Rest Stop {Utah Travel Photography}
When you are on The Road for hours and hours you can’t help but anticipate the next rest area located at the side of the road. You have been traveling along, sometimes trying to beat the clock, other times simply on auto pilot, nevertheless eagerly anticipating the next chance to rest you rear for a minute or two. Usually these pit stops include an extended stretch of the legs, torso, and arms, a trip to the restroom, maybe a snack of whatever you packed in the cooler, and a once over of the map just to be sure you haven’t wasted the last 6 hours on the wrong interstate. I have come to look at this journey for Kevin and I, this road trip, as a metaphor for our life, and rest areas as a symbol of the stage in our life this road trip happens to fall upon. For years Kevin and I lived on auto pilot. We lived comfertably, had steady jobs and income, and for the most part took little risks with our dreams. That was not sufficient for us. We had always had big hopes, and even bigger dreams, and little knowledge on how to take either seriously. When we got a glimpse of what living out our dreams may look like we ran with it. We have been spinning wheels at times trying to beat the clock and get ahead. Exhausting our selves and our resources in an effort to make a life we could only dream of. This road trip couldn’t come at a better time. It’s been much like that rest area at mile marker 654. The one you made yourself pull over at even though you were convinced you could make it another 200 miles until you needed a break. A moment in life to pull over to the side of the road, dispite the momentum, to just get your witts about you. A moment where you evaluate where you have been, and where you are headed just to be sure it is the right direction. A moment to step back and evaluate how you have lined up your priorities, and that you are still focused on all the right things. That has bee much of what this trip is to us, those moments in which you turn off the road for a bit just to catch your breath.
Here we are now. Heading into the next stage of our adventure and still eager to see what is at the other end. We have come to realize that we are pleased with the direction we are headed. That we are fearful, anxious, eager, and excited all at the same time. We love that we are not alone on this journey. However isolating its feels at times, there are always, ALWAYS, others who are sharing the same journey, taking the same route, and have even hit a few of the same obsticles and still lived to tell. We hope that our paths cross with you some day. That whatever road you are traveling, it is paved with hopes and dreams. That whatever detours come your way, road blocks you come accross, and rest stops you encounter, you will remember there are others out there sharing a similar journey.
Cheers!
D-