August 2016 - I jumped in my pickup and spent 3 weeks on the road, driving nearly 4,000 miles. Camped all along the way, made some great friends, saw beautiful expanses, and got caught in a little bad weather from time to time. I took a thousand photographs and hours of video, but there is no way I could share them all. I visited nearly a dozen National Parks in California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. The entries below are transcribed directly from my waterproof notepad that accompanied me on the trip. It lived in the center console of my pickup and I logged in key transitions or special moments. My intent was to track a clear picture of my adventure’s direction changes and interactions...not so much narrative and emotion, and they definitely don’t describe the thousands of nuanced moments that I experienced. But it still took a lot of discipline to write in it consistently each day. Each time I stopped for gas or sleep, I made sure to log every odometer reading, the time of day, and how much money I spent on fuel - plus any details I didn’t want to forget. It was also extremely therapeutic for my mental health in moments of loneliness and boredom. The notes are super raw, and can be hard to follow, but I wanted to share them that way.
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