Adam's Final Post (sierras final post below)

I’ve been waiting for the right time to start writing the final blog post, I have put it off so long I knew nobody would still be waiting on it. I think I just need to write it for myself, and also the book I’m turning the blog into. Until tonight I haven’t been able to slip into the right state of mind to write it. As I took my dog outside tonight, the air seemed perfectly crisp and cool but not too cold, reminded me of some of the first nights on the trip. As I turned to walk back into the house I stopped and gazed at the Bigelow mountain range silhouetted against a burnt orange evening sky. My mind flashed back to Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, and the likes. The mountain view, and the feeling of finally having sold the van, I knew I could write the final post tonight.

As I sit here reading back through the blog in the quiet house, home alone, I can remember all the details in the blog we didn’t write about. Every time I read a post I remember all the events, all the stops, all the sensations that didn’t make it into the blog that day…I remember on different days how the sun felt and how the air smelled...I hope that as time goes on, those memories don’t fade…

I’ve realized that I’ve already forgotten to be thankful for warm pajamas a reclining chair, running water, a sink – better yet, a dishwasher – and knowing where I’m going to sleep tonight.

Part of the reason it took so long to write the final blog post, is the same reason I took the road trip in the first place: life gets busy. So a short recap of our arrival home: After arriving home and surprising everybody it wasn’t long before me and Sierra said good-bye for the day and slept at our perspective houses. The feeling of being home was surreal, and took weeks to sink in. To everybody else it was just “Adam is home, things are back to normal”, but to me everything was different. After 50 days on the road all the comforts of home seemed to be such luxuries. BBQ’s ensued and lots of socializing occurred. Trying to explain the road trip to people proved and still proves to be challenging, and in a way impossible. People constantly ask what my favorite place or favorite memory was, and I don’t think I will ever have an accurate answer. In random conversations I can talk about the road trip and bring up specific instances and places, but know one can truly understand. Even for those of you who read the blog everyday, you’ll never know the full extent of the experience we had. I couldn’t talk long enough or remember the details to get you to fully grasp it, and even then, you’ll never really feel what we felt.

Now, in the midst of the chaos, whether at work or school, I think back to that feeling of not having a place to be for the rest of the day, or the next day. I remember the feeling of the way the van felt going to sleep, the feeling of pulling into a Walmart, and the soothing highway at night. I long for the freedom to look at a map and pick a place to go the next day. I miss the way it felt to walk through towns that are completely new, the feeling of perfectly tension free muscles, and the sensation of pulling into our destination.

I want so bad to do the trip again, expand on what we did. I know now what to do, what not to do, where to go, where not to go, and where to plan on spending more time. The thing is, I could do the trip a thousand more times and never see it all, nor satisfy the hunger to explore.

On a recent trip to Vegas, my Dad and I rented a car and visited the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, we traveled some of the same roads I traveled in the van over the summer. It was surreal to see and remember the landscapes.

I can’t wait to be get back out there throughout life, and revisit the beautiful spots and places we called home this summer. I can’t wait to go to the same campsites or the same hotel parking lots, and just sleep there to immerse myself back into my mind and re-live the memories. For now, I'll occasionally just put on James Taylor’s album: Hourglass,(the CD we listened to at least once a day on the trip… “at least” being the key word), and just re-live it in my mind. 

Thank you to everyone we met along the way and everyone we got to spend time with. Thanks for all the support and thanks for following. And of course, thanks to my best friend Sierra, couldn't imagine doing a trip with anyone else, especially now.

As for the future, I will finish school and then go from there. I know what I want for a career and I’m not afraid to start. I’m just nervous to be tied down for the next 50 years not being able to ever feel as free again. Maybe I’ll spend a few years being a park ranger in Glacier N.P….or maybe I could just squeeze in one more trip…who knows.

-Adam

p.s. dont forget to scroll down and read sierras final post.

Sierra's Final Post

I still remember when Adam and I were in Olive Garden and he was telling another one of his friends about his roadtrip, and I said, “Well….can I go???”  I think that for a long time, he didn’t believe that I would actually save my money to do it, but here I am, one road trip later, and with no laptop at college.  But, it was never just about the money.  It was leaving and understanding that we couldn’t just go home; it was being with one person for fifty days, it was driving to California in an 85’ VW bus, and attempting to get back.  The roadtrip began with us having to make choices that would result in a summer of pure freedom, a summer that we will never forget. 

The roadtrip turned into an adventure that even I wasn’t expecting.  The van troubles that now make us smile, the people we spent time with that changed or impacted our lives in different ways, that one James Taylor CD that became our roadtrip soundtrack, the silly, crazy places we went and things we did that no one will ever truly understand, the support and encouragement that people gave us, and a friendship that will never be the same.  You know, when you live out of a van in 110 degree weather for fifty days, it’s too hot to argue!  So you have to just laugh, say “what have we gotten ourselves into?”, make up stupid handshakes, sing Disney songs at midnight, roll the windows down, and simply enjoy the gift of a summer spent being free with your best friend.             

Adam has been telling me to write this last post since we got back, and to be honest, I have been putting it off for as long as I possibly can.  The roadtrip still feels surreal or in the making.  I don’t want to except nor recognize its end, but I understand that the roadtrip was a season, maybe the best of my life so far, but still seasons change. 

I owe thank yous to so many people and places, but I will probably forget someone….first, mom and dad, thank you for embracing, my adventurous spirit, and letting me go on the roadtrip.  My Tudela family, thank you for helping Adam and I the whole way to California and back, I love you guys!  Rick and Brett, thanks for all the hard work you put into the van, and Val thanks for introducing me to Adam, and for encouraging me to play, and for hanging out with me while the boys worked on the van.  Goulet, thank you so much for all your guidance and ideas, we’d have been lost without you.  Don, and Eric thanks for the shower and a bed to sleep in, we had so much fun.  Mike, we LOVE your camp, thank you so much!  To everyone in Minnesota, thank you for a fun few days at the lake, and Gramas spaghetti.  To South Dakota thank you for Wall Drug and prairie dogs, and for the badlands…amazing to even think about.  Wyoming, thank you for the elk and Jackson Hole and Debbie.  Dustin and Leigh, you guys made our stay in California absolutely unforgettable, you guys are awesome and we love you!  Tennessee, thanks for that three hours of sleep and the foggy sunrise.  Debbie, we love you…thank you for everything.  To the Galvan’s, we had so much fun in Virginia and you guys are just so much fun, thank you.  And to my dear friend Adam, thanks tudela, you are the best and it was so much fun, and WE DID IT!  We drove across the country in a hippie van…we walked out on the mesa and we stumbled on a few songs J Love ya tudela, thank you for everything before the roadtrip, during it, and after.  The day I met you was such a blessing. 

Well thanks anyone who read the blog, and followed us!  We had so much fun sharing the crazy trip with you all and we are just so thankful for everything.  I can’t believe it’s really over, but hey, stay posted for another blog a few years down the road, maybe, you never know.  


-Sierra