A Walk Through the Wilderness: All I Wanna Do

Sunday, August 18, 2013

All I Wanna Do

Trave

Ling

Acros

Sthe

Coun

Try

Goo

Dfor

Thes

Oul

Eve

Nif

Not

Carbut

Bypla

Itclea

Thehe

Andre

Stores

The

Soul.

Choosing Sheryl Crow was a good idea as we drove through the burning lilac and golden green landscape of Utah. That electric wahhnnng wahhnngg and the boombadaboom of the bongos definitely soaked up the sun (song reference pun intended!). Singing out those lyrics that have been tattooed on my mind since I listened to her premier album in fourth grade resurrected the past just a little bit. When that past plus this present all crash together, I'm reminded that life is constantly moving and reinventing itself, which makes the future feel a little brighter, a little enlightened. Now fourth grade is a million miles away from this part of route 80 West that we're on (which just so happens to be the same highway taken to the mall where that Sheryl Crow album was purchased) in this Buick born during those ancient days.

But the West! It is WIDE and WILD if you haven't met it yet. Idaho is more than a dust pan and lamas; it is filled with beautiful stretches of green and yellow farmland that lie under this gigantic bright blue sky that inches up just enough at the bottom edge for some mountain peaks. This is where the deer and the antelope, the elk and the bear all play (or kill). In fact, Yellowstone warns travelers of the WILDlife by including a bright yellow piece of paper, accompanying a map of Yellowstone, showing a cartoon of a tourist being flung by a bison with the caption, "Many tourists are gored by wild animals each year." They also had a similar horrific sketch of a little boy being splashed with acid from the ground as he stepped off the boardwalk and onto the geyser's surrounding toxic land. As we walked through the woods one night, looking for hot springs, we were greeted by a poster asking, "Are you ready for an attack?" and highlighting what to bring or do in the case of an encounter with a bear.

Bear spray? We were supposed to bring bear spray?

National Parks can feel a bit like a theme park, so it's good to be reminded that these are wild places and somewhat dangerous. One of the hikes we did was ANGEL'S LANDING which I can picture on the letters of some worn out boardwalk roller coaster. The Zion NARROWS gave me the same vibe. I wish I knew what it felt like to see these places as a settler for the first time, after trekking across the desert for so long without knowing if there was anything but dust ahead. The Southern canyons of Utah is God's kiln, hosting pots and sand castles that are mostly works in progress. The geysers of Yellowstone are another planet, as smoke and ash are spurting up from the land around you or welling up in rainbow colored paint pots smoldering with chemicals. And you don't even need a passport or rocket ship to go to these places.

Sheryl Crow wasn't the only person on our hits list. In fact, Cat Stevens does a pretty good job of setting the tone, along with Simon and Garfunkal but not to mention Jimmy Eat World, Regina Spektor, Postal Service, and other mixes which provided prime sing-along time if the passengers are GAME. Our travel wasn't limited to the ancient Buick either, as we probably would have ended up on the side of the highway instead of cruising down it. No - we drove, we jammed, and that is how a little piece of the west was won.

Now here's a little bit of Sheryl for the closing photo montage.