I head out tomorrow on a cross-country adventure, making my way to Santa Fe and then Colorado for a week of exploring before returning home. For much of the journey it will be just me and my BMW F800ST motorcycle. I'll be keeping friends and family updated and reporting on my trip through this blog.

I am making the first part of this journey for Lucinda, my sister. In a sense, I am traveling with her, as I am carrying her ashes to our brother John in Santa Fe. Lucinda died of complications due to breast cancer in July, 2008. John will be honoring her final wishes by taking her ashes further, to Vancouver Island, to be dispersed in a place where she fell in love with life.

My sister was brilliant and beautiful. Lucinda was a professor of Philosophy and Religion at American University in Washington, DC. She combined her law degree and PhD with her long study of Tibetan Buddhism by focusing on ethics. Her most recent area of study was in human trafficking for the sex trade. Her work, focusing on Asia, specifically India, has and will make a difference to many women and children. She was loved and respected by peers and students. Lucinda also loved to travel, cultivating friendships around the world.

Some of my fondest memories of recent time spent with Lucinda involve plants and gardens. We explored the National Arboretum for the first time together, and even a walk through her neighborhood was an unfolding discovery, as her powers of observation were much keener than mine. And so this journey will involve stops at botanical gardens along my route. I hope you'll come with me.