Ride the Road to Release

*A poem inspired by my love of road trips.

Nothing’s better

than the open road.

Go ahead, release your load;

the key unchains the fetter.

Miles and miles

and miles forever,

Yellow lines that never

think to beguile.

With the windows down,

You, the driver, smile,

forgetting all your trials

as the wind blows around.

A pathway of thought

on that concrete ground

provides portals profound

to distant lands sought.

Cities and towns of magnificence,

Pre-claimed regions beautifully wrought;

But the best of the lot

Are those with inhabitants of benevolence.

Back on the road

we are taught

that release cannot be bought;

Experience must unfold.

Inspiration

Music has been a huge part of my life since I graduated high school. For whatever reason I didn't listen to much music through middle and high school. Even though everyone was always referencing the latest hit, I was usually clueless because I simply didn't pay any attention to what was available. Shortly after I graduated high school, music hit me. Country music specifically. It's in my blood. My grandfather has played it all his life and so has my dad. I really started picking up the guitar. I started playing when I was about 14 but didn't really start playing until about 17 or 18. And for the past few years, I haven't been able to get enough.

A little more recently (maybe the past year or two), I have ventured out a little. There are times when all I want to hear is a good ol' country tune, but now there are times when I just want to hear good music. Lately, Jason Mraz and Coldplay's music have circulated through my ears. And more specifically, Coldplay's new album "Mylo Xyloto" (I know, strange name). Here's where this ties in with my road trip...

I was sitting at the table with my laptop working on school work. I had just bought the new Coldplay album and was giving it its first listen. As I was listening to it, I had a kind of epiphany (I may be using "epiphany" slightly out of context here, but I like it, so I'm using it). I clearly visualized myself driving down the road somewhere in the Rockies with the sun setting and its rays beaming through the car, the windows rolled down, and the world passing by in slow motion. I believe it was to "Charlie Brown" (a song on the album that has nothing to do with the cartoon) or possibly "Hurts Like Heaven" (I'm cautious about songs with religious connotations, but the song's title is meant to be taken as the opposite of "hurts like *heck*" or "feels so good" which to me gives it a pretty cool twist). I don't really remember which song first gave me this scene in my mind, but I felt the same with both of them so it's kind of irrelevant. Never before have I had a visualization that vivid. It was so clear to me it's like I know it's going to happen soon. It was beautiful. And all from a song. I'm no musical expert, so I can't really describe why the song made me see this, but it was indescribably inspirational.

As a side note, I actually visualized myself driving down the road with my future wife (whoever that may be). I'm really looking forward to that too, but until God's will presents itself, I'm going to imagine the rest of the scene I saw. I just pray that whoever it is will enjoy road trips! :)

Soon after I had this daydream, I had to get a taste of it. Every now and then, I'll go out in my car and just drive around. Driving really helps to clear my head - that's a big reason why I like long road trips so much. So there's this road back behind my house that takes you up and down some big hills - it kind of makes you feel like you're on a mountain with open fields all around. And when you reach the peak of the hill, especially if the sun is setting, it's remarkable. I like making my rounds on this road every couple of weeks. Anyways, I heard these Coldplay songs and decided I needed to play them in my car while driving down these backroads. It was a spiritual and emotional experience. God's creation is simply amazing. The sun was glistening off my windshield and the songs brought these emotions up to the front of my mind. Looking over the open fields, the sky, the sun, the trees... I felt proud and humbled to be a part of God's creation. It was more than just a sunset - it was an experience. That's what I live for - experiences in God's creation. I'm thankful He's given me something like that that I can enjoy. And I try to thank Him for that constantly.

I know there's so much more of His beauty out there, and I want to have those experiences too. Nothing beats home, but while I'm here on this earth, I want to see as much of God in it as I can. You look at pictures of the Rocky Mountains and tell me God doesn't exist. Look at the sunrises and the sunsets and tell me God doesn't exist. He exists, and He's all around us. I'm thankful He's let me see that and that He's given me His creation to enjoy.

Additions and Current Issues

I often find myself researching stuff about this trip. It's trying to replace Facebook I guess... you know, that time-killer-when-you-need-to-be-working-on-anything-and-everything-more-important kind of thing. Well, I was going over the route last night and realized that I had left off Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. One of the initial inspirations for this trip was pictures I found of the Grand Tetons a few years back. I remember seeing them online and being blown away. Little did I know that those pictures would eventually lead to a trip this massive, but here we are. I'm just stoked that I remembered to add this to the trip. And I've heard that you just have to see Yellowstone, so we'll tackle all of that by rerouting through northern Wyoming then crossing up into Montana. We won't spend as much time in Montana as I had at first hoped, but we'll pass a city called Big Sky - which will satisfy wanting to see "Big Sky" Montana - and we'll also pass through Bozeman. Let me explain the Bozeman stop because it does have significance. I saw the movie Shooter on TV a few weeks back (I had seen it a few years ago on ClearPlay, but couldn't remember much about it other than that the dude blows everything/everyone up) and was inspired to the MAX with the final scene. It didn't last very long (30 seconds tops), but as Swagger and Sarah drive off into the sunset, their backdrop are these incredible mountains and Otis Taylor's "Nasty Letter" (the song is kind of hard to find, but it's on iTunes if you wanna give it a listen... which I do recommend). I think the actual filming for this scene took place somewhere in Canada, but since that trip isn't as feasible right now (don't wanna fool with passports yet), I'm going with Bozeman. I've looked up pictures and it's beautiful anyways and looks very similar. Maybe one day I'll actually get to see the real setting for that scene. Another stop I added is the Olympic National Park on the west side of Seattle. It's going to add about a 3-4 hour loop, but from what I looked up, it will be well worth it even if we have to cut other chunks of the drive out. I also moved the route over to include the Pacific coast from Washington all the way down to LA (at first the route was just coastal in California because I had it going through Portland, taking the quickest route which would save time, but hey, time isn't what we're worried about here - it's all about the experiences). There are some activities that I'm wanting to make sure and enjoy too, but I'm not ready to talk about those yet. Momma and Dad are nervous enough about the trip anyways.

There is a bit of a problem with the directions though. It's easy to set up a route in Google Maps because I can drag the route to include areas that I want to travel through. However, I can't do that on my GPS. Last night, I tried converting the Google directions to a .iti/.itn/itinerary file in my TomTom, but it didn't work. My GPS can only handle .iti files, and the only conversion websites I could find converted the maps to .itn files only - no .iti files. So I just tried sending the directions to my GPS which seemed to work at first, but what it did was basically send the destination then it found the quickest route, completely erasing the route I had worked on. Right now, all I can think to do is make a binder of all of the directions, all of the maps, and everything we would need to punch in addresses or roads or whatever in the GPS to reroute us the way we want to go. That would take a little work, but I think it would work out just fine. I just wish there was a way to get it on my GPS so I wouldn't have to worry about all that. There's still time to figure something else out, so if anyone has any suggestions, leave a comment.

Planning Stages

Well, I wanted to start a blog to record the road trip I am planning to take out west this summer. I'm starting the blog now to document all the preparation that's going into it, all the ideas I've got, etc. It's been a dream of mine for a few years now, and, Lord willing, it's finally going to become a reality. I feel like I've waited my whole life for this.

Give me a minute to explain (for those who haven't already heard... or for those who have heard and just want to hear again). The only places I've ever really been for vacation have either been in the South or to Green Bay (one family ski trip to Denver when I was young, but we flew there and I don't remember much about it). I got tired of taking the same trips, driving the same roads, seeing the same places, doing the same things. I now want the unknown. I want new and fresh. I want breathtaking and majestic. To cure this exploratory urge, I've mapped out a 6,000+ mile road trip to explore the Western United States... yep, all in one big honkin trip. Mt. Rushmore, "Big Sky" Montana, the Rockies, the Pacific coast, the Redwood Forest, San Fran, LA, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners, Denver (and the Rockies again), the plains, Dallas, then finally back home again. I've scheduled two weeks for this thing. Could be a little more than that but not less. The main thing is that it's up to me (and whoever ends up going with me). If I/we decide to take a detour, then heck, we're takin a detour and exploring wherever we wind up. 500 miles off route? Who cares? Let's do it. Let's stop here for a while just because. We ain't on a schedule - we're stoppin. Hey, that billboard looked funny. Ok, let's go see what it's all about. Wow, the mountains here look awesome! Dude, let's slow it down and check em out. Yeah. It's that kinda trip. No rules. No limits. We be road trippin my friend. I've been daydreaming about it. It's the most exciting trip I've ever planned. I love the Packers and visiting Lambeau, but it's time for me to appreciate God's creation and see it first-hand. I gotta go big or go home. It's time. It's all or nothin. And I can't wait.

More to come...