I am halfway through a run of back-to-back weekends that I am off adventuring, gallivanting, traveling, and otherwise having a great time. This summer has been fantastic! For the last three weekends I’ve been exploring in Arizona, Montana, and California, and in the coming weeks I’ll head back to Arizona (twice) and also do some hiking in Great Basin National Park (Nevada). I am not complaining, I feel incredibly lucky that I have the time, funds, and friends to make these adventures happen. The idea of spending a week at work and jetting off on Friday afternoon to someplace fabulous to spend time with dear friends or my sweetheart is so…intoxicating. In many ways it fulfills the requirements for my Dream Life. (Of course, in my Dream Life I might have funds and ability to include places like Paris or Peru or New Zealand in my travels instead of, you know, the middle-of-nowhere Nevada.) I have loved having a half-packed suitcase in the corner of my bedroom, filling it through the week with the freshly laundered underwear and necessary wardrobe pieces for the next adventure. I have loved the insanely low grocery budget because 4 days at home requires so much less food than 7 days at home. I have truly loved and been nourished by spending time with the humans I care about the most in the world.
But do you want to know something else?
I’m also tired. I feel like I could use a 3-hour nap any given Tuesday (and Thursday) (and Wednesday). I day-dream about a lazy Saturday morning to sleep in and it is not completely unheard of for me to crawl into bed before 8pm, read for 30 minutes, and go to sleep. I’m sure my body will eventually get the better of my wander-lusting heart and demand I take a few days to recover…but it’s not today. As we speak I’m planning my suitcase for two separate trips, one this weekend and one the weekend after. And, despite the dark circles under my eyes and the incessant bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper at my desk, I think I prefer it this way. I’ll sleep when I’m dead and I’ll stop exploring when they pry my Road Trip app from my cold dead fingers.
So, basically, there will need to be a lot of dying before I’ll truly stop seeking the beautiful places. I’ll slow down, eventually, but not quite yet.
Photo: Utah’s Highway 95, somewhere north-west of Blanding and not quite to Capitol Reef National Park.
Very nice – Love Utah its a glorious state – I am following your advice and taking my wife to Woburn this weekend – Adventure away! Thanks
I hope it was a lovely trip!
xox
Oh I love Utah I havent been for years though – my school days are long behond me – keep in touch to see the new blog coming soon
Too bad you won’t be down ‘near Vegas. I have a couple of hikes you’d probably enjoy.
Do me a favor though? Supposedly the area around Tonopah, Nevada is one of the darkest places in the world. There are lots of sky watching clubs and the like around there. Now, Tonopah is quite a long way from Great Basin, but I’m betting the skies are super dark in that area of Nevada too. Maybe you could take your camera and do some long exposures of the nighttime sky? Get lots and lots of stars and planets and stuff? I would love to see that.
I’ve been to Tonopah….Great Basin is WAY WAY better! We got some amazing viewing in, even got to see the Int’l Space Station cross the sky without a telescope or anything! However, due to some jackass campers next to us and their damned high powered lantern and cloudy skies/sketchy wind the next night I didn’t get a good shot of the stars. But I slept underneath them and swooned and was wooed by them. So, so pretty!
xox
Good, because there are some places I want to explore with you! Like the salt flats. But luckily those are a bit closer 😉
I have many thoughts about this….and some of those thoughts involve next weekend….we should chat.
xox
I hear you on the tired, but for different reasons. Keep doing what you love! xoxo
Your tired will have some AMAZING results though!! So much awesome happening in your life right now!
xox
Ah your trip sounds so wonderful! I went on a trip to Montana, and it was one of the most beautiful places in the US. Also that picture is insanely awesome!
I do really love Montana, I’m partial to the western, mountainy part, but the flat plains in the east are okay too. 🙂
xox
Nice shot! You do indeed live in a lovely state =)