As I was busting down the freeway in South Dakota at 80mph singing along with my tunes I saw signs for Wall Drug continuously for miles and miles. They are big on advertising. I decided to whip off the freeway quickly, as I have heard about this place for years. I expected a cute little general store but what I found was a large complex of shops! Continue reading
Meet Willie
My last post was about dreamers and I continue to meet people who inspire this “making something out of nothing at all” concept. Arriving late into Rapid City, South Dakota, I was determined to find a place to dance in order to get some exercise after being in the car all day. Continue reading
Lost my heart in the Black Hills…
I drove through Upton, Wyoming on my way to the Black Hills. It was beautiful country, a lazy, winding drive, dotted with darling towns. On Upton’s tall water tower was the proud proclamation “BEST TOWN ON EARTH.” I thought, what audacity! To proclaim your town the best on earth! It threw me into paroxysms of philosophical wonderings. What makes this town, population 1100, think they are the best on earth? What would it take to be the best town? For me, an awesome coffee shop and theater company would be high on the list. But I was intrigued with the idea that they believed in themselves so strongly. And I wondered what it would take for me to say I was the best woman on earth, NO, the best PERSON on earth? I couldn’t get there. I know too many phenomenal people to have the galls to put myself above them. But wouldn’t it be amazing to feel and believe you were the best person, actor, artist, trombone player, whatever, on earth? I think it is something to aspire to. This is what being in the car for hours alone can provide. Time to ponder and take my thoughts to a new dimension just by seeing words on a water tower. Continue reading
Lessons from a cattle drive
I was headed to the Medicine Wheel in Wyoming at the recommendation of my friend, DeAnne ( from my post “Charleston-Part Two” ). I stopped for gas in the last tiny town before heading into the back woods and the man next to me in his truck asked me what part of Washington I was from. We got to chatting as we filled our tanks and I told him where I was heading and he said I HAD to make a quick detour to see Big Horn Canyon. Finding these tidbits of advice always worthwhile, I veered off my planned route. Continue reading
Spiraling back to Seattle
I drove back into Seattle feeling like I was coming back into the rat race with people “leading lives of quiet desperation” (Thoreau). The traffic was atrocious, drivers aggressive, impatient, blowing their horns because the car in front of them didn’t spurt off immediately when the light turned green. My pace has changed as I’ve journeyed, the striving and pushing has been usurped by peace and being chill, so to get back “home” was a rude awakening. It doesn’t feel like home anymore, but it doesn’t help that all my belongings are in a storage unit and I’m sleeping on my daughter’s couch. I’m displaced, not sure where I belong. Is my car my only home? Eeek, what a thought! Continue reading
A lighter highway to Missoula
I sit here with a light breeze blowing a tinkling wind chime outside that vibrates through the window to my ears. It’s peaceful here in Missoula, Montana where my newly married friends, Kristen and Graham and their four fluffy cats reside. Continue reading
Glacier at last…
I’m back to the early days of this trip in that my emotions are all over the map! I’m down, I’m up, I’m confident, I’m insecure, I’m sad, I’m happy, I’m worried, I’m stable. The closer I get back to Seattle the “not knowing what I’m doing next” starts waving it’s big head at me, mocking my indecision. So getting back to nature, and finally seeing Glacier National Park, was perfect timing. Continue reading
All Roads Lead to Iam…(Trilogy FINALE)
Back in Calgary I needed to take care of my foot with ice, elevation and rest, not normally in my repertoire. But I figured it was a good time for writing and playing with Phebe! We took it easy that night and had another fabulous tapas meal. Continue reading
All roads lead to Iam… (PART TWO)…with an offshoot to Nathan
One of the things I didn’t anticipate was my friends feeling worried about what I might write about them on my blog. It became the joke with Iam after a particularly ridiculous event…“Oh no, I suppose you’ll put that in the blog!” Or a particularly bad picture was met with a groan, “Don’t put that on your blog.” I could also use it as a threat…”Careful or I’ll put that in my blog.” Blackmail…gotta love it! Nathan, the friend I was driving to Rosebud to see, was concerned about the same thing. No one wants to be misconstrued and I hated to think they were feeling vulnerable. But since we all had met in the Shakespeare Intensive we were loath to hide from each other. Authenticity is definitely the way to live and I was grateful that they trusted me not to misrepresent them. Continue reading
All roads lead to Iam…(PART ONE)
I spent the most amazing month last January sharing a small dorm room with a wonderful gal called Iam. Yep, that is right, Iam as in “I am.” There’s a whole interesting story to her name but suffice it to say that her parents were part of the 60’s generation. We were roommates at a month-long Shakespeare acting intensive in Massachusetts and we both felt EXTREMELY lucky to have landed in the same room and we became as close as sisters. So when this trip entered my mind, a stop to see Iam in Calgary was a must. I decided to put her at the end, rather than the beginning, and it has felt all along that I was moving my way around the continent to get to Calgary. Continue reading
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