Highlights Part II and Reflections

Alas, I am back, sitting here in the fine apartment of Amanda and Tim Gross, after dancing and living it up at the Lounsbury wedding that Kindra was in this afternoon (the whole reason for our return from Canada).  But let me continue the travel tales from our Canadian return via Yellowstone....

We spent our last day in Yellowstone traversing cliff sides, gorgeous waterfalls, lakes, and geysers.  Lower Yellowstone falls was spectacular, full of energy and color.  We made a friend who we ran into at four separate viewpoints along the canyon surrounding the falls, which was great.  A windy drive took us past a veryyyy large lake and to Old Faithful, which faithfully gave a performance for us at sunset.  Post sunset, on our drive back to our RV packed campground, we past yet another bison crossing.  We pulled over and watched these gorgeous beasts tiptoe across the highway, to the chagrin of other drivers.  As we sat in our car awestruck, a bison actually sniffed our license plate and then tronced right by Kindra as she had the car door halfway open!  It was both shocking exhilarating.  Disaster averted, we continued our journey, enamored by the beauty of these large animals.

Early Thursday, we saw a few more geysers, and drove for Utah.  We spent three hours fixing a busted headlight at an Autozone in Logan, Utah (special thanks to the staff there; soooo helpful).  Tired yet feeling resilient, we drove over night for Pasadena, braving thunderstorms and lack of sleep.  Thus finished our first journey in this saga.

Reflecting on the last month and a half, I feel that Kindra and I have become way more a cohesive team.  Farming together, driving together, troubleshooting a wet tent together; it bonded us all the more.  I felt a deeper sense of trust in my wife come alive, and this is huge because I have a lot of mistrust and belief that 'I am the best person to do something and can't allow someone else to do it' rooted in me.  I was able to let go of the smallish things (ie showers, unscheduled break downs and stops, cold weather, aching joints) and accept every mishap as a valuable piece of the journey.  And I began to thrive.  A deep happiness, a peace, descended from living simply and wildly in nature, with little societal, friend or family pressure to say 'no, you can't do this' or 'that's unacceptable' or 'you'll never be wanted for being like that.'  We became hippies, vagabonds, free spirits, open to new ideas and friendships, ready to embrace simplicity and spontaneity.  Being in nature, in God's gorgeous creation, was one of the most soothing gratifying parts of the trip.  Constant jaw dropping views and fresh air and hikes, all of them lifted us up into a place of wonder and joy.  We were kids again. 

Tomorrow we leave for a three day backpacking trip on a Supai Indian reservation in the Grand Canyon.  I hope our second leg of the journey is as brilliantly inspiring for us as the first.  I hope to learn more of the spirit of Love, of being a warm and welcoming person with others (we will have a lot of stops with friends).  So until our next post, blessings to you who read!