American Vacation & Goodbyes

American Vacations & Goodbyes

When I was a kid, I was very fortunate to go on grand vacations.  I had been to the South Pacific before I was 13; I had swum in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf, and The Caribbean before I was a teenager.  I began my love affair with the mountains in Aspen and Vail, a privileged upbringing indeed.  However, the grass always seems greener, and the traditional family road trip  had eluded me.  I have always wanted to experience the standard American family vacation, the economy travel, the national parks, the license plate bingo.

Sunday, we experienced our own version of the American vacation.  We started the morning at Dennys with super size breakfast, then we took advantage of the free national park entry and drove the South Rim of the Black Canyon, taking pictures at each overlook, running over cotton head tourists, and getting suspiciously close to the edge of 2,000 ft cliffs. The highlights were the Painted wall, Sunset Point, and Cross Fissures View  We ended the adventure with Sonic drive thru and stories of our families and childhood.  It was a simple, pleasant day, a wonderful way to spend my last few hours with Braulio.

In a city market parking lot, I said goodbye to my best friend and travel buddy.  Prolonging the goodbye, Braulio decides it was imperative to repack my entire truck, and after that, the tears began, we hugged and kissed, and parted ways wondering when and how  life will bring us together next.  I turned on the country radio, I cried until I hit Grand Junction, and then I become fully aware this is where the solo adventure begins.