Why I love Kansas
by Tina Sprinkle
I have three great pastimes: Loving Herbert Hadley Warmbrodt, Jr, spending time with my friends and family, and travel. Luckily for me, I am able to partake with some regularity, and often all three at once!
Yes, this IS the inside of our road trip car!
A big fan of road trips, Herb and I love loading the car up with everything literally but the kitchen sink. We think that if we take our computers on the road, we actually have the freedom to work on the road, and upon occasion, we actually do.
But to be honest, the compunction to work often falls by the wayside about 500 miles out of the city limits. The call of the road and the awaiting adventure is just too much to feel much like being responsible. And this last trip was no exception.
When I had my hip replaced (for the first time), I spent my recovery watching Ken Burn’s awesome six part documentary on the National Park system. This series inspired me to declare to Herb that it was our new mission in life to visit all 58 National Parks.
Before last month we’d visited 15 of them- all of them in the western part of the US. We decided it was time to go east and east we went. We’d heard about the beauty of the east coast but hadn’t been there together.
On July 19th, one day after I turned 56 years old, we wedged ourselves in the car and set out for Columbus, Ohio, on our way to the nation’s capital for our first adventure in Washington, D.C. We’d both been before, but not together, and we were stoked.
Herb and Tina, the only nice people in Washington DC
Then it happened.
At first we weren’t sure if we were imagining it, but the more time we spent in D.C. the more we realized we both felt it: this city, full of history and glory and national monuments was dirty, unkempt and generally devoid of courtesy.
Perhaps we were being naive but we’d expected the city that represents our nation to be a bit more….hum…welcoming?
Okay, check. We got it. We stayed two days to long (we were there three) and ventured onto Boston, Massachusetts to visit Herb’s two nieces, Alex and Camille who live there. Despite a grueling drive through Hartford and over the George Washington bridge in NYC, we arrived just in time in Boston for dinner with the kids.
Someone loves oysters!
Now this city, we both agreed, was a beautiful city!
The history, the landscape, the youth and energy— we were still the only goofy people enough to dare a good morning on the street, but we fell in love with the neighborhoods, the walk ups, the urban bike trails, the universities and the food!
Our first stop: The B&G Oyster House off Copley Square where we had a first: our three year old great niece Eleanor, ate nine (count em- NINE) oysters! Not being a fan myself, I graciously let her eat mine, too.
The Maine Event
The next leg of our journey took us to Portland, Maine, a city that was not only beautiful, young and hip- but, miracle of miracles- FRIENDLY! We only stayed a night but both agreed we’d return to Portland anytime!
Acadia has such accessible beauty for all!
We’d planned to travel to Quebec and Montreal, Canada but we had a change in plans when we reached our sixteenth national park, the incomparable Acadia in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The first day we were informed that we’d arrived too late to see much; the park rangers (we like to call them the Unwelcome Wagon) warned us it would take us seven hours to do seven miles and 1500 elevation! We opted to do a shorter one instead but ended up taking a detour to the top of Mt. Penobscot, a mere 940 foot climb that delivered one of the most spectacular views we’d ever seen! Ocean vistas make you wanna exhale, and we did.
Scrap going to Canada; we were home. And that’s the power of nature.
An iphone pic from one of our magnificent bike rides.
It was really only then that I realized I’d lost my Zen somewhere back in D.C. I could blame it on the pace of the city or the less than fuzzy reception, but the truth is I’d used the excuse of vacation to release me from my healthier habits, like eating clean, morning meditation, writing daily and drinking in moderation.
I fell off the wagon and remembered why I practice healthy habits- because when I eat crap I feel like crap and that makes me impatient, cranky and generally blah– and we all know that ain’t a good place to live.
Acadia National Park reminded me that nature is grace; that all we have is already here around us. As humans we are a unique in that we have the choice to create a virtual reality- our own.
Life’s choices always seem clearer when you look up.
A shift in consciousness is available to all of us at any moment of the day, but when we feel less than well physically or impatient from stress, it’s nearly impossible to remember that.
For me feeling fully alive means focusing on what nurtures me physically, emotionally and spiritually. If you’re hungover, skanky and reactive, feeling grateful and inspired ain’t exactly flowing. The irony is that my efforts to seize more of life by partying often leave me feeling, well, less alive.
Being in nature has a way of putting things into perspective- it gives so much to us so effortlessly. Nature reminds us that we’re part of something larger than us…and that we all we really need to do is relax and simply breathe.
I love being from the midwest and this trip reminded me why. The quality of life here is amazing- no traffic, great cost of living, wonderful neighbors and a living pace only as fast as we choose. As Herb and I turned into our driveway, tired and stiff from too many hours in the car, we looked at each other smiling, “Dorothy was right, there really in no place like home.”
So as you travel these next few weeks trying to get your last vacations in before the kids back to school and ready for all the demands of the school year, please remember that life really is a series of daily choices.
We have all the power to practice healthy habits that support our dreams and desires, or we can mindlessly medicate with food, booze, work- whatever it is and miss what’s right in front of us!
We miss you all and can’t wait to see you back in classes! It’s been kinda lonely without you.
So understand where you are coming from!! I have been in about half of our national parks and they truly are the greatest treasure we have in this country. I’m actually heading to Acadia for the first time the end of September.
The raw beauty and wonder are indescribable to me and I am energized and renewed by being in these parks.
Beautiful