Over on Spy Notes, a friend was talking about some fantastically complicated sort of music she refers to as a “crab canon”. Now I’m about as un-musical as a person can get, but I loved the ending part of her spiel – “But something interesting happens when you flip the beginnings and endings against each other, when the snake is biting firmly on its tail: suddenly, the beginnings and endings aren’t so interesting anymore. All the interesting and exciting stuff is in the middle.”
I think that’s especially true in our case. Yes, the beginning of our journey will be terribly exciting. The end will be extraordinarily triumphant. But mostly, it’s the middle stuff that I’m looking forward to.
I’m looking forward to camping out in the middle of nowhere and listening to the coyotes howl in the night. I’m excited about enjoying the best of Mother Nature’s handiwork as we cycle through the Rockies and the Andes. I can’t wait to meet people from hundreds of tribes as we make our way southward. Those are things that will make up the interesting and exciting stuff in the middle.
And yet, I’m also looking forward to the uninteresting and unexciting parts of the journey. Yes, there will be parts of it that are about as uninspiring as a flat Texan road. The hundreds (thousands?) of miles through drab and dreary lands… Countless nights spent huddled together against the bitter cold… Hours on end battling headwinds from hell… Getting sick… Mechanical troubles… Not enough food or water… I know there will be times when life will be tough – perhaps tougher than I’ve ever imagined.
And yet, I know there is no place I would rather be. One day, early in the morning on our last journey, I came to the realization that it was all worth it. We had battled headwinds from hell and bitter cold the entire day before, and had camped out in an abandoned building as the wind whipped our tent around. The four of us ate cold refried beans (it was too windy to use our stove) and stale tortillas before crawling into our sleeping bags for the night, knowing we had another day exactly the same before we would arrive in the town. In the morning, I awoke before the rest of my family, pulled out my journal, and wrote this letter:
Dear Mom,
Brutal. That’s a good word to describe this wind. Last night we piled on every garment of clothing we could muster up from the depths of our panniers, mummified ourselves in our down cocoons, and spent the night listening to the tent rockin’ and rollin’ in the wind.
And yet, even being exhausted from fighting the wind, shaking from the cold, and uncomfortably crammed into my sleeping bag, there is no place I would rather be. Sure, I love those nice warm spring days with the wind at my back and easy terrain. But it is days like today that make me enjoy the nice ones so much. Our journey is like a big pot of chicken soup - it just wouldn’t be the same if you picked it all apart. Somehow each ingredient enhances the whole, making the whole pot a yummy concoction. That’s how I feel about our journey - the good days and the bad days all meld together to make the whole. If I could somehow get rid of tough days, the journey just wouldn’t be the same.
Love, Nancy
***********************
This entry is part of a blog chain – a whole bunch of us from Absolute Write are writing about Spring and New Beginnings. Next up is Virtual Wordsmith. And you can also check out the rest of the chain here:
16 responses so far ↓
1 Harriet // Apr 21, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I can’t wait to read about your trip. I used to do a lot of bike touring before I had children (although even then, nothing nearly as adventurous as your trip), and you’re making me think seriously about trying it with my son one of these years.
2 Grand Canyon Harry // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I will never forget Daryl’s comments on the chicken soup aspect during your last trip. I will also remember (where?) John’s comment about poop soup today, chicken soup tomorrow. Love you all, really looking forward to your Journey of a Lifetime.
Harry
3 nancy // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I forgot about the poop soup comments!! In retrospect, that was pretty funny - but at the time it wasn’t. I really do like the chicken soup analogy to a trip like ours - there are some days that really, really, really suck!! But overall, it’s so worth it!
4 Kathleen // Apr 21, 2008 at 6:54 pm
What an inspiring journey. It sounds like it is going to be amazing.
5 Heatheraynne // Apr 21, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I can’t wait to read about your trip. I can’t imagine taking a trek like that with my daughter and my husband would never entertain the thought, so I will be living vicariously through your family!
6 nancy // Apr 21, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Thanks ladies! We are really looking forward to getting on the road. 47 days and counting…
7 FreshHell // Apr 22, 2008 at 7:40 am
Wow, sounds like a great trip. How do you manage being away from “home” for so long? Is the trip tied into a job? Clearly I’ve not been here before to know your background.
8 Mary Lewis // Apr 22, 2008 at 8:21 am
A very long road trip on bicycles sounds amazing! I might have to plan a three state one as opposed to cross country though.
9 nancy // Apr 22, 2008 at 8:39 am
It’s definitely a challenge to take off for so long, but it’s something we really want to do so are making it happen. Basically, what it comes down to is that we will be living off our savings - except for whatever we are able to raise through our website and the rent from our home. But in the end, the time with the kids will be worth it all.
10 Donna // Apr 22, 2008 at 3:12 pm
That sounds like such an awesome trip! Since nature and I don’t really mix, I’m going to have to just wait and read all about yours!
11 LIVIN // Apr 24, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I just have to say: That Rocks! I was also curious about how your paying for it. Great experiences like that are what LIVIN’s all about. I may have to try something like that sometime.
12 nancy // Apr 24, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I agree - it ROCKS!! I can’t wait to get on the road!! I wrote up a blog entry a while ago about how we’re paying for the trip - http://familyonbikes.org/blog/?p=110 I say GO FOR IT!!
13 Polenth // Apr 27, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Even the dullest looking parts of journeys can be interesting. I’ve been taking pictures of weeds in Utah. To the people living here, they’re boring things they don’t even notice. But viewed up close, they’re pretty plants and you don’t find them everywhere.
14 nancy // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I agree totally!! We have a house on an acre lot - and the entire acre lot is grass. We are talking about converting it to a more natural environment - we live in the middle of the desert and it takes an enormous amount of water to keep at that grass green. I know a lot of people think sage brush and other desert plants are ugly, but I think they’re beautiful!
15 Colby Marshall // Apr 28, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Have fun…sounds like an awesome adventure!
16 Auria Cortes // May 1, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I know someone who rode his bike from Long Island to Canada (with detours along the way). He enjoyed every minute of it.
Leave a Comment