When I moved to California from Toronto 16 years ago and met my (now) husband, we bonded over road trips in his old Bronco to the desert, the mountains and the Pacific Northwest forests and coasts. I was bowled over by the landscapes and fell in love with wide open spaces.
It was Death Valley that stunned me into silence, however. When we first arrived after an almost half-day drive from the San Francisco Bay Area, it was already twilight and the stars were coming out. We set up camp and I think I barely spoke a word for the rest of the evening. I couldn't believe how silent it was and yet how the stars vibrated and sang. It still defies description for me. We returned many times, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends and the magic never faded.
We recently made the trip again after many years, this time with our eight year old daughter. We silently hoped she would feel the same magic as we had, but braced ourselves for the fact that she might be bored and wonder why we'd dragged her all the way there. My husband sometimes talks about how I go "feral" in the wilderness - going silent as the silence and space take over and letting my spirit become awestruck. Although our trip was brief this time, we saw the same thing happen for our daughter. At twilight we stopped by the side of the road and she took off like a bird into the dusk, stopping to collect rocks and sticks and build sculptures with no need of any interaction from us.
Skiingrn1's amazing photo from somewhere between Idaho and Nevada reminds me of those long ago road trips to the desert, with mix-tapes on the car stereo as a soundtrack to the views passing by. The title of this post is taken from Big Sky Country by Chris Whitley, always included on any road trip mix-tape.
cheers,
kim (mosey)
The Wide Open Road by Skiingrn1
8 comments:
What an amazing photo of Big Sky Country, I too was stunned by the vast beauty of that part of our country. Fabulous post Miss Mosey.
xo
Mo
oh kim, i can hear that song in my head now. love hearing your thoughts on death valley and wide-open spaces...africa is a lot like that...skies as far as the eye can see. i love that feeling, and you're right, when you get out there, there are no need for words, the landscape surrounding you says it all.
i so totally relate to your sentiments here. wonderful shots individually and paired. love this post
Great pairing and I love hearing your roadtrip story!
I am always amazed by the wide open spaces of the midwest and west. Something about being able to see for miles and miles that is just incredible - almost like looking up at the sky at night, with the stars, but on the ground, it's all so reachable.
Incredible captures ladies!
kim, these photos are stunning and i love your description of how the quiet and beauty just takes you over. thanks for musing with us today, so great to see you back here!! xo
It takes a lot to silence me, but those scenes above have totally done it. Thank you so much for musing with us. x
Both of these photos look like you could walk right into them -- really incredible. I have never been to that part of the country and would love to go.
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