A Prairie Home Companion

I left New Mexico on a cloudy Saturday morning. After departing Albuquerque way before the Sun even thought about rising, and picking up some ice at Cline's Corners, I made my way east to Tucumcari. Then I motored northeast along a route that took me through the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, and grabbed some food in Liberal, Kansas. I didn't stop to see Dorothy's house again, but it was a nice thing to be on some familiar roads again.





My route took me through Wichita and on up a toll road to Kansas City, where I spent the night. On the way there I passed through the Flint Hills, and what an amazing sight those were to see. They almost looked like the Windows XP stock wallpaper. Who knows, maybe I'll be like Dorothy and call Kansas home someday.




 
 


Kansas City was a nice "last stop" on my trip, albeit the only thing I did was crash in a pretty comfortable bed as soon as I walked into my room. No BBQ this time around, but being KC is only 5hrs away, it will probably be a weekend getaway in the future sometime.






 

The following morning I awoke to a short drive back to the land between two waters, but first, it was time for some breakfast. I resisted when I was in New Mexico, but did eventually stop for some in northern Missouri. The order was incorrect, but it was not wrong. I may have asked for a sausage breakfast toaster sandwich, but it came with bacon instead. Like I said, incorrect but not wrong at all. Bacon strips, and bacon strips, and more bacon strips!


Once I had been satiated, I made a quick jaunt to the IA/MO border, and dropped the top for a cruise through our state capital, with state fair traffic and all. From there it was an even shorter leg up to Cedar Falls in the early afternoon.

All in all, my journey consisted of awesome sights and the most amazing of people. My passenger seat was full as well, but it was empty. As piled high and filled with stuff as it had been, it was missing something. There wasn't anyone there to look from that seat at the beautiful countryside, or the city skylines, or at the guy in the driver's seat.

That's what was missing from this and all of my previous journeys. She's out there somewhere. She just needs to meet me.


The Sun hasn't set on that dream yet. It is good to be back in Iowa though, back where I can find my own prairie home companion who listens to IPR.

Just what the doctor ordered

I finally made it back home to New Mexico. What a joyous occasion it was when I crossed over from the southern mountains of Utah and Colorado. I'll save the homecoming story for a little while. Let's begin with some deep reflecting right off the bat.

I spent Wednesday morning before the visitor's center was even open traveling through Arches National Park. It was a beautiful morning in the Moab canyon, and then to see the serenity of the morning in Arches, it was almost too amazing to describe.

Even the drive (which I captured on video) was riveting, far more than the congested Going-to-the-Sun Road of Glacier a few days earlier. Arches definitely ranks up there as one of my favorite parks.

Seeing the arches there were eye opening to say the least, but the time I spent there was just as reflective. With the morning sun coming up behind the cloud cover, I looked back at the thousands of miles I put behind me on this trip. It was certainly one for the record books, but the feelings that showed up then were strange. Feelings of wonder, not only about the places I've experienced, but just the fact that I'm in a transitional period of social classes. I could have never in my wildest dreams foreseen that I'd have the capacity to be able to take a few days off of work, go on a trip, and actually afford it. Growing up, it was about scraping by and having just enough to get by until the next paycheck. Who am I now? I don't recognize myself.

I have no idea how to be middle class. I have no examples to follow. No road map to success on this newly found journey of mine. It is scary to think I'm now on a trajectory that will take far beyond the confines of the old hometown mindset.

Through the cloudiness of the self-made "worry storm," though, there are two beacons of hope that I rely on more now than ever before. My parents. When you're young, you may just brush them off as always being a pain, or maybe they're not "hip" (even though both of mine were and are still hippies), but their roles change as you get older. I don't know how to ask them questions about certain things, however, I can ask them philosophical questions. You know, the ones that make you lose sleep at night. Life altering decisions. How to handle fallout from mistakes made, etc.

The few arches I was able to see (as I was not prepared to hike that morning) made me think of where I'll have to go in the future. On one side there is the firm foundation of my upbringing, education, and familial ties. On the other is the future, one of interesting and uncertain possibilities. In between is a delicate arch, that could easily shatter should even the littlest fissure begin.


I can only imagine what the next step in my life will be. What I do know is that I am so fortunate to have family, friends, and mentors to help me along. I've done some legwork, but without their guidance and support I may not have made it across the country all these times. To you, my hat is off. Until we meet again, know that Albuquerque has been nice these last two days. After enjoying a nice evening with the two NSE friends I made, I stayed the night and had egg, cheese, and chorizo burritos for breakfast. I also spent some time on UNM's campus just scoping out the place (No, I'm not looking for a doctoral program yet, haha).

Unfortunately, I will probably have to cut my vacation short. There were a few places I would have liked to go yet. The car was acting funny these last few days, so some serious thought might need to take place when I return to Iowa. I'm just putting this out here now so it's not a big surprise when it happens, but I may have made a mistake on buying this car (see paragraph about parents and their guidance). I hope it doesn't come down to it, but my summertime fling with the Sebring might come to an end.

Fortunately, I won't leave this one on a sour note like that. On the plus side, my return route takes me through Iowa's state capitol, where I'll be stopping at the Iowa State Fair! What I'll do there, I do not know, but one thing is for certain. I won't be having deep fried butter on a stick again. Tasty? Yes. Nutritious? Not a chance.

Catch you all down the trail!

Salt, Road Construction, and The Lord of the Rings

Today's tales from the road involve a trial by fire, a test of will, and a discovery of sorts. Though the morning started out great (I left Montana with plenty of enjoyable miles, even all the way through Idaho), the middle of the day was wrought with panicked drivers (or maybe it was just me). The streets of Salt Lake City thundered with the sound of tens of thousands of cars, trucks, heavy machinery, and bears (yes, there were bears in town for some reason). On the plus side, I did get a chance to visit the Temple Square in downtown SLC. Quite a center of commerce, religion, and architecture, as a matter of fact. All the while, I was surprised that no one came up to me asking if I could spare a few minutes of my time to talk about a particular person.

Everything from the tabernacle...

 ...to Assembly Hall...

 ...it's many gardens...

 ...(another shot of Assembly Hall)...

 ...and of course...

...the Salt Lake Temple.

Suffice it to say, the traffic there was terrible, but you'll have that almost 1 million residents in the metro area, plus visitors and commuters. Yuck.

Thankfully, there was a beautiful end in sight. The mountains of southern Utah held a secret that only mother nature could have constructed. That's a story for tomorrow though when I go to a place that would make the Roman aqueduct builders jealous.





Oh, and I made a pleasant discovery today. You may recall when Gandalf fell into the chasm while fighting the balrog. Well, later in the series he returns as Gandalf the White. I think that was just a doppelganger, and Gandalf the Grey retired to Utah under a pseudonym (even with alternative spelling), as an Italian sandwich maker.

That's my theory. Don't tempt me, Frodo.

Into the great wide open

Hello everyone! My apologies for the delay in publishing an update about my trip. Last night when I arrived at my hotel I was quite bushed, so straight to bed I went. Interestingly enough, here it is almost 10pm mountain time tonight, and I'm awake, even with the longer route today. Anyway, you're probably interested in the details. Let's begin!

After a most awesome weekend of seeing a cohort member, my family, and attending a boating tour for my friend's bachelor party, I set out at 4:30am on Sunday from Waukon. It was an early morning most definitely. I'll spare you the first few hours of my trip, but once I got to land of North Dakota I noticed something that made me wonder if I was in New Mexico already. Then, it hit me, I know why some people think this ND is a myth. I question whether it really existed in the first place. After crossing the entire state, I think someone just got lazy and pressed "Ctrl+C" over Nebraska and "Ctrl+V" where ND was supposed to be. Suffice it to say, I think you'd be hard pressed to find an efficient land route to New Mexico that isn't flat and boring. So, after arriving at my hotel in Glendive, Montana at the end of the night yesterday, I settled in and slept til 4:30am again, only this time I had a much more exciting route before the end of the day.

From Glendive I headed north up until I hit Highway 2, which was a nice long stretch of highway, surrounded by fields and fields of amber waves of grain. As I pushed further west, noticed that it had been since Iowa that I had my top down, so it was about time I made that happen. I spend the remainder of the trip going through Glasgow, Havre, Shelby, and took 89 north from Browning until I ended up in St. Mary (a place with nearly $5/gallon gasoline). All of it was worth it though to experience the next two hours of my journey.

St. Mary was the start of the main attraction for this trip. Last year's helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon was cool, but this was all about the drive. The Going-to-the-Sun Road was the purpose of this trip, and what a trip it was. The sights were spectacular (with the exception being the first few miles where there was construction).

Quite remarkable that such a place is still accessible. There was so many people, however, so the Sebring and the Maserati a few cars behind me weren't able to stretch there legs very much. It was a very enjoyable day, and there was plenty of time to just sit back and take it all in to reflect. As for tonight, I'm in Butte, MT. I've had my supper and now it's time to rest these eyes of mine. They saw a lot of awesomeness today.

Enjoy the pics and the upcoming updates! I'm switching it up with tomorrow's update, at least scenery-wise. Stay tuned!

 

It's that time of year again!

Greetings!

It certainly has been a long spell since I last posted. To my faithful followers, I appreciate your patience. With finishing my master's degree this summer and obtaining permanent status at my employer, I've been a little out of the online loop. So, I apologize for the delay in posting.

At any rate, let me help you get up to speed with my upcoming happenings. The biggest story so far is the trip I have planned for August. Of course the route will go through New Mexico, but this year's destination will be just as epic as the helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon last year. Details to follow. (Hint: The attraction is also on a large scale, except far more organic in nature. And, part of the route involves many miles of top down driving.)

Speaking of going topless, I should formally introduce my ride of the past few months. The Sebring (which does not officially have a nickname yet, like the Battlecruiser or Red Dragon did), is ready with a fresh set of brakes on all corners, Royal Purple oil and filter under the hood, and a clean bill of health otherwise. Expect plenty of shots and footage of the fun in the sun action as the miles roll over on the journey.

I'm also beginning the initial steps of planning a documentary of Iowa's 99 counties. I have several of the main components ready to go, but need some more time to plan it out properly. Those pesky little details will be crucial to keep in mind. More updates as that gets underway officially.

So, until next time, keep on keeping on. I'll catch you on down the trail!

Szab