My first car was a Subaru 2002 Forester. I loved that car and when I was younger I would pack all sorts of clothes and blankets in it for the nights I wanted to stay over at a friends house. So when I was in the market for a new (to me) car in February 2020, I immediately thought SUBARU! I got an Outback this time because it actually has a longer cabin than the Forester. Anyways, October 2019 was the date I can clearly remember doing something outside. Around others. Being Free. The winter was somewhat cold and a little disappointing but Corona virus hit me (all of us) hard in March 2020. This EXTROVERT had gone from seeing a DIFFERENT friend LITERALLY every day after work to seeing NO ONE.
As a traveler I was trapped. As a single woman I felt alone. There was all the time in the world to talk to people but…what to even talk about. Seeing my best friends, but waiting 2 weeks between every interaction “just in case”. They were trapped with their husbands or wives to talk, laugh, or binge Tiger King with. Many of them leaving the pandemic with children and a bigger family unit than they went in with. At the time I lived with a person who didn’t think any of the rules/laws applied to them. They would argued and poke fun at me every time I tried to take the GLOBAL PANDEMIC seriously.
By May I had had enough. I needed nature and life to astound me as it has so many times before but I wasn’t able to leave the country or even the state. I NEEDED to take time for me and make a time memory*. That’s when I COULDN’T stop thinking I NEED to see the mountains. THE MOUNTAINS! That’s EXACTLY what I need. With all of the restrictions in place (and unfortunately always on a budget) I decided to go to a town that I was familiar with. Somewhere I hadn’t been in a while and close enough for a weekend trip. Lake Placid had everything I needed; food, grocery store (for bathrooms), and most importantly MOUNTAINS.
When taking off on a trip that no one knows about obviously you HAVE to think about safety. But if you tell your Mom she might tell you not to go. If you tell your best friend, she might want to go with you and you would actually have to plan something and pay for a room somewhere! So instead I told my sister (who lived in Kansas at the time). I basically said “I need to get out of here. I don’t want to tell Mom so I am telling you where I am if you don’t hear from me for a while.” And her answer was something along the lines of, “Yeah… I’m going to Oklahoma this weekend. Don’t tell Mom. Have fun!”
So after packing every blanket I could find (it was still 35º at night!), some snacks, clothes, some Netflix downloaded on my phone and my camera, I was off on Saturday May 2, 2020! A scenic trip through the state where I could stop where ever and when ever I wanted. I could make as many U turns and scream-sing to my Broadway CD (YES CD!!!) as many times as my heart desired. It seems I didn’t just need the mountains to help me! Once I got there it was only 4PM-ish. Lots of time to do stuff but what was even open? Hannaford's Grocery Store but only from 8AM-6PM. I remember that very clearly because like I said BATHROOM! I drove around the town used my phone to see what was open. Almost everything was closed except the pizza shop. A pizza for dinner/breakfast sounded good to me! To kill some more time I drove through the town a few times and found the best streets to take some sunrise pictures. Found some weird side streets and parking areas with potential for sleeping spots. Then I found a fishing dock where there was only one other car. I did get out at that point, set up my camp chair and a blanket and just waited for the sun to set. All I heard was the lake water lapping the shore and the wind. I didn’t bring a book or a journal I just decided to sit there and take it all in (before I ordered the pizza). I found out later that they also had a bathroom thank the universe! I’ll spare the rest of the details of the rather quiet/boring night after that where I watched Netflix and went to sleep.
My alarm was set for right before sun-rise! I was able to drive to three different locations before the sun rose. I made sure to take pictures I knew I wanted but then... 1. Breathe… 2. Listen to the birds… 3. Feel the dew on the chair… 4. I can see my breath!... 5. No one else is out here… 6. The water is so still… 7. It smells so fresh… 8. This is happening! You did it!... 9. THE MOUNTAINS… 10. I love this moment and I want to remember it forever. Thank you.
This whole plan, the driving, the lake, the pizza, was ALL for this 10-count time memory*. It’s all over now. Time to drive home. Still not allowed to see friends or family. The world is still in panic. But now when I am sad or locked inside for who knows how long? When I close my eyes I am there again. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...
*Time Memory – Much like a memory to recall but a chunk of time dedicated to remembering. I should make it clear, I don’t know if this is a real thing, haha! But when something is emotionally moving, life changing, or a one of a kind beautiful moment I will count to 10. I try to remember everything about the count in that moment like the colors of the sky, what I am wrapped in or the stillness of being on this earth with so many others but this memory is JUST yours and ONLY yours. You probably can’t do this with every memory but I try to do it with the big ones. Since the “Mountain Calling” trip and the pandemic, I have been doing it more whenever I see someone I haven’t seen in 2 years because I never know the next time I will see them or feel so happy with them again.
Comments