Heading Home

I left Yreka, CA behind after a joy-filled good bye with my auntie and headed North toward Salem, OR. Thankfully my headlights held tough while I drove through some pretty nasty, rainy weather. After driving around town several times due to my inaccurate interpretation of my friend Kim's directions, I finally made it to her house. We hung out with her roommates for a bit that evening and then talked fairly late, catching up on life and sharing our hopes for the future. it would be fair to say that Kim is going to go far in life because of her encouraging nature, commitment to others, and love for the people around her. I awoke that next morning for breakfast among new friends and headed off toward home on the final stretch of my journey.

The weather was holding well and I was on the home stretch. Minus the fact that I couldn't listen to the radio because the roar of my "hole-y" muffler was so loud, it was a good drive. I was initially worried about getting over the pass into Montana, but I got through early enough that the road surface hadn't froze yet. My final stop before making it back to Kalispell was in St. Regis, where I filled up on fuel, sunflower seeds, and my usual gas station coffee laced with hot chocolate. Unfortunately, my headlights would not turn on when I started my pickup and no amount of jiggling of wires, whispered coaxing words, or yelling harsh insults would get them to light my way home. Thus I spent my last night on the road sleeping in the back of my truck in the parking lot of the Travel Center listening to country music blaring from the loud speaker. Home was so close I could feel it, and all I could do was wait for the light of the morning.

I woke up before sunrise the next morning and drowned my disappointment in some huckleberry pancakes. Then I made the final slog home. And what a Home-Coming! The valley had gotten some early season snow and I was able to head up to the ski resort after Dad got off work to hike the mountain with some friends and get in the first turns of the season. If my trip around the West had been a giant sundae, then skiing the day I got home was a giant cherry on top!

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As I sit here and write this final post almost a year since I made the journey, I can't help but reflect on how amazing this experience it was. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to take the time off of work and school to visit beautiful natural sights and wonders that I had been curious about for some time. I drove a lot of miles to hike in deep canyons, ponder big trees, scale beautiful granite rock, and ride technical slickrock. It has proved to be a sort of "sampler trip:" I hit the hot spots and didn't spend too much time in any one particular area, but I know places that I want to travel back to and spend a longer period of time exploring.

As fun as hiking, running, climbing, and riding is beautiful places is, I don't think it would have been the same without all the special people that I was able to visit along the way. It has reminded me of the importance of involving other people in my adventures and to use life experiences to build lasting relationships with those whom with I travel through life. My hope is to grow from this great adventure; to let the miles of  this road trip work on me and mold me into a better person.