Running From Star to Star Until I Drop

I did some writing while I was in Colorado and Utah. Obviously, there is a lot of time for reflection when you go on a 6 day driving excursion. So, here is the first thing I put down. I was still very excited to be having the experience 3 and 4 days in and was well aware that I was loving every moment of the drive and stops. I'm not editing or changing any of this … :

I used to think I was unsatisfied and that was the reason I wanted so much change all the time. I told myself that the real reason I wanted to travel was that I had a restless heart... but I'm starting to realize something else about myself... I really love life and this world. A thought occurred to me in Yellowstone: with a place so beautiful, how could I not want to see it all? With a population so diverse how could I not want to live all over the place? With a mind so dynamic, how could I not want more education? I want to experience, know, and be as much as possible.

Bison and the Road in Yellowstone National Park

I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. ― Jack Kerouac

Roadtrip {South Dakota & Wyoming}

I took a lot of pictures. A lot. I'm going to try breaking these down in to digestible chunks, but it's going to take me a few posts AND they will still be long posts.

Today is South Dakota and Wyoming, which includes: Badlands, Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Shoshone, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton. Most of these were take using my camera, but there are also some phone pictures because I was trying to conserve battery power on my camera since I am an idiot and forgot my charger. 

Just click on the first picture to see it without the junk in front.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. - John Muir

Get My Bags, I'm Leaving

Today is the day I'm leaving with my brother for our week of travels. I really REALLY hope there is nothing I'm forgetting.

Here are some photos from the places we are going that I dug up from my Outside board on Pinterest. I can't wait to have my own to load!! Please do me a huge favor through this next week of sharing my posts to other social media sites because I'm not so sure I will get to share them myself. Thank you!

Moraine Campground in Rocky Mountain

Angel's Landing in Zion

Devils Tower

Lower Falls in Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Arizona

Subway in Zion

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. - John Muir

7 Days of Driving

This Friday my brother and I are taking a 7 day roadtrip. I know, I know, I just told you about (half of) the destinations for my drive home, but this trip is really getting me pumped. We're hitting up a bunch of National Parks which I have drooled over for years, and never seen. This also means it may be really difficult for me to post during that week, but I will try to at least get some pictures up for you!

The plan is to make a stop at each location, collect a post card, mail it to myself, and then create a book like this one from Curiosity Contained. I plan to do this on my solo trip to Ohio as well. Hopefully it will make for an awesome memoir. . . I really only wish I had found this idea sooner and had done it all summer.

From Curiosity Contained . . . of course theirs is from Paris . . . rude

Why I travel: Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white. – Mark Jenkins