Lessons Learned, Part Two

29. Nothing will make you feel more alive than standing alone, on the top of a mountain, at 11,000 feet, in three feet of snow, without a single noise or sign of another human. You feel eternity. The silence is deafening, powerful, and peaceful.

30. Don’t accept a Jackson Hole snowboard instructor’s offer to show you around, no matter how  kind and thoughtful he may seem.

31. Naked people are as easy to talk to as clothed people, as long as you don’t look down.

32. Nomads become easy friends when travel stories and vehicle envy bond them. Be sure to follow my new friends, Hilary and Barbara Ring, @roving_rings, who are “two New Yorkers who quit their jobs and bought a small trailer and are now traveling around the USA visiting cool places.”

33. If you are in a marijuana legal state, you research all of your questions by visiting a dispensary and talking to the super helpful “budtender”, in the name of experience.

34. Even the constant and excessive crowds in Antelope Canyon can’t diminish its beauty.

35. New isn’t always better. In 1190, ancient Puebloans built cliff dwellings out of mud and rock and sticks and they are still standing today.

36. What you see on Instagram is definitely not reality. There are usually 2000 more people than you want to be there. I wish I had taken a series of photographs of the crowds behind the majestic shots.

37. Every National Park has its own personality and distinguishing features, even if they appear similar before arriving.

38. Spending a surprise night in the car at least once makes it a road trip.

39. I didn’t think I was afraid of heights. Recently, I had a few instances that challenged that thought. I am surprised to learn that I am slightly acrophobic. Mesa Verde confirms that for me.

40. EVERY National Park is worth exploring.

41. Always, always, always go as early as possible to any national park.

42. If the iconic trail is closed, it is closed. Deal with it. One of the highlights of this trip was going to be hiking Angel’s Landing. When I was there, it was closed for maintenance. (shrugging emoticon)

43. Dry suits keep water out completely. Wetsuits allow water in, but insulate against cold.

44. Everything tastes better after you battle a river of thigh-high water for three hours.

45. Love, at first sight, is possible. #NettietheHorse

46. No, it is NOT necessary to help me onto a horse by putting your hand on my butt.

47. “Go” on a horse is heels pressed into the horse’s sides. “Stop” is pulling back on the reins. “Back up” is pulling more on the reins. “Go left” is pulling the reins to the left and “Go right” is pulling the reins to the right.

48. When lightning hits a tree, it causes the trunk to twist like a corkscrew.

49. People who know you and your family since childhood have a certain comfort to them. They know you, they know your family, they know your history, and they still like you.

50. Meeting a new friend for lunch where Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah meet so she can help you maneuver a possible optometry career change is special and helpful. Exploring an alternate career path with the Indian Health Service is enlightening.

51. Desensitization is a real thing. By the time we pass the Grand Tetons, I am not as impressed, having seen many mountains at this point. I had the same experience in Hawaii, after seeing waterfall, after waterfall, after waterfall.

52. Interstate Route 80, which runs passed my childhood hometown, feels different when you are 2000 miles away and traveling the same road from Wyoming to Colorado. It is comforting to see the familiar road signs and gaze east with a silent hello.