Wagons West
Trip Start
Nov 07, 2010
1
205
212
Trip End
Ongoing
Headed west. Car loaded, bags packed, tears shed and goodbyes said. With the holidays behind us and our eyes eagerly set for San Francisco, we were up early the day after Christmas. The crack of sunlight slipping over the sea of symmetrical rooftops, that hint of dawn in the early morning fog and the smell of steaming hot coffee resting in the cup holders. Everything is prepared for as much as can be, and with light hearts and a sense of adventure we set off down the familiar path outside the city's reach. The urban sprawl of Dallas gives way to vast expanses of wide open space and carefully tended ranch land. Flat as the surface of a coin, everything down here seems to reach out to infinity. Golden prairie lands, low green flecked hills, red sand plateaus and wide sweeping canyons - everything actually does feel bigger in Texas. It takes us eight hours alone just to make it to the border of New Mexico. Driving through the sun parched stone valleys we snacked and talked, listened to music and the occasional bout of independent radio. The ride goes so much smoother with two people in the car. Before we knew it, the day faded from blue to a brilliant gold as the sun left behind color stained clouds in its last fleeting moments of light. Our first destination on this trip is Becca’s old home - Boulder, Colorado. Here we’ll ditch the rental car, pick up a moving truck and pack her life away in the span of a day. It’s a daunting feat, but thanks to some efficient prep work on my sisters part, and lots of motivation from me, we got it done with time to spare. Dinner and drinks were shared with old friends in celebration of the move, and by the end of the night, we were all exhausted and crashed almost immediately. Starting tomorrow, the real adventure begins. The road untraveled, from Boulder through the uninhabited badlands of Wyoming, the mountains and Mormons in Utah, and the impossibly straight desert roads through the heart of Nevada. Tomorrow the road trip continues…
