Friends,
It has been a long hiatus from me from this outlet. I have traveled, read, and run the last few months until my heart was full and at times, weary. The chosen verbs above do not define me fully, but they define what my life has consisted of in large part. And then there is the noun: family. This summer has been one full of my three other compadres, two small and one large. For thirty days we seemed to sit 2 feet from one another in a state of wonder. What is it for us about the road trip?
We journeyed from Houston to Denver to Tetons to Missoula to Banff to North Cascades to San Juan Islands to Seattle to Olympic to Rainier to St. Helens to Cape Lookout to Cape Blanco to Redwoods to Tahoe to Crested Butte to Houston. 8000 miles.
And then we came home. And immediately as we went back to the hustle of the daily life I missed my suspension between D to S to B within the walls of our moving vehicle.
And I lost touch with the outside world as work settled on me like a blanket of responsibility. My phone quit on me, I couldn’t instagram, and I enjoyed a reprieve from all things technological, aside from my work computer.
Bottom line in the last month. It’s good to be home, but I miss my family.
I’m not overworked, just a regular teacher laboring through the day with adolescent minds. The difference for me is that I know longer complete my four sided puzzle of people day in and day out as the world whizzes past. We are now orbiting, seemingly large orbits of one another only to come back at the end of the day to recharge.
But this time is good. The ability to give outside of the family unit is a blessing, though at times less assured in its result. And to have that time apart from one another is a necessity, but a heart stretching one.
I need to get this summer’s adventures down here, and I need to re-open this avenue for myself. I do need to write here. So, this is an effort.
I’ll start with pictures. Many were posted on instagram, but now that the phone is out, I’m out on that too, with bitter and sweet to that situation.
8000 miles. 10 states. 4 people. 2 dogs. 1 camper. some wrong turns and dusty hearts.
little lady – colorado – dinosaur ridge
date night – red rocks – avett bros – amazing
cousin love – denver – ice cream
tetons – skipping stones – twilight
homemade toys – tetons – siblings
yellowstone – falls – looking sassy
missoula – friends – summer days
glacial lakes – canada – family fun
camp life – north cascades – perfect campsite
psychadelic waterfalls – north cascades – beat poets
ferry ride – san juan islands – wind – alternative transport
san juan islands – mt constitution – views for miles – places to return to
fun with nature – deserted beaches – orcas island
what she does – only one in the water
what he does – olympic natl park – rainforest
something i can appreciate – rainforest life
seattle – seafood – pike market
our little elf – rainforest life
foggy coast – rocky beach – olympic natl park
lots of steps – natural disaster – mt st helens – all alone
davys talent – cape lookout – sunny day
our little tribe – cape lookout – oregon
dog’s life – oregon coast – part of the family
fun with nature – oregon coast – explorers
tidepools – oregon coast – big rocks
bounty of nature – colors – starfish – cape blanco
utopia – harvest – warmth on the coast
family – wee ones – never stop exploring – oregon
colors – ocean harvest – oregon
dog’s life – unleashed – oregon
perfect lake – california – out to sea – cold water
homeward bound – crested butte – favorite places
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