Final Chapter.........Book ll

This is the last chapter in the book ........ "Are we there yet?"

Are We There Yet? 29th July ‘04 In what looks like an enormous and very wobbly circle, we have once again, boomeranged ourselves across this amazing continent in what feels like days, and at the same time, like years. After us both quietly feeling this for a few days, Frank started the conversation: “Are you ready ………?” My answer? “Yeah - I am!” And that was it. So, after driving past Frog Holler Road and Bug Scuffle Ave in Texas (I am serious!), we looked at the map for the most direct route back to Chattanooga. The road was a dull gray ribbon winding through gentle hills, disappearing into the rain. It was a wonderful, cool drive all the way back through Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee along the interstates - even right through the center of the big cities. And today, Thursday 29th July, we pulled back into our driveway and just sat for a while, soaking this in too with a smile. How do I tell of the feelings, emotions and excitement that have been permanent and constant companions over the past two months? I have tried to put the adventures, the sceneries, the places and the colors into words, but they just don’t come close enough so many times. We took photos as fast as our fingers will allow – over 7000 in total! But they don’t tell the story the way we have seen it - they don’t come close. The awe and wonder, the amazement and gut wrenching beauty just defy acceptable explanation so much of the time. So many people have tried to explain what they have seen. Their words hang in the National Parks and at many of the stunning viewpoints across the country. Not even their brilliant words paint the true picture. We were talking just the other day, naming our ‘best places’ along the way. They added up to just about all the places we have been to. Except Saskatoon when Skilpad suffered her ‘temporary malaise’. Even that has created some lovely and fun memories for both of us. It was interesting to see that neither of us got ourselves tied up into knots, even with that. What will be - will be, and every day, every situation just added up to make for two months of total wonder. I look at the photos, trying desperately to label and explain them and keep them in some kind of order. The colors are the most amazing. I don’t have to see each photo individually at all, I just look at them all while they are in thumbnail format and the color tells me where they were taken - from the powerful, whitewater and gentle mist of Niagara Falls, through the green of Canada, to the bluest blue of Crater Lake. The ocean colors, the sand dunes and the multi color cliffs and canyons of Utah - Bryce Canyon was totally awesome. The colors……. And those snow covered mountains! All too amazing. Standing in so many of these places, just thinking about where I was, stunned me to tears at times. So many places had been just a place in a geography book a long time ago, a scene on television or a name on a map - a place others had seen and ooh-ed and aah-ed about and tried hard to describe. A dream. Now I had been there too, soaking in the wonder, and I can also not explain them in a way that would give them enough credit. Some places we just breezed through, others we felt as if we were glued to and had to drag ourselves away. The wind pinned us down at times, as did the heat, but nothing took the wonder away. More often, the beauty pinned us in place, as did the thin air in many of the high elevations, giving us even more time to enjoy the scenery. I have had my feet in the Niagara River, the Great Lakes, James Bay, the Yukon River, the Mackenzie River, Slave Lake at Yellowknife, in the Colorado River, Green River, the Pacific Ocean, in underwater dinosaur footprints and any other piece of water that I could find - and yes, in Crater Lake’s icy waters too! We still have not figured out quite what this thing is about me and water, but my feet have recovered well from some of the freezing waters they have been subjected to and keep looking for more. The one piece of water that was totally unexpected was the one that came in ‘snowball format’ accurately delivered by Frank - he is still laughing about that, but only when he is able to make a quick getaway. My time will come………. We have seen quite a bit of wildlife along the way - bear, moose, caribou, big horn sheep, mountain goat, deer, little critters, enormous beavers, bison, and even a gorilla. Ok, ok - that was a plastic one. We saw almost any kind of animal, including a troop of elephants, in the hoodoos and spires of the canyons, but I am sure those really won’t count either. We saw cheetah, rhinos, giraffe antelope and ostrich, amongst others, in Texas. We have walked, hiked and biked and driven many places that have shown us more beauty than we could have dreamed of. At times we moved at a slower pace, and other times at full speed, keeping the camera working full time. Yes, we overdid some of the hikes and biking trips, but that simply and sorely at times, added to the enjoyment of the trip. That feeling of being totally muscle numbingly tired, so that the only thing you can do is lie limply on the bed with your heart still pounding at the energy used and beauty of the surroundings, and play the wonders of the day over and over again in your head - what a joy! We have been in wonderful places. From hugging a plastic duck on the banks of Lake Erie; North East to the banks of James Bay; North West to Yellowknife; hiking down the inside of a stunning volcano and floating around on its indescribable water; ooh-ing at the amazing length of a giraffes tongue; 4x 4 driving on top of 2000 foot cliffs; skidding around the Colorado river in a jet boat or bouncing madly in the dunes of Oregon on a speeding dune buggy. And so much more. We even stroked a polar bear - yes, he was stuffed - but very real looking, and big and beautiful too. We learned so much about the tribes of Northern Canada and also those in the west of the USA. We saw the amazing results of the tremendous upheavals of the earth millions of years ago and the layers of fossils in what is now solid rock. So much history, so much to learn, absorb and appreciate. It is all so much bigger than we are, and we can only wonder at the comparable insignificance of our “daily troubles”. When looking at a photograph we took in Bryce Canyon, the people in the photo look like specks of dust against the towering, wonderfully colored surroundings - it had an incredibly humbling effect on me and yet brings a deep sense of freedom too. The Skilpads have performed perfectly despite us pushing them both beyond their requirements at times. We have only had one flat tire, and that was due to a broken valve core, discovered while in camp - easy fix. We have huffed and puffed up mountains higher than 12 000 feet, only to scream downhill again, seriously trusting that the tires will all hold tight, as will everything else too. We have driven for over 12 hours a day and come close to only giving her the smell of gas rag until finding the next fill up point. They have not let us down at all, and still hum along beautifully. Our checklist to keep them both running smoothly has grown somewhat since the last trip, but we don’t expect to perfect it - that would take some anticipation and excitement away from the big picture or maybe the next trip! There have been so many times that we have thought of each and every one of you, wishing you all the chance to see at least some of what we are so fortunate to have seen and experienced. You have all been in my mind so much of the time, and have really been with us at different times along the way. Thanks for your ever-present company! I have missed the “U3” group tremendously- my three tremendous kids - oops sorry - young adults! They have all handled themselves fantastically, succeeding in what they needed to do and then adding some wanted adventures and responsibilities of their own to the mix. It is a privilege to see just how they have the confidence to deal with their daily learning and growing. A tremendous big thanks goes to them for being so darn great and amazingly capable that it has freed us up to be able to experience our own adventures. A very big Thank You! to Steven, Lisa and Joleen. I am tremendously proud of U3. And finally, Frank, who drove tirelessly for close on 11 000 miles, just enjoying and smiling all the way. It has been, once again, fantastic to share all this with you, to see the wonder and happiness in your face, that ever present spark in your eyes, and the excitement of seeing new places together. The ride has been amazing, and the company the best - the many laughs, the peace and happiness, the wonder of it all….. Thank you, sweet man, thank you! Are we there yet? I truly hope we never “get there” - the ride is way too wonderful……. With lots of love and many thanks to you all And especially U3 For now Annie and Frank XXXXxxxx