After a nearly fifteen hundred mile, four day drive across the states of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico we finally made it to our home away from home in Sedona, Arizona.
Our journey took longer than we anticipated. As luck would have it, we hit a major winter storm on our second day between Kansas City and Guymon, Oklahoma. Unlike Minnesota, this part of the country isn’t equipped to handle the snow removal as quickly so about 150 miles of the drive was done white knuckled on an ice-glazed highway where it was unsafe to go over forty miles per hour.
Thankfully our Subaru’s all wheel drive was equipped to deal with the conditions. If I was driving anything else I probably would’ve found a random hotel to wait out the storm.
Amstel did great on the road, as usual but he’s getting a little old for these long drives.
He was very happy when we reached our hotel every night so he could have his meal and relax in luxury.
Our rental here in Sedona is nice and spacious and will serve as a perfect homebase for a couple months of exploring the area.
It’s not quite warm enough here yet to enjoy the hot tub but I’ll be firing the grill up very soon.
We’ve only been here a day and I’m already feeling inspired to write. My creativity has been stifled lately so this is a welcomed feeling. This beautiful desert home will be a wonderful place to reconnect with my soul and heal from what feels like two long years of trauma.
I imagine many of us who've lost friends and/or loved ones to Covid or are recovering ourselves are in the same position right now. The effects of trauma often surface after the event takes place. I hope I can find my creative groove again. I feel like this is right where I need to be now and hope I can produce some good work in the coming months.
I wish you all a wonderful week!
Be well.
-Eric
(Photos are original.)
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