Tuesday, January 3, 2012

thoughts from places: beyond kansas

This morning before my dad and I went to the shooting range we got in his truck and headed down to Wellington to the court house where I registered to vote I can't believe I'm old enough to stuff like this now.  We didn't take the Kansas Turnpike, mostly because my dad hates the new roundabouts they put in on the Mulvane exit for the casino, instead we took Broadway all the way down and back again.

I've ridden many car rides and even driven several times the stretch on Broadway from K-53/Patriot Guard Highway down to Wellington.  The scenery hasn't changed much over the years with the exception of the big ass casino that's been put in on the corner where Broadway and K-53 intersect, the houses haven't changed, the small airport hasn't changed, it all looks the same.

As I sat there in the passenger seat and looked out to the west I kept imagining what it'd be like to travel outside of Kansas on my own.  I've already been planning my dream summer where I'm going to go to all the special places in Kansas I've been meaning to go to, like Abeliene to the Eisenhower museum, or back to Hutchinson to the Salt Mines and the Space Museum.  All I've ever known traveling wise is the lower half of the midwest and a little portion of the west coast; all of this traveling has been done with my parents.  It's just weird for me to think about traveling now, seeing as I turn eighteen in a short few days time and graduation a few months away, there's no one holding me back after that.

I had a dream a few nights ago, I was at our family reunion sitting around with all my cousins and uncles and aunts.  I think I was a couple years out of college at the time.  They were asking me where I was living and what I was doing, if I was dating anyone; the typical questions that are brought up at family reunions.  I continued to tell them that I was just a nomad. That I wasn't settling down in one place, I was traveling the country and seeing everything it had.

It's almost scary thinking that in less than a year's time I could just set out and travel and never really settle down or anything.  It's extremely tempting to get a job this summer and work for a few months, saving up money and take a year off before going to SC.  Though I don't think I would ever actually do it, mostly because my mom would kill me before I take a year off after high school before going to college; plus, I think I might enjoy it too much to the point where I wouldn't want to come back and go to college.

The things that I do know are this: I'm going to keep dreaming of traveling America, I'm going to work my ass off and live life to the fullest.  Maybe one day I'll get to explore every nook and corner of America and then some, maybe I'll settle down some where that I least expected it. Who knows? Wherever God takes me this year and in the future I'm willing to follow.

Link of the day: The Bullet Stop I'm sorry, this probably appeals to less than one percent of you, but I just had to share it anyways.  I love this place, the guys are so friendly and easy to talk to.  The only bad thing is that their gun smith is usually out on the days we go in to shoot.

days until Senior Year Part 2 begins: 1
days until I become an adult: 4
days until graduation: 136

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