Epic Road Trip

I've been attempting to write this post for an entire month now, but I keep getting distracted. Things are crazy again, schedule-wise, with classes in full-swing and I just got a part-time job to supplement my other part-time job, so it's now or never as far as filling you in on my past few weeks. Here goes...

The husband and I took a much-needed vacation. I had just a couple of weeks between my Morgan apprenticeship and the Fall semester, so we set out on a glorious, nine day road trip to Colorado and back. Although it was tempting to share pictures and blog about all the great things I was seeing, doing, and eating, I decided before leaving on this trip to take a complete social media break. And I used a real camera to take pictures instead of just my phone.  I think it's so important to get away for a while, take a break from reality and stress. Technology can be a big part of that stress and, more than anything, causes you to be distracted from what's real and important. Vacations just force you to simplify, rely only on the contents of your suitcase. Be in the moment. Live. 

Brian and I love to travel and it's our goal to hit all 50 states by the time we turn 50, so this was a great opportunity to knock a bunch of states off our list. We headed from Cleveland through Indianapolis and then on to St. Louis for the night. There we visited The Arch and went up to the top in these tiny, egg-like elevators. In the morning we went to the City Museum, which is the most fun and inspiring museum I have ever been to. It's like a giant fun house, with slides and caves, and there's even a giant ferris wheel on the roof. . When we left St. Louis we headed through Arkansas on our way to Tulsa to visit family and spend the night before making the long drive through Kansas to Denver. 

We had four amazing days in Colorado and we got to stay with my sister in law, who took us on the hike of our lives. We managed a nine mile trek up through the mountains in the Rocky Mountain National Park. The goal was Sky Pond, a small body of water located at 10,900 ft elevation. The hike was rough for me. I'm not in the best shape of my life and the elevation didn't make it any easier. It was hot out, probably close to 90 degrees in the sun and I'd worn long pants because it had snowed the day before when we visited a higher peak. I was sweating and cranky and was having a hard time keeping up with everyone. But the further we got on the path, the higher we climbed, the more determined I became. And the natural beauty of the landscape began to spur me on. As we meandered on the winding path, a stream would appear alongside us, its gentle trickle a wonderful soundtrack to our hike. Here and there the scent of pine would penetrate the senses, enlivening our spirits, a sort of aromatherapy for the wilderness. 

When we got several hundred yards within Sky Pond, our path was blocked by a family of wild elk. We couldn't make it all the way to Sky Pond because the elk weren't moving and we didn't want to disturb them, but it didn't matter to me. The feat of getting to the top of that mountain and seeing those beautiful animals in their natural habitat was enough. I was completely in awe. We were so close to them that I could actually hear the female elk crunching on grass. I had fought my way up that mountain, huffing and puffing. I had faced my fear of heights to scale a small waterfall on the edge of a cliff, and I tested my physical ability. I felt accomplished and exhilarated and awed. To look out into that much vast space you have no choice but to feel gratitude for being able to experience so much natural beauty and wonder and be a part of it all.

We left Denver and headed through Nebraska on our way to Iowa City, where we had the pleasure of spending the night at Julie and Mike's place. Julie was kind enough to take us on a tour of the Iowa Center for the Book, the library's conservation lab, and introduce us to Tim Barrett, papermaker extraordinaire, who was so kind and told me I could contact him any time if I had any questions. Truly, it was a papermaking nerd dream come true for me.

After a nice dinner, Brian and I set out on the last leg of our journey, making it home around 4:30am. We had a great trip, but it's always nice to come home again.

Holy Toledo!

I was lucky enough to have a three day weekend during this unseasonably warm March weather and I took full advantage. My windows are open and the front porch has been heavily in use over the past few days.

While Friday was dedicated to running errands and cleaning the house, and Sunday was spent relaxing, reading, and dinner with friends, Saturday the husband and I took a road trip to Toledo to visit the art museum. It was a perfect day for a drive and our route took us through some areas that were great for viewing wildlife and beautiful scenery.

I'd been to Toledo once, back in 1999 for a special exhibit of the artist Sandy Skoglund. My high school art teacher told my class about the show and I was so taken with the artist's colorful installation pieces, that I pestered my dad to drive myself and a friend to the museum until he relented. That show was spectacular and my visit to the museum this past weekend was just as good. Not only does the Toledo Museum of Art have an impressive permanent collection, their current display was one of the best exhibits I've seen in a long time. The exhibit, called Small Worlds, showcases five contemporary artists working in small scale. The featured artists are: Gregory Euclide, Joe Fig, Charles Kanwischer, Lori Nix, and Tabaimo.

The two bodies of work that stood out the most for me are Lori Nix's post-apocalyptic scenes of abandoned buildings, which aren't real structures at all but sets that she fabricated herself and photographed, and Joe Fig's dollhouse-like models of famous artist's studios, rendered down to the tiniest detail. My litmus test for whether or not I think a work of art is good, is if I'm jealous of the piece, and I was definitely jealous that I hadn't created such brilliant things as, not only Lori Nix and Joe Fig, but all of the artists in the exhibit. 
 
The exhibition runs through March 25th, so if you're in the Toledo area before then, I highly recommend checking it out.  

It was great to have a few days off and to get out of the house. It's always really inspiring to see some art. It makes me start thinking about what I might want to make next. I have too little time for creativity these days, so it's nice to do something that reminds me about that part of myself and prompts me to get working.