Tom and I have taken many car trips together over the years. In fact, we always advise couples to try this early in a relationship. If you can withstand and endure the frustrations and discomforts of long car trips and still bear to speak to each other afterward, your relationship probably has a hope of success. And if you’re one of those couples who says, “Oh, we NEVER fight! We get along fabulously when we travel!” then you are either creative with truth, are not fully human, or never found yourself hungry and tired in There’s NOTHING FOR TWO HUNDRED MILES, Kansas, in the middle of the night.
It goes without saying that I love to shoot photos. It also goes without saying that no one wants to see anyone’s ten thousand photos of rocks at the Grand Canyon, right? The funny thing is, even I don’t want to see my trip photos. So most of them get shoved somewhere that I never look at them. Things might be different now that I have a camera I love to shoot with, can see how my photos are turning out instantly, and so could capture better photos. But most of my old trip photos are poorly lit, poorly focused, and apparently are very good at demonstrating how a car MOVES through landscape at seventy miles an hour.
And I can’t tell you how often we’ve taken a trip and seen hour after hour of the same thing, then suddenly–BOOM–everything is the most gorgeous thing we’ve ever seen…and I’m out of film.
These are from a trip we took to visit Mother and David in Salt Lake City in the spring of 1990, I believe. We took one route driving there, and a different route driving back. Pete the Miscreant Dachshund was with us in our Civic Wagon. Sorry, Snow Haters, but belles just don’t get to see this kind of untouched landscape too often.
And if you’ve never driven toward the Rockies, they look like this. For twenty years. And you never get closer in all those years. Never.
Zeke and I drove snowmobiles to the top of a 13,000 footer in Colorado. Our guide said, “It’s only a three-hour tour.” (cue the Gilligan’s Island music.) It was one of the best experiences of my life. And then we had to drive back down in a very thick snowstorm. Unforgettable.
I hope you are working on/planning to write your memoirs.
No memoirs from me. Honestly, most of the cool stuff (besides my travels) I’ve ever done has been because of Zeke. Wherever we travel, he’s the one always up for trying new things. I’m the guy that says, “OK, I’m in.”
You’re too good a writer not to share your stories. At least I hope you’re writing them down for your descendants to have some day.
i was fortunate to see the Rockies in Sept and Oct. there was a little snow up on Pikes Peak. There were lots of beautiful golden aspens. if i knew how, i’d post a picture…
Email the photo to me. I’ll post it.
Imagine doing this by wagon train with no pre-determined route. How long did you say?
To an Eastcoaster (me) the sharp elevations of the Rockies are amazing. I love seeing them. Our mountains are older and are, therefore, lower and rounder.
I grew up among the foothills of the Appalachians, so those Rockies are pretty damned impressive to me, too. As for our pioneers–they did it all without GPS!
Alas, they make MO’s mountains look like anthills. The only time I saw the Rockies live was flying over them on TWA.
They’re majestic even from the air, aren’t they?