a long and winding road

duncan, my youngest son, is in telluride colorado right now. he and his girlfriend and 3 other friends, piled in a van on monday for an amazing rocky mountain and bluegrass adventure. i'm so happy for them!

not to steal their thunder or anything, this journey of theirs has taken my brain back to my girl days, when i myself was a bit of an adventurer.

looking at the map and the roads leading to telluride, i saw some of my own journey before me.

memories of silverton, durango, pagosa springs, and mesa new mexico. some of the greatest experiences of my life in those few short months.

i was a hitch hiker.

i wore a long 40's  house dress and old lace up boots.

i carried a leather duffle bag with all my worldly posessions.

i had a multitude of necklaces around my neck (gifts from fellow travelers), and rings on every finger. i jingled. haha!

i usually had my long blonde hair tied in braids and i had an old vintage coat to keep me warm.

in fact,

once when i was soliciting a ride, i had my old coat on and a flowered scarf around my head and someone picked me up because they thought i was a little old lady out in the middle of nowhere.

i was so young and such a whisp of a thing.

i would lose my mind if i had a daughter doing that.

and my two sisters were doing the same thing at that time!

it was the 70's. and we must've been on the road for a year or more.

no fear. naive. wandering the long roads to anywhere.

growing up in a a small factory and farm midwestern town, all we could think about was getting out,  heading west. 

going out west was the dream.

i have hundreds of stories of close calls and people i met along the way.

the hunger the lonliness, the freedom, the call of the wild as it were.

i regret a lot of things in my life, but mostly things that i did to people and attitudes i've had. i have to say though, that even though i wouldn't want any of my kids to do what i did, i don't regret my travels.

times are different now. more cars, more speed, more danger, more pervs, more people, more of everything.

i really appreciate the folks i met, the places i saw, the escapes i made, and the Lord's angels that were with me.
i was a fool. but man do i have some amazing stories.
Thankyou Lord for sparing me.
and please bring duncan home safe.