brought to you by the letter L

how cool is this? not ours, sadly.

“Why think about that when all the golden land’s ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you’re alive to see?”
~ Jack Kerouac, On the Road

there was big sky, tumbling tumbleweeds, endless highway, mountain peaks and tucked in valleys, starry nighttimes, silly jokes, car seat dance parties, oohs and aahs and lots of em, daydreaming, picture taking, invented lyrics, small towns and big cities, hoola-hooping, mosquito bites (lots of those too), bicycle riding, getting lost and finding our way, losing track of time and slowing down the pace, ghost towns, forgotten roads, old friends and new friends and stories galore, and 20 states and 2 countries in two weeks...

what is it about long road trips that make you feel like you have been in a time warp? like you've dropped down alice's hole. two weeks is a long time. it always seems short when you set out. i mean, what's two weeks? seems to fly by in the blink of an eye, almost without warning, when you're going about your day to day. but somehow long road trips have a way of shuffling it all up. you lose count of what day it is and sometimes what time. what happened yesterday seems like three days ago and so on. i like losing track of calendars and to do lists. waking up with nothing to do but pack up the tent and sleeping bags, gas up the car and go. and visiting the locals spot for breakfast always helps set the tone for the day.

this was our fifth trip across the country and yet we came back talking about the next five we need to take. drives up the Northwest coast to British Columbia, up the Northeast coast to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, down the Southeast coast to the Florida Keys, hopping the Outer Banks of North Carolina, heading North through Glacier National Park down to Moab and so on. the list goes on. it can never get old. we also came back confirming it's high time we seal the deal on a used airstream trailer. if we're going to make a habit out of this then we better do it in style. can't say where we'd store it in the meantime, but that can be figured out later. i was a wee bit tentative this time at the onset. two weeks of unpaid time off when only one of us is employed will make you dig your heels in a little. but i couldn't be happier that we did it. i always come back from adventures like these a little more inspired and starry eyed dreaming anything is possible. anything at all.

first things first. it doesn't qualify as a road trip until you have gathered the essentials. snacks to keep you happy and music to keep you company. well...aside from camping gear of course. one of the best things about road trips is sampling the local fare (like roadside custard or ice cream stands, cafes and coffee joints, homemade donut shops, fresh fruit stands and of course, particular to this trip, BBQ) . but you definitely need some tasty eats to hold you over on long stretches. we kept it simple. aside from ample amounts of water (and many pee breaks) the list included: swedish fish, peanut butter filled pretzels, dried mango, ginger chews, wasabi peas, and trail mix - afterall we were "hitting the trail". too cheesy? ah, well. sunflower seeds are usually a big hit for some, but over time we've learned that neither of us are very good at spitting the shells out the window - they always came back in - yuck!. sunflower seeds 86'd.

next comes the sound track. i'd like to say that i'm great at prepping epic mixes when it comes to long drives, but i never seem to get my butt in gear to organize any. which is where the trusty iphone comes into play and downloaded music saves a lost soul. on rotation: grizzly bear, bon iver, jose gonzalez, johnny cash, iron and wine, animal collective along with npr's this american life and wait, wait...don't tell me. i could listen to ira glass and his crazy little stories for days.

food? check. music? check. camera? check. tent and sleeping bags? check. atlas (aka iphone maps app)? check. start your engines. off we go through California to Nevada and Utah! We grabbed some breakfast treats on the way out of town and beelined it for Reno. Reno was a pleasant surprise. It's also where we spotted the rad van at the top of the page. After a little impromtu shopping we grabbed some lunch and hit the road again. Good bye Sierras. Next stop Park City, Utah. Utah brought the Bonneville Salt Flats, an amazing sunset, smelly air outside Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Mountains and Park City. It's also where we proceeded to get lost upon arrival...at midnight...as we searched for our campsite. The mountains were cold, but refreshing. After we found the site we set up the tent under a star filled sky and it was instant sleep. After all there was riding to be done in the morning. This time on two wheels.