This morning, only a few hours after falling asleep, I somehow started composing a blog entry in my head somewhere between the states of sleep and awake. (This has always seemed to be a state of clarity for me.) As the flowing thoughts pulled me toward the surface of consciousness I realized I have something to say before I lose the ability. (My computer is being packed into the car in a few hours.) I'm still pretty groggy so while this all made perfect sense in my head, I realize it may come out sounding like incoherent babble. Just a warning. So feel free to skip ahead to the photos.
I want to start by saying that I've never been a typical outdoorsy or adventurous kind of girl. Far from it, in fact. My little sister Amy on the other hand, was always up a tree or covered in dirt and bandaids from falling off a bike or..something, who knows. I just know that mom could not keep her long blond hair free of ratty snarls and I wondered why she didn't just cut it all off to save her the aggravation. You can read some of my sister's funny stories at her blog here. So while she was out roaming the countryside, I was usually somewhere very safe and comfortable, preferably in front of a TV with one of Grandma's gooey grilled cheese sandwiches (she used Velveeta). Oh, I would go out from time to time to play our version of hide-n-seek or cops-n-robbers with my sister and the neighborhood kids, but only for short periods of time. I'd get bored or come across an icky bug and just go right back inside. I use the term "neighborhood" loosely as there were only 5 houses on our dirt road and only 2 kids besides ourselves, so most of the kids peddled from miles away on their bikes to play with us. But I'm getting off track now, my point was that most of the time I would rather be inside.
My thirst for travel and adventure didn't really appear until the 4th grade as far as I can remember. It seemed all my school friends were taking summer vacations to exotic places while I was stuck in Minnesota. I remember being so anxious to just cross the state line, like somehow that line differeniated between boring Minnesota and another magical place with chocolate milk rivers and a rainbow colored sky or something. When my parents took a vacation to Florida and the Bahamas they sent us a postcard, and I remember holding it in my hands and examining it with awe, thinking this has been in another state far, far away! I was like that with every object that came from out of state, until I realized that ultimately that was pretty much everything. I begged and pleaded with my parents and grandparents (who lived three houses down the dirt road) and eventually my persistence paid off. One weekend Grandma Bernie packed up the van with goodies, you know, essentials like Slim Jims and apple juice, and Grandpa Shorty took me on a road trip to Wisconsin - just me and him. I could not have been more animated had you lit me on fire. My whole body buzzed with excitement as we crossed the state line and I was sure it felt different, being in this new land. Although the only perceivable difference was the green rolling hills which MN lacked and the sign posts were made of wood instead of metal. But I was sure the chocolate milk tasted better there! Anyway, Grandpa took me to all kinds of cool places and of course I brought along my little camera to capture everything. Like Crystal Caves, where the tour guide taught us about Stalactites and Stalagmites and we got to experience darkness so complete that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face! Oh, I could go on and on but I'm getting way off-topic again...
This thirst for travel only grew after that trip, intensifying as I matured. Probably sick of my whining, my parents took us on an RV road trip to Tennessee when I was 11 or 12. I got to cross lots of state lines on that trip. This trip fuflilled my requirements of leaving the state, Dad's wish to ride his Harley (we towed the bikes behind us), and Mom's desire to visit Graceland and Elvis' tomb. My sister was happy with all three, and I'm sure she found a tree or rock formation to climb. My dad laughed at me, saying I took a photo of every tree we passed. Which I pretty much did. My first trip on a plane was to Florida and the Bahamas with my boyfriend when I was 21. I finally got to see where that postcard came from, ha! My obvious need to be outdoors in nature didn't begin to emerge until I was about 28 when we started visiting state parks and nature preserves and taking hikes. I still had my camera with me, taking photos of every little thing along the path. But still, I only enjoyed nature in small, brief doses. Even now, a day in the woods is enough for me. What can I say, I like the creature comforts of the indoors too.
As time went by, nature, photography, travel, and adventure (the four elements I call them) became an urgent pull. I believe it's what gave me the courage and determination to move 1,600 miles to Washington state. I did a lot of driving and hiking in my year and a half out here, but now that I have to leave to move back to Minnesota, I'm panicking about the things I didn't get to see and do. It's almost like a clock is ticking and I'm running out of time to do these things in life, which ultimately is true for everyone. But my clock seems to tick loudly and urgently in my ears, warning me to do them while I can. The four elements have become like a drug to me, harder and harder to resist. A good friend talked me out of a last minute trip down the WA/OR coast before heading for MN with his annoying logic and reasoning. I'm still wrestling with the thoughts of stopping at National Parks and other scenic loops on the way home. Yellowstone, where I've never been, is completely within my grasp! But I can hear my friend's voice in my head and I know it isn't prudent. Not now, not like this. It'll have to wait. Still, I have trouble picturing this trip as a beeline home. I know myself too well and my self-control may wane as I get tired.
I honestly can't remember what else I wanted to say. My friends will be here soon to help me load the TV and computer into the car, so I'll wrap this up and show some photos. These were taken last Sunday 8/30. It was my farewell trip to Mt. Rainier, I couldn't leave without saying good-bye. I left at 4:30am... I had more to say about it but I'm getting sleepy so I'll just let the pictures tell the story. They may seem like a bunch of pictures of the same thing, but each is unique and beautiful to me.
I won't have internet for quite a while, except for the local library, but I'll try to post again soon. Bye for now.
