There and back again

My current outgoing voicemail message says: "Just like Bilbo Baggins I've been there and back again, so many times, in fact, that I don't know where 'there' or 'back' is. At any rate, I'm back in Los Angeles."

I stopped in Denver and stayed with a friend from high school, after a more-delightful-than-words lunch in Lawrence, Kansas. After staying up late, we slept in and I got a late start and ended up in Hollbrook, Arizona. I'm so glad that I took a different route this time. Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico are spectacularly beautiful. I was crying as the sun descended through clouds and hid behind mountains, setting the sky ablaze. It was just that pretty. Day 3 was spent getting from Hollbrook to Phoenix, AZ, where I got to see my grandma and great uncle and great aunt. Then yesterday, I arrived in Los Angeles, right as rush hour was getting underway.

I'm tired. I don't know whether I want to be here. The car is half unpacked. But I'm so glad I didn't have to run lickety split across the country, like every other drive I've made. I don't know what to expect out of the next few days, weeks, and months. But here I am, back in the shire....