Many Days In

It is Thursday and we are in Vegas. I'm told that save for the advertizements, the lights of the strip are a sneak preview of the playa. I do not know how I feel about this.

I have posts saved on my ipad, which has not seen internet access since New York. At some point I shall post them. Or maybe not. Things happen or not as they should this trip. Chicago skipped in favor of camping in the Missouri woods in the dark. An extra day in Denver allows time to see my aunt, uncle and cousin, time for sopapillas at a Mexican restaurant, as well as the originally planned Coathangers show which was fantastic. My childhood impression of Denver has changed. I used to hate Denver, the haze of smog and "city-ness" of it all. It was a place to see my family, or go to the amusement park. Now it is actually a cool town. Fun bars and friendly people.

One learns the differences across the country. How was I to know that it wasn't normal to have amusement parks and stadiums right smack in the center of downtown? That urban sprawl isn't normal for everyone? The the Loaf'N'Jug isn't familiar as a gas station? (and sounds wrong to one's driving companions)

We have been traveling. Hours in the car. Stopping only for bathrooms and fuel (human and van). I recognize what feels like home, and what feels foreign. This Colorado girl, generations deep in my blood, reveled in the mountains and the intensely blue sky above our heads. I distrust the Vegas strip, the glitz and glamor and stiletto heels tottering by. Starting on the drive from Denver to Vegas, the fox ears went on. Makeup was ignored starting in Pittsburgh. Minor moments of bickering, stretches of boredom, podcasts, cds and random conversation are the life on the road.

I have developed a new appreciation for clouds. For the beauty of lighting against clouds. For the many variations on rocks in their size, shape and coloration. And for the luxury of not living out of a knapsack. Strangely, despite a flat butt from sitting, there is a desire to do this again. Slowly. Savoring each state. Stopping for that random amusement park at the top of a mountain pass. Or the Dinosaur museum. Or any number of other things that catch the fancy.

Today we drive to San Francisco. Onward.

"Deepstep Baby Deepstep"  (C.D. Wright)