Roadtrip Home

Driving Home
Paige Brown I think there is something to be said for roadtrips. The past years, I have become so adjusted to jumping on an airplane and jetting around the world, that I never stopped to think of how we used to travel. I remember getting in the car at a least once a year for the 14 hour trek to Angel Fire, NM. Lots of kids, a couple of moms...we'd play car games and scream in joy when we found the random Hawaii license plate in the middle of West Texas.

My mom and I took a short roadtrip up to Aspen to see my Uncle and enjoy the mountains for a few days. When we arrived we were greeted with a very small snow shower, which my mom thought was incredible for the Spring. We drove around and saw all the scenery and shopped a bit in downtown Aspen. I was very happy that I finally got to see the Maroon Bells and it was a perfect day for it as well. It was a nice break before the fun of moving and a 20 hr drive home...

I wasn't that excited about driving back alone in my car, following the UHaul trailer in front of me, but honestly it didn't take long to remember how much fun it was to see the US via Highway. I went from Mountains, to Desert, to rolling hills. We drove through Hail, torrential rain and lightening. My favorite part was watching a lightning storm at night in West Texas just north of us. Thankfully, my phone ran out of batteries fairly quickly and I finally stopped talking to take in my surroundings.

I passed a country road and chuckled as I remembered how we decided to take it one year in college as a shortcut on the way to Angel Fire. We ended up on dirt, unplowed roads in the middle of nowhere, it was an experience to say the least. I took in the ungrateful smells that emminated from the feed yards at Texline and it reminded me of the day we almost left my brother at the gas station because he was in a car of 6 girls and wouldn't leave the comic book stand.

Many of the hotels were booked up in Amarillo, but finally got the last room at the Days Inn. My mom and I crashed from exhaustion. In the morning we met a truck driver on the elevator who's shirt said "I got out of bed, what more do you expect..." and then I proceeded to make my own personal Texas Shaped Waffle in the breakfast buffet.

We cruised into Central Texas and I was in awe at the beautiful wildflowers that lined the roads. It is so easy to forget how pretty it is here. And so it comes that I am back in Austin. So much has changed here in the last few years. Old churches gone and replaced by shopping malls, a new tollway. I am trying to adjust again and re-aquaint myself with this charming place. First stop was definitely the lake. I missed floating in the water without a care in the world.

Thanks to everyone for making Denver an incredible experience for me. Perhaps I will be back in a few years. It definitely wasn't easy to leave, but I know that great adventures await me.

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