Monday, July 9, 2012

summer road trip


Have you ever needed a vacation after your vacation?

Even though we've been home for a week, I still haven't quite gotten back into the swing of normal routine yet. Blogging seems like such a foreign concept now. This is my 1000th entry on Nature ID with 59,640 site visits. It also happens to be my birthday today, and I am in a reflective mood.

We covered close to 2400 miles up through Oregon and Washington states and back. As a comparison, to get to Paulina Lake shown above (roughly halfway north) took us longer than our sister-in-law's sister took to go from her home in Switzerland down through Italy to pick up our sister-in-law from a conference and up to Slovenia to their parents' farm. I sometimes forget how big the United States is, let alone the 3 contiguous western states. The last time we did a road trip like this was almost 3 years ago. During this trip, we traveled through temperatures as high as 93.0°F (33.89°C) and as low as 33.8°F (0.99°C) in one day!

Our goal for this vacation was to see family and friends, so I have very few nature photos to share. The one thing that really struck me most was how children and the elderly appear to age much more quickly than the average adult. I was delighted to observe, play, and talk with the kids from age 4 to the first years in college. However, I was pensive about visiting with the older folks, one who still hikes like a mountain goat at the age of 80 and another a few years older in a hospital in the last days of his life. I am smack in the middle of these ages.

I will remember this trip particularly for the similarities and contrasts through time and distance.

8 comments:

Jeannette said...

A happy and restful birthday to you, Miss Smack in the Middle. May you enjoy the middle, it being one of the many great places to be.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Happy birthday!! 1000, good for you. Posts I mean, not age. :)

Imperfect and Tense said...

Many congratulations upon your landmarks, both in life and the blogosphere. The journey continues...

Jennifer said...

Happy belated birthday! :) Hope life is good in CA this summer!

Waypoints said...

Hope you had a nice birthday and great road trip. My last Oregon trip got cancelled. I will be heading to the eastern Sierra in another week and a half. counting the hours.

Jennifer said...

Happy Birthday Katie! That photo is so soothing and gorgeous. Sounds like you had quite a trip. I'm glad you're back! Wow, one thousand posts - that's quite an accomplishment! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday! Road trips are wonderful but then coming home (and into one's own bed) is often the sweetest part...

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Thank you all for the well wishes! The big decade b-day was last year, so this one was low key with a movie and dinner out. Being halfway north on the edge of a volcanic lake holds an interesting mix of perspectives. And, I am glad to be home.