The Dust Settles

10/16/23

Cedar City, UT

I’ve had this dream multiple times. There is a road, in a small town, that I have never walked to the end of. There is a place with incredible rocks, right off the beaten path, yet I’ve never been there, and you can camp for free as long as you want. The dream represents, to me, exploring the unknown, and my love for the desert. It occurred to me this summer that, because of this being my dream, both literally and figuratively, there was even more reason to go on a trip in the coming fall.

These last few days, as well as in part many days on this trip, have felt nearly identical to that dream. Today, I feel as though I’ve just lived a literal dream I’ve had for years.

Hannah and I parted ways today, making this the end of the trip, in a sense. Our split was mutual, as it felt like a good time, and there was an opportunity, but it still makes me sentimental. We had been talking about this trip since roughly April of this year, and now for it to be over, I can’t help but see how far I am from the place I was in then. While being shorter than intended, and scoffed at by long-term van-lifers, the one month we’ve been on the road has felt like a lifetime, and yet so brief, as it usually goes.

This also signifies the end of my daily blog, which has become more difficult for me to keep up with (as you can see I’ve gotten several days behind). I believe there are about three people who will be sad about this.

This page will stay active, with future entires, but with less regularity and likely more emphasis on photos.

But friends, the world is incredible. Not even the entire world, but the American West (by which I mean everything west of what I consider the great divide, Montana and down). Anything you could ever hope to see can be found here. Lifetimes of beauty. Excitement, danger, and nice people. And history you couldn’t imagine.

The Grand Staircase, which I was standing on the top of this morning (Yovimpa Point, Bryce Canyon), and ends in the Grand Canyon, is a scar on the planet that’s 250 million years old. Once a marsh, then a desert, then an ocean, then a fresh water lake, now a featured tier system of sedimentary layers, rich with remnants from the past. Driving through it has given me a greater sense of how the landscape really moves and forms, without the context of state lines.

One of the latest great frontiers, still full of the unknown, danger, and wonder. A place of wars and peace and evil and good. Just sitting there, in your backyard.

You don’t want to miss out on this stuff.