Wow! I can't believe that I'm standing beside the Atlantic Ocean tonight after just dipping my toes in the cold, rich waters of the Pacific what feels like only yesterday! I'm back in Florida tonight after a trek around the country! It's kind of fitting, and in a way symbolic that I return to Florida on Leap Year Day. Whew! If that was lap number one, I can't wait for the rest of the race! I'm here to take care of some business for awhile and hang out with my dear mom for a bit. I'm sure I'll make some rounds and see some old friends, and then, off again!
I've been asked what were my "favorite" moments during the last three months, and I seem to be having difficulty putting the entire experience into neat little pockets that one could name a "moment". The entire adventure was more of a "lump sum" of all the moments than anything singular. I mean sure, I stood in awe amongst the towering redwoods of Northern California and I was mesmerized by the red cliffs of Southern Utah. I stood in jaw-dropping wonderment as I gazed across portions of Yellowstone and realized what true silence is in the Badlands of South Dakota. I was able to experience a night sky that can only be revealed in a place as dark as Bryce Canyon and I found serenity next to a semi-frozen mountain stream in Glacier National Park. So again, which one of these "moments" was my favorite? My only answer is that all of them were my favorite. Not one can rise above the rest, because without the others, each one becomes just another place.
It's been said that it's not just about the destination, it's about the journey. The pictures that I post here reveal only the slightest about the places I've seen. What made the trip a true adventure was the school-boy like excitement of wondering what was around the next bend in the road or the next switchback in the trail. Pictures are only pictures, and sadly, I can't transmit what I was feeling as I took them. In a few of those pictures, I think that feeling almost comes through, but the joy of looking at them is dwarfed by the pleasure of taking them.
I guess if I'm pressed to choose the moment or two that stood out, they're ones that don't have any pictures to accompany them. The sunrise in the Badlands with the temperature at minus-16 degrees that I shared with only a small herd of wild American Bison was a moment that I'll never forget. As I fingered the ice in my frozen beard I realized that it will be one of those moments that, when my time comes to leave this world, will be one that makes me smile and know that it all wasn't a waste. Another would be during one of my hikes in Redwood. I haven't been that enchanted by "some woods" since I was a much, much smaller boy. Those ancient giants made me feel like that ten year-old kid again. It was like the mystery of the world was back for an encore performance! That mystery is a feeling that we lose once we become "adults" and are forced into looking at the world through a different kaleidoscope. To have that feeling once again running through my veins and making the hair on my toes tingle was something for which I'll be forever grateful!
But again, I have to pull the zoom lens back out and look at the big picture. Each of those incredibly special moments wouldn't be what they were without the one before it and the anticipation of the ones that were to come. So, what was my favorite moment? I don't know. I think it's still out there waiting for me.
I'll be on the road again soon enough. I can't wait to find it!
Lefty
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