away

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

in the cloud – mt rainier

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