In the summer of 2017, I made my way across the country, in Gypsy Rose, from Napa towards Chicago for 8 back-to-back weekend art festivals. On my way there I camped in a beautiful campground in Breckenridge, Colorado and enjoyed being in the Rocky Mountains for the first time, for a couple of days.
However, on my way into Breckenridge and out of it, I started to get really claustrophobic. The energy of the mountains was incredible, but the particular route that I took was quite narrow and it went on for hours and hours and hours. Often the drive would be through narrow gorges with steep rock faces on each side, mountains so high that you often couldn’t see the sky and sometimes there was just one lane in each direction. It was a feeling that I’d never quite felt before – the feeling of being almost submerged in massive rock formations and wanting to get out of. At first, it was exhilarating and then it gradually had me wondering if it was ever going to end. I believe most people would not have felt this way, but for me, feeling closed in, physically or emotionally, isn’t something that I’m a big fan of.
I had no idea how much of Colorado is actually flat – as in flat-as-a-pancake flat!
When I reached the end of the mountain range and hit the flatlands of Colorado (I had no idea how much of Colorado is actually flat – as in flat-as-a-pancake flat!), I felt a sense of relief like no other. The open skies and far-off horizon were so inviting. By the time I got to Nebraska, I had finally released all of the tension that had built up driving through the Rockies. I felt like my entire being was now able to relax. It was time for me and Gypsy Rose to enjoy the very welcoming flatness of Nebraska.
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