Walk

8 days, 4900 miles.

Brian’s grandmother passed away on Sunday.  She was 92.  She passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones.

Brian and I knew we would be heading to North Carolina to pay our respects and be there for family.  Short notice airfare is always extraordinarily expense. This trip would have been no different.  Being the unconventional guys that we are, we decided to drive instead of fly.  We both love to drive and have some time available so thought it would be “fun”. When we were first together we spent a lot of time road tripping all over the southwest. At the time, gas was cheap so road trips provided low cost entertainment.

Many of our best conversations have taken place in the car.  We talk about life, dreams and future goals. It also provides and uninterrupted venue to clear the air of any residual issues we might be having from a past disagreement.   Overall I would say road trips are therapy, planning, and reflection for our relationship.

This will be by far our longest trek in the 4 wheel mode of transportation.  We left this morning at 7 and made our way to Phoenix where our friend Jeff met us for lunch.  He just happened to be available when we rolled through town.

Between Phoenix and Flagstaff we rolled through a band of rainstorms.  From the look of the weather, we will likely hit weather for the entirety of the venture.  The combination of high desert vistas and rain shower always makes for spectacular natural scenery which you can’t really see from an airplane.

We haven’t quite decided where we will call it a night but we will be having dinner with Brian’s dad in Albuquerque.

Venturing west of Albuquerque on the 40 will be a first for me.  A sad state of affairs resulting in new experiences.