Once we cleared Pine Ridge, we wanted to go home by the shortest route. A planned route through Minnesota and Wisconsin to see old friends was scrapped. We did not want another breakdown on the road. We took a quick side trip into Mitchell, South Dakota to pick up some cash at a credit union… Continue reading Dash to Home
I took few photos during our stay at Pine Ridge. I mostly spent the time observing and listening, because I did not want to impose my preconceptions on the experience in a way that would have interfered with understanding what I saw and heard. The act of composing a photograph requires forming an idea of… Continue reading Pine Ridge
We spent a cool and restful night in the Bighorn Mountains, then descended the eastern slope towards Sheridan, Wyoming, where we restocked our food and propane, and more important, bought Western straw hats, de rigeur for summer in these parts. Our destination was Devil's Tower National Monument, not for any particular reason except that Jennifer… Continue reading Damned Transmission!
From Beartooth Pass to Cody, we passed some beautiful scenery. After we left Cody, we traveled through an arid plain between the Absaroka Range and the Bighorn Mountains. Our lunch stop On the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, looking toward Yellowstone The Bighorn Mountains We climbed a steep grade from 6,000 feet up to the plateau… Continue reading Wyoming
We pushed east along Interstate 90, enduring stretches of construction where the highway narrowed to one lane and the drivers behind us did not appreciate the pace I set. We took a cutoff toward Helena, Montana along U. S. Highway 12 and crossed the Continental Divide at McDonald Pass. There was no sign marking it,… Continue reading Across the Divide
Eventually we left the Columbia Gorge, driving across flat, dry terrain in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range, to my aunt's home in Kennewick. She lives in a small, immaculate house on a golf course, and golfs regularly. She welcomed us into her home for an overnight stay, and filled us in on stories… Continue reading Leaving the Coast
We left Portland to drive east along the Columbia River to my aunt's home in Kennewick, Washington. We stopped at a rest area to watch windsurfers in the constant gale on the broad river. The wind was so strong Lauren could lean into it. This was the best view we saw of Mount Hood. The… Continue reading Columbia
We had a great visit with my niece Cheryl and her husband Doug in their Portland craftsman bungalow. Lauren wrote "Portland exceeded all my expectations. It was SUCH a delight to spend time with my cousin and her husband who have cut out a deeply pleasant existence In this great city. Had a hot soak… Continue reading Portlandia
Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, "This is my own, my native land?" My grandfather's house in Vancouver, where I stayed one summer at eight years old.
Standing close to a giant redwood tree in Hendy Grove, I reached out to place my hand against the bark, trying to feel directly the continuity of life from ancient time into the future, as if to diminish my loss by joining the flow of life through that behemoth. Humboldt State Park redwood grove. Look… Continue reading Redwoods
Dad and I are having a blast. Northern California is the land of the beautiful people. Finally, I fit right in. Northern California Gallery Fifty years later, we stop at Trees of Mystery on highway 101 north, and Lauren re-enacts Jennifer's pose from 1968. Here's how Jenny looked in that spot in 1968.
It's been very comforting to me to reconnect with family and to meet and get to know my Cousin Kim Giuffrida's beautiful, intelligent, poised and vivacious daughters. Having breakfast with them this morning was a delight, and reminds me that I still have living family. Back in LA. Yesterday was a looooong day. I have… Continue reading Southern California
Tired but hopeful, we have arrived at Silver Lake campground near June Lake, California. A beautiful place. Heidi and Plato have gotten closer together on this trip.
We arrived at about five o'clock. As the sun sank toward the peak of Mount Whitney to our west, we carried out our ceremony of scattering Diane and Jennifer's ashes at the place where I met Diane in 1967. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the… Continue reading Mirror Lake
We made it! The ranger in Lone Pine exchanged our one-day pass for a two-night permit, and we are on the trail to Mirror Lake. Mile and a half Lone Pine Lake Along the trail Outpost Camp
One by one, many of the moving parts of our journey have fallen off by the wayside, like furniture and bedding lashed to the back of a 1923 Ford pickup driving west from the Dust Bowl, left by the side of the highway in our urgent quest for a goal with no known reward except… Continue reading Regeneration
The day after we arrived at Convict Lake, we spent time at the Wild Willys Hot Springs south of Mammoth Lakes. By the campfire at Convict Lake. Today at the city park in Bishop, CA waiting to drop dogs at sitter.
Mount Whitney and the high Sierras, viewed on our way north to Convict Lake campground.
Lauren utters a Primal Scream to an indifferent Grand Canyon.
I passed this place in the middle of the night with Diane in 1999. Who could forget the name? This time we stopped.
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is covered with more than 10,000 mirrors, each the size of a small house, that track the sun throughout the day and focus it on a receiver filled with molten salt. The salt, heated to almost 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, stores the energy as heat, so it’s always ready when it’s… Continue reading Helios
Our official greeter at the entrance to Grand Canyon NP
Heidi wants to ride shotgun down the canyon.
We got the windshield fixed, had the BEST Indian lunch ever, went to the Goodwill in flagstaff (yes, really), and finally met my friend Ruth in person for great coffee and even better conversation! Thank you Ruth for your offer of hospitality and the stimulating chat. — Lauren
Just goofing around in Monument Valley.
So we are in the middle of a completely wireless desert in the middle of a Navajo reservation, no towns, no gas stations, and a truck passes and kicks off a huge rock which smashes through our windshield directly in my dad's face, shattering glass over us both and all the way into the back… Continue reading The Desert Rocks Us
Total and utter silence. No cars, no birds, no wind, one plane in all the time we've been here. Here in the high desert, our generator had issues. We are watching the last light, eating a cold dinner, toasting with dark and stormies and really listening to nothing.
We made it. Goosenecks State Park. Take a gander.
What a contrast between yesterday and today. Rocky Mountain National Park to Arches National Park in 2 days.
Always walk as far away from the campground as possible. Here is today's sunrise and some tracking photos. — Lauren
The Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park goes above timberline for miles, up to 12,183 feet above sea level, through 8-foot deep snow banks and wide open expanses of arctic tundra, surrounded by snow capped peaks at the same elevation. Mind-blowing. To see that in the High Sierras, you have to walk many… Continue reading Rocky Mountain NP
Van is fixed! Heading for Estes, then RM National Park to camp. Yay!!! Thank you Charlie K. for your help and your company, and for introducing us to your amazing GF. Please tell Erin thank you for her hospitality and the cbd topical oil!!! — Lauren
So that just happened. Dad and I left the interstate for US 30, the nation's first coast to coast highway, which his grandfather helped to build. I saw a cool rusted train stop, so hurriedly pulled over under an overpass. As I walked back toward my desired shot, I noticed a giant swirl, a cacophony… Continue reading Jacob
Back on the road towards Sutherland Nebraska then on towards Boulder Colorado!
A Song of Ascents. I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?
Another milestone Boulder street scene
Lived here with my grandparents at an early age, and spent a summer at 18. My grandparents' grave in Grant, Nebraska The Truitt house, 2018.
Sunup in Iowa. Previous campers noted that this place was surrounded by a soybean field. The bean field is planted in corn this year.
I think it was my mom who reminded us all that we should never miss a sunset because we'd never know which was our last. My sister reminded us when my mom's memory faded. For the last few years of my sister's life, our extended family would send texts for sunset alerts. — by Lauren
Drive over for the day, after a brisk walk around the edge of the service area, it's reading time. This is why we don't need a satellite TV antenna.
Passed a billboard on PA Turnpike West: JESUS Live on Stage Some show that must be.
Rolling along
Sunshine and relaxation. Driver, more music!
We planned to travel by highway, driving the self-contained camper I bought in 2012 to travel with Diane. Our Roadtrek camper is a 19-foot conversion van. It contains two narrow beds eighteen inches apart, on opposite sides at the back. It has a generator, small refrigerator, propane stove, microwave, hot and cold running water, a… Continue reading How we started
Almost finished with the basic preparations. Tomorrow I will take the camper to the Dodge dealer, and have them check the brakes and a rattle that I don't like to hear. Today I finished replacing the battery inside the coach; it powers the interior lights, pump, and so forth. After this, just a matter of… Continue reading Getting Ready
These are the traveling carriers for Jennifer and Diane's ashes.
We leave in nine days. I have some anxiety setting in. I have been running from my emotions since my mothers death. My time is almost entirely spent preoccupied. I've realized I will be forced to sit quietly with thoughts and feelings I have shoved down quite deeply. I anticipate a moment at the grand… Continue reading Primal Scream
Here's a map of our hike. The trail starts at Whitney Portal, top right, at 8,200 feet elevation. We go to Mirror Lake, 4 miles and 2,400 feet higher (highlighted).
Some good news for us, not necessarily for Californians. The snowpack in the Mount Whitney area is less than 15% of average. That means the trail should be clear of snow as far as we want to go.
We conceived this trip as a twofold purpose: One, to take Diane's ashes back to the place where she and I met more than 50 years ago, to complete a sacred circle. Two, to undertake a journey of discovery, a pilgimage, prefatory to beginning new lives in the future in which we have been thrust… Continue reading The journey
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