Road to Colorado

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Didn't really stop anywhere, I guess I just wanted to get to my destination. A couple of these shots were from my remote camera, but there wasn't really any great view to capture from the highway, you had to step out to the frontage road if you wanted to get anything.

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This house was the only one around for miles. Someone actually lives here, gets their mail here and and everything. He was gracious enough to let me sit in his front yard and snap a shot.

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This is right before you hit the Arizona-New Mexico Border heading east. I had to drive off the road to be able to shoot this guy. The clouds were perfect, so the extra drive was worth it.

Click for Larger Image. This shot actually required a 3Stop Hard Neutral Gradient Filter.

Just dry deserts and occasional mesa until you get to Colorado, where the landscape is a striking difference. Right near Durango, CO, is this vista of the Colorado River and the sun setting. In the distance, slightly to the right of center in photograph is the Colorado Rockies.

Traveling to Colorado

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Late Saturday night, packed and ready, I pulled out of Loma Linda and made my way up Barstow to the I-40 headed to Flagstaff.

Traveling at night is the best time because in the Southwest there is a lot of desert, until you get the to lower Rockies in Arizon's Flagstaff. I had my backseat free thanks to my cargobox


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So I set up the tripod and my camera with newly acquired PocketWizards and transmitter so that I could drive and when I see something pretty, I can roll down the window and press the transmitter to click a picture without me. The good news is that I don't have to stop, the bad news is that I can't see exactly what I'm shooting and also that I'm not in the picture.

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This is one of the shots taken with the remote camera set up, from the back seat of my Jeep.

Parting Shot at Mormon Rocks

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The night I left for Colorado, we closed out the Sabbath with some of the guys from Bible Study, they each are doing their separate thing, but we all came together to have a devotional thought as the sun set.

The Mormon Rocks are a collection of limestone that have a distinct enough formation that an official state park was fashioned around it, right of the Hwy-138 exit from the I-15 near Silverwood.

This evening we climbed and talked and shot this parting shot. I told these guys that it would be the last night for a while, although in truth, the study has been quite erratic and limited to the few times I was able to come down from the Central Coast, where my last assignment had been. But if there was anything I tried to teach anyone that came to the study was to make each of the lessons and things we had learned one's own, not just a collection of texts that link concepts together, but living and vital promises that practically affect each of their lives a deeper and meaningful sense.

But since it was the last time until October, I'll leave with a common phrase found at Bible Study: "Another Topic for another study later on..."

What You Really Can't Live Without

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So when I came home from Central California Coast, I regrouped and unloaded, and as I packed once again, this time for Colorado and Maine and Vermont, there was a difference in that I knew that not only would I be gone until mid-October, I would not be able to come to my personal storage space (aka my parent's house) and just pick up stuff and leave stuff back.

No, this time I had to decide what was important and what I was really going to use and what I could leave at home. This time, bike is going, and of course camera gear and computer, but I realized that a lot of conveniences could really be left at home, like a full file folder, and some books, and all I really needed was my laptop and camera, and a mouse. A few books I did reference, like Spirit of Prophecy, History of Redemption and the Nine Volumes, and my Bible goes without saying.

But what really helped change my life was the Yakima cargo box up on top that you see me unpacking. So many shoes (cycling and hiking and even dress shoes) and golf clubs, and extra jackets could go in there and not clutter up my back which would be reserved for definite items that were required to be kept safe like unsorted mail or important documents that have to go with me to each assignment, or luggage, or computer equipment or camera gear. But this allowed me to pack essential items and leave the BACK SEAT empty!! Which means I could pack the comforter and pillow and take a quick (or long) nap at any rest stop I come to. Colorado after all is a 16 hour drive from Loma Linda. And Maine is another 36 hour drive. Yes that Cargo box really made travel a lot different. I'm even considering bringing a desktop computer :-D

House and Home

One of the disadvantages of moving around is not really having a place for all your stuff. Yes, you can organize things and put them in order, but each item doesn't really have its home. Here I am preparing my cargo box and gear to load up for the trip down south and then to Colorado.

I never thought I'd stay this long in such a tiny town with a mostly foreign speaking population, but the staff is great and the C-section opportunities are plentiful enough, and the drive is superb, the traffic is virtually non-existent, and I can run and bike all I want. But the stent is over and now on to other pastures. Not that I won't miss it, on the contrary, I will, but now it's time for something else.

I was looking at all my gear as I readied the box, and planned out the essentials for the last two days here, I thought to myself as I prepared to be on the road, that it will be awhile until I can plant a flower garden or a vegetable garden, or be able to rack up my bike or the Yakima, put my lights up without having to take them down and plant my tripod someplace permanent. I'm not sure where the sense of permanence comes from, and I'm not sure if it's merely a way of expanding my selfishness or need for possessions. I think of Abraham and his family, without any home per se, except the tent they had. But the sense of belonging is something innate in us, even if it's not something tangible, it is some king of emotional sense. What supplies this? My initial reaction is loyalty, trustworthiness, dependability. All that with only an initial reaction, and not much introspection. How it builds security, I am not sure just yet, maybe for another post.

But the next two days will go by fast, as I wrap up my charts, and get the final paperwork together for my next assignment, and find a place to hand my hat, and rack my bike.

Home is more than where you get your mail

The drive down to visit my parents and siblings takes approximately 4 hrs and 30 min. depending on if you drive straight or take a break in one of the rest stops. In the past 3 weeks, I've been every weekend. But it's different. I'm no longer coming home any more, just coming to visit.

The good thing is there are reasons to visit. Jenny and Audree are there, and when I'm home they have reason to visit. It's like we're more of a family when I'm gone and come to visit. And I get to see Byron and Monledy, who got engaged last weekend. Daniel when he's in the country. Drew, and Genesis, Anthony, and Nick. Sometimes Ned. Some times my other cousins. Or Perrin and Joe. The usual Bible Study crowd.

What I find really interesting is how friendships work. What they are built off of and what promotes intimacy in a relationship. The disclosure, and conversation, and enjoyment, although fun and bonding, they don't take the place of confiding and trusting and growth and fidelity. Solidarity of sorts.

It's odd to think that if I didn't have a Bible Study and my brother and sisters were working that weekend, and I didn't have my stuff down there like my car or my books, would I go visit? I'm not sure. I like to think, it would be an enjoyable experience to reminisce. But it would seem like I would be visiting a place without any purpose, like a significant geographical landmark or performance of service, but in all honesty, I don't think I would have reason. And unfortunately I need a reason. I recall vaguely that a friend is someone with whom you don't need a reason to drop by. I don't know if I have any people like that. There are many people that I get along with. Many. There are many people at work that I get along with. There are also people whose company I would choose over others.

What started me thinking about all this is Byron's invitation to the Engagement Party at his (now) fiancée's house. Most of the people I see down south are simply those I know by Bible Study. Outside of that we don't just hang out. We're not really friends of sorts. Except for Byron.

The reason for this is an interesting one. It's actually a rebuke to me. Byron and I are friends outside of Bible Study because he has taken the principles we speak of and makes them his in his life. It's not just stuff we talk about. He has taken the talk of purpose and forgiveness and eschatology and has applied them to his life. And consequently as we have talked about Bible Study we have talking about applying those principles to our relationships, our jobs, our finances, our church, our community service. Byron has made his christianity practical. And that is why we seem to talk about the rest of our lives in addition to Bible Studies. And Solidarity is formed. It's as if we somehow share a similar heart.

And you know what they say about where home is.

Scout Assignment: Vermont

Photo courtesy of Charlie Padgett from flickr.com.

So what I do before I accept an assignment is to look it up on Google, and check out its logistics on maps.google.com and finally check flickr.com to see what it looks like from everyday people's point of view. What I find can be somewhat interesting.

Barre is just outside of the capital of Vermont, Montpelier. Barre is a small enough suburb as to get eclipsed by the obvious point of interest in Vermont. What I found in the Montpelier region doesn't look as unfamiliar as one might think. My very first locums assignment was in New Hampshire, maybe it's time to close up my travels landing in New England, too.

2173 miles from Alamosa to Montpelier. The drive will be fun, and maybe it's time for a Yakima and bike rack. The route isn't one I'm familiar with and it brings me up instead of down, unless I swing by Dallas. Google claims it takes about 2 days to drive straight. I'm assuming they're calculating 60 mph. I don't know if I can drive that slow the whole time. I calculated 2 days of 15 hrs at 70 mph. That's a lot of books to listen to.

Montpelier has several towns all around it, all a quick drive. The hills are beautiful and there numerous State parks around and of course Lake Champlain just to the West. Boston is only 2.5 hrs south. There seems to be a lot of photo ops, so that should be fun!

Now all this has to be considered in light of my call schedule and available daylight time before and after work. We'll just have to see when we get there.