Roadtrip!

Photos by Danny Kern

Blue skies, high temps, what once was blanketed in white now fading to grays and browns. Wait, what month is it?! What day is it?! Some call it 'Juneuary' then they call it 'Februly'! Others clarify it as the climate crisis. Waking up day after day to not a cloud in the sky, temperatures rising, new records being set. Most snow to least snow to warmest temperatures. 'Groundhogs Day', the trendiest term of winter 2022.

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Let's hit the road. Pack the truck, hardly a plan at all, with the mindset of seeing new places, old faces, and finding soft turns. Pull into Oregon greeted by gray clouds and rainbows..ahh moisture! What a sweet relief. Danny and I made our way east after a family visit. Cold temps, soft snow, friends, family and hot springs.. yes please! From Oregon to Idaho our goals were met.

In route, plans continuously changed. A highlight of the road trip was our ability to maintain flexibility. Spontaneity, a shared personality trait in deed. We were on the way to go splitboarding in a special Oregon range, when we realized we were about to pass by our good friends in Hood River. We can't drive through without saying hi, we agreed. This stop turned into dinner and laughs into the late evening. Leaving Hood River behind schedule, and with a bit of beta on the zone we were headed to, encouraged a last minute switch up. Continue East to a different range in northeast Oregon, unable to download maps, hoping for good visibility, our guts feel good! Arriving in the middle of the night, with the idea of touring the next day then continuing our journey to Idaho. After a successful day in this new beautiful zone, it felt wrong to leave. Sticking to the plan, we began descending the windy mountain road. A call to our Idaho homie reassured our gut feeling, we turned around and went back to the magical granite landscape and spent another day full of powder and laughter. The second day ended with us running into a familiar face in a far new place, serendipitous.

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Driving through the night, arriving in Idaho where we planned to spend the next few nights. Good vibes, fresh turns, old and new friends, and multiple hot springs. It was hard to leave, but the next mountain range was calling and we were listening. Driving through 'Wildlife Canyon' reassured us we were exactly where we were supposed to be. Elk heard, deer, and hawks welcomed us to our next destination. Another day in the mountains filled with soft turns only to return to the trailhead and find a couple different familiar faces. We were on schedule to see the sunset over this new range so we couldn't hang for long. Nailing our sunset goals we continued to our motel for the night that offered a private hot spring. The following day resulted in a pause in our flow. It's now snowing at home, and it looks like it may not last long. According to our plan, we were to drive South East to my moms in Colorado, where it was also snowing. The next few hours were full of a pros/cons list going back and forth and back forth. We need to see my family, its been over a year and I have a new niece, however there in now opportunity for work and play at home for both of us. Oh boy, first world problems. Let's just get on the road and decide on the go. Turn right to be in route, or left for a small detour to soak one last time in the Idaho hotspsring? One last soak, we agreed! To our surprise, a popular tub was empty and we were able to soak in sulphur and our own indecisiveness. Our gut is not giving us the answer, we're torn. So what do you do when you can't decipher your intuition? Trust the signs! Calling 'heads for home', flipping the coin, best 2 out of 3. All 3 flips landed heads up. Home it is. Immediately being graced by two low soaring red tail hawks, we looked at each other and knew we were making the right decision.

Go with the flow, don't rush, be flexible, listen to your gut, acknowledge the universes signs and serendipitous moments, and remember you are exactly where you're meant to be. A few lessons we were both reminded of along this roadtrip.