"And I could see for miles, miles, miles..."

“This just keeps getting better and better.”  That is a phrase that we have said too many times to remember in the last five days.  It slips off our tongues so easily and still surprises us every time.  We feel so lucky to have each and every moment on this trip and we are just so frequently in awe of how everything just seems like such a gift and like the “cherry on top”, or such a pleasant surprise that it reminds you of when you get back to your hotel room at the end of the night and there is a chocolate waiting for you on your pillow (or maybe that just happens on cruises?).  

First stop of our long night in Nashville 

Anyways, I haven’t been able to write as often as I’d hoped as we have really been on the move covering a lot of ground (since my last post we’ve travelled from Nashville to Denver).  We have passed through cities big and small…and some little towns that most people will probably never see. And in every day and as many moments as possible, I’ve just wanted to really soak in everything around us: the vistas, the landscapes, the unending horizons; the sunsets and sunrises; the trees, the clouds; all the different herds of cattle grazing in the grass or wading in little pockets of water. The list really goes on and on. 

So, as we drive and listen to the CDs that our friends gave us we just soak it all in.   The endless supply of music doesn’t come from our own music libraries or Pandora, but from over 30 CDs we received from our friends.  One night in May while Margo and I were hanging out thinking about this trip, I thought “we should request “mix tape” CDs from our friends as a going away gift and just ask them to put on the music that they would want to listen to on a road trip of their own….their “happy music.”  It turns out that was one of the best ideas I’ve had because our friends really came through with a lot of amazing music (a few people even gave us multiple CDs: 2, 8, 10). Not only have we been introduced to a lot of music we had never heard; but, as we listen to the CDs, we think of whoever made it and really do feel like they are with us on the journey ;).  There have been countless awe-inspiring moments and sights and the soundtracks given to us have made it all that much more beautiful and we couldn’t be more grateful for the efforts put in to share that music with us.

Old farmer and his dog tending to the cemetary grounds 

The Kansas plains

We have had so many adventures that it’ll take me a while to get it all down on “paper”, especially because I clearly need to find some more synonyms to describe everything.  Sorry for all of the use of the words “amazing”, “beautiful”, “wonderful”, etc…but I am a bit tongue tied and speechless in a way; having trouble really finding the right words to describe all of this. But to give you a quick glance into the last 3-5 days, our adventures have included, but are not limited to: a big music filled night out in Nashville on Sunday til 4:30 am; to a tire issue on Monday night that had us pulling over at random gas stations in Arkansas until me made it to Little Rock for the night; to buying lots of fresh produce and other local products (honey wheat bread, strawberry rhubarb jam, apple butter) at the Little Rock Farmers Market;

to getting the tire fixed by the amazing Butler family outside of Little Rock;  to having a luxurious bath in Hot Springs; to a gorgeous Arkansas sunset; to having quite an adventure driving late night through the middle of nowhere Oklahoma in the dark on a long deserted highway (thank goodness for iPhone google maps!)…and the golden half-moon laying low in the sky and then, later, the blanket of stars above; to parking next to a lake in a national park (around 2:30 am) in southern Kansas so that we could nap for a few hours before day break; to the amazing sunrise that followed…and kept following us down the road a bit and the sunrise train driving by at the perfect moment; to the early morning stop at a beautiful cemetery on the side of the road and quick chat with the old farmer tending the grounds; to the gorgeous plains of Kansas and falling in love with Council Grove; to a dip in the Council Grove Lake after a country fried chicken breakfast at the Saddlerock Café and listening to the table of old farmers talk about how to keep people from stealing their hay; to driving through 110 degree heat (the hottest weather I’ve ever felt) and crossing the smoky border into Colorado (smoke that must have been from one of the Kansas wild fires as the rest of the drive into Denver was clear of smoke); to the ridiculously amazing and nothing short of beautiful sunset through Colorado…it really seemed to go on for a few hours; and, finally, to the culture shock of driving into the Denver area with soooo many cars and traffic compared to the previous night when we saw just three cars in a two hour period…that was definitely an adventure surviving the shock and the giggles that wouldn’t stop (we blamed it on the altitude!). I hadn’t thought of it like this yet, but a friend just sent me a message saying “it looks like you are having the most mariposa road trip EVER”…and I really couldn’t agree more.

Colorado skyline

We had one of our many “this just keeps getting better and better” moments as we drove into the sunset horizon in Colorado and realized that we were having an extra long sunset because we had just crossed into Mountain time and had gained yet another hour.  That has only happened twice on the trip, passing into another time zone; but both times we were surprised and excited that we had received the gift of yet another hour to stare out the car windows at the natural beauty surrounding us.  During some of these “better and better” moments, I have really believed that the universe is returning some of the good karma that Margo and I have put out into the world.  What you put into the universe really does come back to you.  Believe that.

I really cannot remember an experience in my life in which I have felt this full of happiness for this long, so consistently; and from so many different angles.  This is all reminding me to really appreciate everything.  Every small and wonderful part of each and every day…it’s reminding me to never get caught up in the fast pace of the day to day ever again.  We must always remember to step away and really LOOK and SEE the world around us for all that it has to offer.  And, if what it is offering us isn’t making our hearts smile, then we must find the strength and courage to move on until we do find that energy that beats down into our very souls and fills us with a feeling of life and love that we never want to forget.  Life…it’s just so unpredictable and so short and so fragile and precious…we must not allow ourselves to waste it. 

From Tuesday night to Wednesday night, we smiled thru an Arkansas sunset, an Oklahoma night sky, a Kansas sunrise and a Colorado sunset…all enjoyed on quiet roads (sometimes deserted) in wide open spaces.  In the background Bon Iver said it better than I probably ever could…”at once I knew I was not magnificent, strayed above the highway aisle…I could see for miles, miles, miles.”  I’d call that one of the best 24 hours of my life.

Arkansas sunset

Kansas sunrise

Colorado sunset