the coastal highway

Though rare, I bring you a journal post! One of the first from the series I will be calling The Letters From the Road.  Photos from our trip up the scenic coastal highway 1, our secret camp spot hidden away, and our first glimpse of autumn in the west.

I’m not going to pretend this portion of our travels were easy or peaceful, because near death driving experiences, brakes going out, and no cell service or much civilization for over 40 miles in both directions of the highway didn’t make it easy! But, the landscape….. oh the landscape was beautiful. Even in the stormy cold weather. Once we headed further north at the end of our stay, I saw how much the scenery changed to something ever so picturesque. It was muted as the earthy tones faded into autumn, browns and rust tones that shifted to the deep dark greens of the forests. The rocky coast with choppy waves created a misty cloud cover that created a feeling of being enveloped in the embrace of the mountains.

We would wake up in our airstream with clouds around us, and it was ever so quiet. Other times the sky was so clear at night, and without light pollution you could see the milky way. The first night the full moon rose up over our little mountain alcove, bright and pale as ever. The next night it was a new moon, and we carefully stumbled out in the black darkness, wrapped in blankets to photograph the stars. And suddenly in that peaceful moment I realized that every struggle that comes at us, we survive. Every moment of feeling hopeless or alone, we have each other, and the Heavens watching out for us.

And this world is utterly big.

I was forced to learn to read a map while we were trailing through the deadzone, no iPhone to give us directions, or to tell us where we wanted to go next. It’s really something when you see everything all at once- all the highways, all the streets, all the cities, and towns. When you see how many people there actually are in each small town and city and state… the map connects you and the iPhone app disconnects you- only tells you what you need to know and leaves the rest unmarked.

Our forefathers came to explore and chart the place we call our country, but now we hardly know it. I hardly see what all is here, and it’s like going through an un-lived life. “To travel is to live” and I believe that with all my heart. I can only begin to see how drastically our small little lives are changing since putting them in the hands of something bigger than ourselves. This wild unknown called adventure. I believe we are on the path that we are supposed to follow. Maybe it’s the less traveled road. Maybe it’s barely a trail, but I’m ready to blaze it with my soulmate right beside me.