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Over 1675.6 miles later (it felt like longer), my husband and I are still talking to each other.  In fact, we still like each other — maybe even love each other.

We just returned from a great trip to Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.  Although I had been to Yellowstone several times before, we saw things I had never seen before, including Lower Falls, pictured below.

Nice, huh?  Glacier, too, was glorious.   See below.

I have been wanting to visit Glacier for a long while now (noticing a theme?), so I was thrilled to finally see it in person.  Surprisingly, it was actually warmer camping in Glacier than in Yellowstone.  And as you can probably gather from the picture, the water in Glacier is as clear and beautiful as any I’ve seen.

Were it not for the cold temperature, there’s no way I would have been so content on the shore.  All the butterflies flying about were an added bonus.  In other words, wow.

One of the highlights of spending last week in New Mexico was rafting Taos Box, a 17 mile whitewater rafting adventure of class 4 rapids on the Rio Grande.  It was incredible.  The scenery alone was amazing.  Add to that the excitement of frequent, large rapids, and you’ve got yourself a really good day.  I’ve never had such fun whitewater rafting.

And of course the only thing that could make it better is a connection to the Terminator.  That’s right, part of the film was shot along the very bridge we rafted under (and that I also walked across — please note: it shakes, especially as the cars go by and there’s a breeze).  You can actually catch a glimpse of the awesome Rio Grande Gorge in the preview.

If you’re ever going through Taos, New Mexico, don’t miss rafting Taos Box.  We went with Los Rios River Runners and highly recommend them.

Spring has officially sprung in Utah.  (And by “officially” I mean that it hasn’t snowed in over 10 days and the tulips are popping up everywhere.  Oh, and when I go running, I can smell hyacinth.  It’s very scientific.)   The blue sky and floriferous trees fill me with delight.

Of course, the warm weather also fills me with a desire to travel.  (Ok, so nearly everything fills me with a desire to travel, but especially spring.)  Just this week one friend left for a trip to Turkey.  I found out another, who just finished a ph.D, is heading to Europe for 7 weeks.  One is moving to Oregon.  Another to Washington, D.C.  My brother is spending a month in Spain.  And another brother is probably spending the summer in NYC.  Jerks.

Not to worry, I’ve got lots of fun road trips and adventures planned this summer.  Even so, I can’t help but feel a twinge of “take me with you” every time someone goes somewhere without me.  As if it’s inconceivable anyone would go on a trip that didn’t include me.  (Which is funny because I believe a lot of the world’s problems would disappear if everyone traveled more.)

The thing is, if I stay in one place for very long, I start to feel dull.  There’s no need for that, of course.  I’m good at finding adventures and happiness wherever I am.  In fact, one of my favorite poems helps in situations like these.  It’s by one of my favorite poets, Billy Collins.

You can hear him read it by clicking here, or you can just read the text below.

Consolation

by Billy Collins

How agreeable it is not to be touring Italy this summer,
wandering her cities and ascending her torrid hilltowns.
How much better to cruise these local, familiar streets,
fully grasping the meaning of every roadsign and billboard
and all the sudden hand gestures of my compatriots.

There are no abbeys here, no crumbling frescoes or famous
domes and there is no need to memorize a succession
of kings or tour the dripping corners of a dungeon.
No need to stand around a sarcophagus, see Napoleon's
little bed on Elba, or view the bones of a saint under glass.

How much better to command the simple precinct of home
than be dwarfed by pillar, arch, and basilica.
Why hide my head in phrase books and wrinkled maps?
Why feed scenery into a hungry, one-eyes camera
eager to eat the world one monument at a time?

Instead of slouching in a café ignorant of the word for ice,
I will head down to the coffee shop and the waitress
known as Dot. I will slide into the flow of the morning
paper, all language barriers down,
rivers of idiom running freely, eggs over easy on the way.

And after breakfast, I will not have to find someone
willing to photograph me with my arm around the owner.
I will not puzzle over the bill or record in a journal
what I had to eat and how the sun came in the window.
It is enough to climb back into the car

as if it were the great car of English itself
and sounding my loud vernacular horn, speed off
down a road that will never lead to Rome, not even Bologna.

I went rollerblading again today.  I love love love it.  And I must say, those figure skating lessons I’ve been taking have definitely made me a much steadier skater on pavement, too.  It turns out I’m not as daring in the sunshine.  If I fall on the ice I just smoothly slide and maybe get a bruise or something.  If I fall on the cement I slide, but not so smoothly, and I would probably break, not bruise — so I don’t mess around too much (plus, I’m too lazy to wear pads…sorry, Mom).  Also, there are heaps of people around at the park.  A girls soccer team, skateboarders, toddlers learning to ride bikes, people walking their dogs, underage drinkers.  What would they think if I fell?

Once again I’ve got an Oprah connection: last week she had a big hurrah for losing weight in the town of Meridian, Mississippi. I spent a small chunk of time there in 2006 volunteering with Habitat for Humanity following Hurricane Katrina. Meridian is a wonderful place. I liked seeing all the historic homes — I even stayed in one that was supposedly haunted. Mostly I really liked the sincere people and generous hospitality. A local Baptist church hosted me and the other volunteers for dinner one night and spoiled us with great food, song and spirit. I’ve never felt so welcome. As a result, I feel great love for every Baptist church I ever visit and try to extend that same generosity to anyone who might be visiting my own congregation, community or home.

Lots of news to tell! Last week I returned from visiting New Zealand for 10 days. It was wonderful! I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Since then I’ve been participating in my family’s annual candymaking. Each year the women in my family huddle in my grandma’s basement to produce our homemade, no preservative, better than anything you can buy, hand-dipped chocolates. It’s a lot of hard work, but I love love love it.

In fact, I think we all have a lot to learn from chocolate. Check back for future discussions and musings on the subject. Until you’ve been up to your elbows in chocolate, I don’t think you’re truly an expert.

Well, after 40 hours in transit, I finally made it home. It’s hard to
believe I’m really back. Those of you who have seen or spoken with me
may have noticed I seem a little dazed and confused. I also seem to
be really enthusiastic about small things — like tap water, street
lights, hot showers and washing machines. Despite the happy
homecoming, I’ve been thinking about the things I’m already missing
about Ghana. Here are just a few:

- The abundance of singing and dancing in everyday life.
- Endlessly beautiful starry nights.
- Holding hands. [In Ghana people of all ages and genders hold hands.
There's really something great about having a 15 year-old willingly
take you by the hand. It's very common to see same gender friends
holding hands. I've never really understood why in American society
hand-holding is reserved for children or the romantically involved.
Now that I've returned, I'm personally hoping to change that (friends
and family: consider yourselves warned).]
- Fresh mango and pineapple — the kind that makes you really savor
every bite and leaves you wondering why you’d ever eat anything else.
- Speaking Ewe.
- Group discussions with my team.
- Friendly people.
- Being a minority. I think it’s something every mostly majority
person should experience at some point.
- Walking everywhere.
- Playing soccer with the neighborhood kids.
- Shopping for groceries at the open outdoor markets. (I guess you
could say I’ve been eating all organic for the last 2 months. Who
knew it could be so affordable?)
- Being the leader of 9 remarkable women.
- Using a machete.
- Spontaneous thunderstorms.
- Gorgeous fabrics and clothing.
– Being genuinely accepted by the community.

Things I won’t miss:
- Transportation. There’s really no safe way to travel there.
- The heat rash I developed as a result of walking around so much and
never being fully dry. (I have a new sympathy for babies experiencing
diaper rash.)
- Burning my own trash.
- Cold showers.
- Doing my laundry by hand in buckets of water.
- Negotiating prices with taxi drivers.
- Living on top of 9 other people. I miss my team, but I won’t miss
being so intimately aware of everyone.
- Hearing goats and chickens at all hours of the day.
- Frequent marriage proposals.
- Hearing strangers call out “white person” as I pass.
- All the insects and lizards that became common household fixtures.