I turned 55 on April 10th, 2010 - yikes, that alone is a real shocker - and had had a hankering for a solo road trip (like the Blues Brothers, I LOVE road trips) through the southwest for some time. I left the day before my B-day and returned home 17 days later. What a fantastic time! The journey feels like a body of experience and so that is how I’m formatting the story.
Name of this Body: ‘Expansive and Spacious’ – all of it, both the internal and external landscapes.
Profound happiness and gratitude for my good fortune, along with a pervasive spirit of adventure were my traveling companions.
The Bones:
17 Days
3,930 miles - Sage, my Subaru, performed perfectly!
6 states: Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada
12 tanks of gas: visualize 3 - 55 gallon drums of fuel (I know, I know, this is a lot of fossil fuel to burn up … well I could rationalize it cuz for 20 years in Juneau there was only 40 miles of road to drive and I usually only traveled on 5 – from Thane to town and later from Douglas to town)
60 CDs to listen to – my fav, probably Stevie Wonder’s Greatest Hits
Temperature range: 88 in Tucson and in the 20’s at night camping at Arches National Park in Utah
3 friends visited: Bill, Genevieve and Devon
300 or so photos taken
The Connective Tissue:
Whenever possible I chose the back roads. These routes took me through small town America, or as I began referring to them: teeny weeny America. The smallest had a population of 20; I can’t remember the name, maybe Henley, anyway its near Likely, CA. It’s a wonder the town could afford the signage.
I started a habit – that will be dropped now that I am back home – a cold coffee drink almost every afternoon. A tasty caffeine boost sure helped me stay alert! In Austin, Nevada, a sleepy little town where I ate lunch at a café, the waitress looked at me in a weird way when I asked for a cold coffee. She said, “ You mean you want me to put ice in a glass and pour coffee over it?” I said. “Yes, please!” This gives you a sense of the town’s progressiveness ;-) And I loved it of course; it is quaint and gave me a glimpse at the past and the realization that there are still a few folks living in these towns.
There are traces of popcorn on the floor of my car now … I’ll let you imagine the rest. Between that and eating road food and not getting enough exercise I gained a few pounds. Now that I’m home, my attention turns to a spring green cleanse and regular exercise because I don’t like how the extra weight feels nor jeans that are too tight.
New scenery every day, what a treat! Previously, I had only traveled as far south as Four Corners, so almost everywhere I went was new to me. Guess I better start at the beginning. My friend, Bill, treated me to a fabulous Birthday night out in San Francisco at a jazz and sushi club, followed with a show by ‘Sounds of Blackness’. It was so much fun! Believe it or not, this was my first time to The City! Then I went to Tonopah, AZ where I stayed for 2 nights soaking at El Dorado Hot Springs. Its funky, but ohhhhhhh, the water is so awesome. I was gifted with the awareness of how far I have come, emotionally and physically. It’s a nude place and I interacted with men, mainly truckers who use the place to unwind from all their driving. I was very much at ease and enjoyed our conversations.
From there, I drove on to see Genevieve in Tucson. It was so wonderful to see her again and not need cell phones to catch up. We went to a 2 day teaching on the evolution of consciousness and took a day trip to Safford, AZ. to soak at the Essence of Tranquility Hot Springs, also funky but most enjoyable. And we went on a trail ride. Now, I hadn’t been on a horse for 16 years since a trail ride in Bend had left me waddling for days. This one was easy and my horse, Myrtle, was calm and slow. The highlight of the ride was seeing (and nothing more) a huge rattlesnake that spooked the guide’s horse; I was amazed at how loud the rattle was. We also drove up to Mt. Lemmon outside of Tucson. Its beautiful, cooler, has a forest of Saguaro cactus and huge stone formations. I loved it.
Chinle, AZ is home to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Shay) National Monument and it was my next stop; sure wish I’d planned more time there. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I took a hike down to the ruins, savoring the scenes, trying to imagine what it might have been like living there. I was fortunate to walk back up the trail with a Dine (Navajo in English) guide who had finished his tour. His presence was so calm and gentle. He owns a campground and a string of horses for trail rides. I would like to return there some time and explore more.
On to Pagosa Springs, CO. This is the one place I had been before. The hot springs are one of the reasons I wanted to go back. (Can you tell I’m a hot springs junkie?) Since I was there in ’98 with my Mom, they have added 5 more pools. Now there are 23! YES. I highly recommend this sweet little town. My friend, Devon, is the Program Coordinator at Tara Mandala Tibetan Buddhist Retreat Center about 10 miles out of town. I had also been there when I visited before and there was hardly anything in the way of structures. Now, oh, my gosh, there are all sorts of buildings in the Tibetan style including a very impressive temple. There is nothing else like this in the U.S.; it is quite amazing to see. It was so good to see Devon and meet her fiancé.
Along the way I actually did do some business. I met Kate, who owns Antigone Books in Tucson with whom I have been doing biz for years and she directed me to another store she thought would be interested in my flags. And in Pagosa Springs, I found another new customer, thanks to Devon’s guidance.
Back in ’98, I had passed by Arches National Park (when Mom and I went to Bryce) and bookmarked it as a place I had to go to someday. Now I know why. This was really a highlight of my trip. I LOVE the stone formations, the arches especially – their dramatic shapes are both awe inspiring and rare. I ooouhed and aaahed a lot as I hiked, taking lots of photos that I am sure won’t begin to do their beauty justice. I want to go back there too. I was going to camp at Arches and had been racing from Pagosa to get to the campground before dark to set up my tent. The sky was ominous and I was more than a wee bit concerned. But hey, I’d made these campground reservations a couple of months earlier and by golly I was going to camp out. Now, I’m seasoned at pitching my tent and was able to do it quickly with very little light. (I don’t carry one of those big hissing lanterns that can illuminate a block.) I tucked myself in with drizzle falling and rested in my sleeping bag thanking the sky gods for holding back the rain long enough so I wasn’t completely soaked. Well, no sooner were the gratitudes out of my mouth, then here came the rain. When I didn’t think it could rain any harder, it did. Pelting rain and then wind too. I lay awake, of course, singing my little ‘I surrender to the rain’ song that I had made up last summer while out on vision quest when it also rained in the desert. At least this time I had a tent. We can all agree the desert needs the rain, so who am I to begrudge it? Around midnight as I was actually dozing off, despite the rain and wind, something crashed on me. I was all discombobulated! I couldn’t figure out what had happened. All I knew was that my tent had collapsed and I needed to find my flashlight, get my rain pants and rain coat back on and get out ASAP. Finding things, especially the zipper to the tent was a huge challenge. I began talking to myself, keeping myself calm and strategizing. When I did get out I could see that a neighbor’s screened enclosure (the kind that goes over a picnic table) had gotten loose and blown into my camp site and landed on my tent, collapsing it. This was a big unit with aluminum poles and I had to move it off my tent in 50mph+ winds to get free. I moved my cooler onto my flattened tent to keep it from blowing away and got into my car, very happy to have it as a shelter. The next morning dawned bright and sunny with all the tenting folks delighted to be able to dry things out. Better than Imagined! I’ve camped in Alaska and in the Himalayas, yet never have I been in this kind of a storm. Whew.
Sadly, I left Arches heading for home. I drove across Utah and into the only snowstorm I encountered on the trip. I was up at about 8,000 on a pass and snow was falling. I passed a group of motorcyclists, feeling quite sorry for them. Everyone was proceeding slowly and fortunately I didn’t see any accidents. I landed in Ely, Nevada at a Motel 6. A word about Motel 6s now. At $39 they are the best deal going. They are clean and that is my #1 priority … if you’d stayed in rooms in India or Nepal, it would be your priority too ;-) but don’t expect any of the usuals such as: hairdryers, clocks, shampoo samples, or coffee makers. They don’t have them. They do have wifi, though, and that made me very happy. Seems they have done some market research and determined what travelers value most these days. And they still leave the light on, as Tom Boddett says.
Hwy. 50 across Nevada is labeled: ‘The lonliest road in America’ and I loved it. There were long stretches where I didn’t see a car in my rear view mirror nor any ahead of me. I stopped for a break in Eureka, NV. ‘The friendliest town on the lonliest road’. Ya gotta love it.
Susanville, CA. was my last night on the road and if I’d had a beer I would have cried in it. From there I took the scenic route home via Hwy. 395 and then 66 from Klamath Falls into Ashland. The last 60 miles of my long drive were stunning and reminded me why I love living in the Rogue Valley. It’s a great little stretch if you ever get the chance.
I could have easily kept going for another 17 days. I loved the trip, every mile of it. Alas, I have other things to do, including scheming about the next grand adventure.
The Soft Underbelly:
I’ve saved what really moved me for last.
The poverty that I witnessed on the Dine (Navajo) Reservation at Chinle, AZ. was heart wrenching. The native people are living in squalor - in shacks and in the worst kind of broken down trailers you can imagine. There is trash blowing everywhere. Even the Dine College looked pathetic. I went into the grocery store and the food is all packaged/prepared; the fruit looked dismal. I don’t have any big ideas how to help them, I just know this is not good. Yet, everyone I spoke to was lovely.
I saw so much road kill; tragic beyond tragic. The usual animals were the most common ones but I also saw a red fox and a coyote. All I had to offer was an ‘Om Mani Peme Hung’ – the wish for their positive re-birth.
And the teeny weeny towns, they are all dying. I appreciate signs, the handmade type, and here is one I saw that sums it up: ‘People stopped coming, so we closed’. Yes, ghost towns of the present tense. There is character and history in them, just nothing to support them. Most folks drive the interstates and don’t even see these places. I saw 2 old drive-ins, remember those? We have different kinds of dinosaurs now. And barns, wow, I saw some gorgeous old barns, falling down. Between Austin, Nevada ( I didn’t get to Texas) and Reno, Nevada I spied a most unusual site. From a distance it looked like a huge tree with Christmas garlands and glitter. When I got up close I could see that there were hundreds of pairs of shoes thrown up in the tree, wild. A photographer could create a wonderful expose traveling around to these towns … though it might be challenging to find funding. Our country is indeed changing, and quickly.
At my favorite arch at Arches, I was lucky enough to be completely alone with the late line of crimson sun. I decided to speak my intention for my life out loud with the arch as my witness. Just as I had finished, a raven flew by me and under the arch and out the other side. Magical! I felt heard and affirmed.
Prisons, I saw 3. I drove by a prison in Arizona that shocked the heck out of me. It was in the middle of the desert, I mean serious desert with hardly any life growing. It consisted of about a mile of concrete buildings surrounded by fencing with razor wire. Nothing else. How on earth are people going to be rehabilitated in that kind of environment?
Hwy. 77 out of Tucson up to Show Low, AZ. through the mountains is magnificent. I cried at the beauty of the trees and the red rocks and the Salt River flowing through. We live in a beautiful country on a beautiful planet. I appreciated my eyes and the views they afforded me so very much. My mother’s macular degeneration has reinforced upon me the preciousness of sight.
Final Thoughts:
April was the most perfect month for this trip. The desert was blooming in full glory and I got to see cactus and southwestern flowers that I had never seen before. Other than the storm, the weather was great. Everywhere I drove, I was delighted to see baby animals cavorting in the fields. I’m a spring baby too and its my favorite season.
I am so grateful that I had this opportunity – the time, the money, the freedom. I know it’s rare when you consider the world’s population. I’m in a small percentage of women that could do this kind of a trip and I don’t take it lightly. And thank goodness for cruise control; it made driving so much easier.
Talking about prayer flags happened more times than I would have imagined. People would ask, “So what do you do, hun?” I’d be silent for an awkward minute and then launch into Prayer Flags 101. That alone, made this a business trip.
Here’s to life, love and joy.
Cheers!
France
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My travels through the Solu Khumbu (Mt. Everest) region of Nepal challenged my beliefs about 'home’ and offered a welcome new perspective. Previously, I had accepted the fact I might never experience the concept “home, wherever I am”. I am somewhat obsessive/compulsive about my space. I like a cozy nest, that’s just so; everything in its place, even if its place is a messy cupboard. Having my home be aesthetically pleasing and under my control is really important to me. I moved a lot as a child and no doubt my hang-ups stem from that. To the best of my recollection, I lived in 15 different homes by the time I graduated from high school. Home is my base from which I reach out to the world. When my home is unsettled, I reflect that aspect and vice versa; we are in sync. In the past I held a limiting belief that home was a purely physical space where I retreated for rest, cooking, eating and keeping myself clean; a place where my stuff and I holed up for safekeeping.
