I did a thing. Back around the beginning of March, we were wrapping up the kitchen remodel, various people in my household were in a funk, and I was feeling pretty invisible, taken advantage of, and not awesome. Sort of feeling like the weight and responsibility of my little world was weighing heavily on my shoulders. I had a friend I’ve worked with at TTITD for several years, and had always been friendly with, approach me about the possibility of taking a road trip. It’s always awesome to get away, and it’s sort of appalling that I’ve lived my life on one coast and not taken advantage or taken the time to see so very many things in my own “back yard”. It was time to change that….
My friend and I are very, very different people. She doesn’t have kids, and she has a penchant for being OCD. I have children and grand children and tend towards the messier side of life just because taking care of other people makes you very aware of choosing battles wisely =) Sometimes, it’s enough, at the end of the day, that everyone is still alive =) We didn’t know how we’d do traveling together, but we were determined to find out =) We left on March 28, and were gone until April 10th. This is the journey…..
The first day began with frustration. I had thought I was doing good and had everything situated and handled, and as often happens, when the car was packed and I was driving away, I remembered many things I had forgotten, it having been more than a year since I’d done any traveling. This made me late. I HATE being late because I truly believe that the most important thing another human has to give you is their time, and being late means one is disrespecting that gift. Nothing to be done about it but apologize and say I’m on the way. Luckily, she didn’t leave without me, despite her boyfriend’s urgings, and we were on our way to near Beatty, Nevada.
This is in a ghost town called Rhyolite, in Nye County on the edge of Death Valley in Southern Nevada. Wikipedia tells me that the town is relatively new, for a ghost town, having come in to existence in 1905. In addition to the ruins of the old town, there’s an outside sculpture garden that features many pieces that spent some time in a desert far North, where Burning Man is held in the Black Rock Desert.
There is a labyrinth there. I will confess that when we got there, I tried to walk the circuit, but having been cooped up in a car all day, the excitement of the trip, and watching my friend get to all the cool pieces to take sunset pictures before me gave me major FOMO and I abandoned this beautiful circle, vowing to return some day and take the time to walk it. We landed at a place called Spicer Ranch that is a hidden hot spot that should stay hidden =) It was beautiful and the people there were kind for letting us stay.
I’ve always been fond of the peace crane, and they showed up a few times on this trip, to guide me to remain mindful, and kind, and reflective. This one was supersized and appealed to me very much.
This wasn’t in a stream or river and didn’t seem to be destroying anythings habitat =) It seemed, oddly, for just this purpose. A platform, with varying size and style rocks, that folks take their turns at stacking. I love this aesthetic, and don’t like to think of it killing creatures. This seemed an innocuous way to like this style of art without hurting anything.
Finally, desert sunsets are so beautiful. I tried to take pictures of many, on this trip, and they definitely helped me have appreciation for this amazing earth on which we live, and all of the beauty that exists in it, in both traditional and untraditional ways.
We drove back down into Beatty for a mediocre barbeque dinner I think we barely made before the sidewalks rolled up on the town. What we discovered is that it’s often a new experience in the midst of a pandemic, when traveling as folks are just beginning to realize or do things outside. Many of the places we visited and tried to do things, they relayed to us how busy they’d been for the immediate time before we were there. People were out of food, out of stock and sometimes, out of patience. We rolled with the punches and had an amazing first day.
Peace!
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