Travels with Gidget

August 1, 2020

Today marks two weeks since we have been home from our travels. Not going to lie, I still have not completely unpacked Gidget and there may have been a time or two that I had to go out to the camper to get dressed . . .

I tell myself that I really haven’t had time to unpack the trailer because I went back to work two weeks ago. Okay, so a week ago – Thursday. Seeing as I actually get to work in my office and haven’t been working from home, I just haven’t had the time . . . Are you buying that? (Hint, I wouldn’t!)

For the last four years in July, when I return to my office from summer break (about 4.5 weeks – completely unpaid but COMPLETELY appreciated) I put a background picture on my computer screens of a place I have visited during my break. This year I chose a photo from Yellowstone National Park.

I was sitting at my desk yesterday and looked up at the photo, my brain took a moment to absorb the fact that I had been to this very spot (you know, having taken the picture and all . . .). It struck me that you see these amazing places on TV and when you actually get to go to them, they are completely new even though you thought you already knew them. They end up being so much larger (or smaller in some cases), they are laid out differently than you thought, and there is so much more to them than you what you could have imagined.

For instance, did you all know that there is a lake in Yellowstone – wait, maybe not a lake, more like an inland SEA? It is ji-normous!

While visiting a place like Yellowstone, there is so much to see and do while you are there that it is hard to absorb on the spot. And even when you get back home, sometimes it is just hard to believe you have been there at all. It’s just a good thing you have the photos and a smashed penny to prove it to yourself.

My reluctance to unpack completely is twofold; one, I just don’t want to and two, if I fully unpack and clean Gidget like I am going to shudder her up then the El Rancho Retro Virgin Voyage – Heartland 2020 trip is truly over. I have convinced myself that by not unpacking the trailer completely I am extending the journey. Helping my brain to sort the memories, sensations, impressions and feelings of this remarkable adventure. I do not want to accept that we have come to the end of the road – at least on this trip, not yet. And while I truly am happy to be back at work, I am just not ready to let go of my summer ramblings.

However, I had promised myself (and all of you) that I would do this travel blog, giving me the opportunity to relive the entire sojourn of the Pandemic Summer of 2020. You already know about Getaway Day, Day One and The Porter Sculpture Park so hold onto your toilet paper stash and let’s get back on the road.