A Narrative Journey Into the U.S. National Parks and Around the Globe
Saturday had arrived, and reaching for the lamp on the bedside table, I realized with a tinge of sadness that our trip was more than halfway through. Having already hiked and driven across deserts, up mountains, through canyons and into rivers I might have guessed we had been travelling for two or three weeks, not …
On the Fourth of July, my dad has a tradition of grilling succulent burgers in our backyard for supper. My mom slices juicy tomatoes from our garden to accompany the hamburgers, and once we are well-fed, my family travels forty-five minutes to Colonial Williamsburg, a re-creation of a historic town which served as Virginia’s capitol …
We were going back! Planning our trip a month before, I had set aside two days on our itinerary for the two quintessential Zion hikes I knew we couldn’t pass up. The first was Angel’s Landing, the notorious muscle-stretcher we had already conquered. The untraditional Narrows trail was the second. We wouldn’t have to contend …
I drifted into consciousness slowly the next morning, as if the previous day required a deeper sleep to account for its grandeur. However, it was not thoughts of Bryce Canyon which woke me. Shouts emanating from the bathroom informed me that Heather couldn’t turn off the bathtub faucet and water was spraying onto every surface …
A chime from Heather’s phone woke us after little more than four hours of sleep. With exhaustion still clouding my mind—I couldn’t imagine how Heather felt after driving until 2:00 am—I knew adrenaline and my excitement for our day at Bryce Canyon would have to sustain me. Thankfully, I had an ample supply since our …
The real monastic walks through life with a barefooted soul, alert, aware, grateful, and only partially at home. -Joan Chittister
“Excuse me,” a guy said as he leaned across my chest with a camera. In the already confining cabin, the sleeve of his floral button-up was a bit too close to my nose for my liking. Fifteen minutes earlier, the captain had let us know our plane would be crossing over the eastern end of …
Continue reading "Day 1: From Tidewater Virginia to Salt Lake City"
The Barefooted Soul 