington drizzle. Our board bags turned out to be the best shelter. Ocean Shores, Washington. 2013. Temple Cummins Collection

“How are you getting all that stuff back from Mexico?” one kid asked.

“That is a great question. My wife and daughter are going to meet us at the end of the trip in Tijuana with our truck, and we’ll load it all in and drive back together.”

“How do you dial the phone?” a kid asked.

“I have to use a raised keypad,” I explained. “Not a touch screen. On the number five of every raised keypad is a braille dot. I feel for this dot on the number five, and then I dial any number I want around it by memory.”

A girl stood up from her seat and said, “You look really good.” Instantly a few snickers could be heard. “I mean you dress nice,” she clarified. “How do you do that? Do you dress yourself?”

“Yes, I still dress myself,” I said, trying to hold back a laugh. “I generally wear jeans, which has been the case for a long time now, so I know the zipper goes in front. I mostly wear T-shirts and zip-up jackets, but occasionally I have to wear a button-up shirt and I know from when I had perfect vision that those buttons go in front as well.”

Now there was lots of laughter in the bleachers, and so I announced it was time for us to go. “I want to thank all of you for having us here today,” I said. “It’s been awesome.” The school principal came up and thanked us, and then we pushed the bike out of the school gym.

“That was fun,” I said as we pedaled back to the rental condo.

“Yeah, and funny,” Temple added genuinely.

In the afternoon, Temple sorted out his gear and loaded it into their truck. “Alright,” he said. “We’re out of here.”

I gave him a hug. “Thank you for being here,” I said sincerely. “I had a great time.”

“Me too, it was super fun.” Then Temple asked, “Who is the next captain?”

“Scott Gravatt. And Jeff Hawe is coming along now, too,” I said.

“The snowboard photographer?” Temple asked.

I told Temple how I’d met Jeff when he was taking photos for a magazine at Mount Bachelor during the Dirksen Derby the prior December. Jeff and I had got to talking about adventure and trips, and I’d told him about the trip I was putting together to pedal the whole West Coast. Jeff had grown up in Colorado, studied photography at college in Montana, and was currently living in Georgetown, a neighborhood of Seattle. We stayed in touch throughout the winter, and in the spring he told me he’d like to come along and take photos.

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