from clover to cactus

This day put to the test what we have only wondered about so far. It was our first official “10 pack”. That is, a ten hour day after a twelve and a seven the previous. In terms of stamina and  traffic we did not know what to expect. All in all, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we made it through, mainly due to our surroundings continuously changing right before our very eyes. The day started leaving little rock with rows of beautiful red clover, new shale slopes to climb up, and slide down.  As we tried repeatedly  to stay in the car the topography began a gradual flattening. We said good by to the last bit of Ozarks and entered the panhandle of Oklahoma. Following the Chisholm trail into Texas the horizon line continued to spread. Everything seemed to get more dry...(even us as all our canteens were empty by Oklahoma city) and we for a few seconds put our shoes in some of the first settlers who went without water until the next watering hole. 

Visually, the only comparison i'm able to come up with is the difference between watching a beautiful time lapse very slowly or just changing a channel at will. This is truly an experience to experience. These are "our" mile markers for now. This is what we will need to keep remembering as the senses are topped up again and again. We will try to keep the simple goal of staying tuned to what is just ahead, in constant appreciation. 

-Joseph-

Joshua and Abigail pick up and start to throw our first "official" Oklahoma tumbleweed a bit more towards Texas....

Today we had a ten hour drive and I thought it would be monotonous and I would just want to get there. In the end it turned out to be my favourite stretch of driving yet. At around 8:00 we left the Hotel in Little rock and traveled for Amarillo. The big topography change was at 11:00 am. It was amazing to see the rocks switch from shale to red rock. The biggest difference was going into Texas where it was almost all scrub brush and there was no big trees in sight. For me so far Texas has been my favourite part of this trip because the sky and land are so immense and you feel so small. I am very excited about the rest of the trip because I know this is just the beginning.

-Joshua-