Another Sweet Goodbye

Another Sweet Goodbye

When I left Telluride, I was no longer on to my next adventure—it was time to head home. There was a family reunion coming up that I didn’t want to miss and I had about ten days to get back to California from western Colorado—plenty of time for some fun stops along the way—but the temperatures were projected to be scorching hot across Utah and Nevada, so I decided to beeline it home.

I left western Colorado in the morning and made it all the way across Utah and into Nevada that same day. Conveniently, Great Basin National Park is just over the border in eastern Nevada, and I decided to make that my home for the night. Do you remember how I tried to visit Great Basin twice before, and both times was shut out by the weather? Well I finally made it! And it was beautiful.

That night I camped just outside of the park boundary and woke up early the next morning to climb Wheeler Peak, the local 13er. After my time in the San Juan’s I became a little obsessed with summits and I couldn’t stand the thought of passing a 13er without checking out the views from the top. I got back down the mountain before noon and, although I was tempted to stick around for one more night, I decided to get back on the road. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go.

I was able to make it almost all the way across Nevada before dark, but decided to call it quits about an hour east of Reno. It was still hot as Hades when I arrived, but I didn’t have the energy to drive the final four hours home.

I parked the van, set up my camp chair, grabbed a cold beverage and started watching the sun sink on the horizon. And before long I was witnessing one of the most special sunsets I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The desert sky lit up with 360 degrees of intense color and beauty—deep blues, pinks, reds and oranges. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

As you may recall, last year, as I was wrapping up a five-week road trip, on my final night I was gifted a particularly special sunset which felt like the universe waving goodbye to me after an amazing adventure together. I wrote about it and titled it ‘The Sweetest Goodbye.’ Well, this felt like round two—another sweet goodbye—and an incredible way to wrap up the first adventure in my new van.

Before beginning van life I was curious to see how I’d like it, and whether I’d get tired of the van and the confined space. And I can honestly say that, while it was lovely to get back home for many reasons, getting a break from the van wasn’t one of them. I felt comfortable and at-home in the van, and although I had a ton of fun seeing family and friends, and completing a few projects on the van, I was already itching to get back on the road again.

So the planning began…

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag