One thing I learned on my trip back home to Kansas last week was just how easy it is in the early morning hours to become lost and take the proverbial "wrong turn" in life on the road. This journey back and forth between the plains of Kansas and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado was actually my 11th one since January of 2013. I've driven in all kinds of conditions between here and there, shoot even in a blizzard just a couple of months back, and never once have I taken a wrong turn as I went along.
This recent trip though was different when I inadvertently took the wrong way at the stoplight in downtown Lamar, Colorado. After 26 miles of going south instead of east, I finally realized something was wrong when I saw the early morning sky at dawn begin to glow to my left instead of smack dab in front of me. Thankfully I had the good sense to finally pull over, plug my destination into my GPS and realize what I had done. It was strange to have no sense of panic like I would normally have had. I made a U-turn (legal of course because that's what the navigation system tells us) there on the highway and set my sights a different way, the right way.
I had wanted so badly, even asked God in prayer, to see the state line of Kansas by the time the sun arose that day. It appeared that wouldn't happen now but at least I'd be there sooner or later. After what seemed like hours (really only about 45 minutes) of back tracking, I realized that I was finally close to getting back on the right route. Just when I least expected to, I saw the sign that said "Leaving Colorado" and surprisingly just around the bend in an entry point to the state of Kansas that I'd never seen before I came across the welcome sign shown in the photo above. As I pulled my car over to stop for a moment to rest and "regroup" I noticed along the eastern horizon that the golden orb that I'd been looking for since leaving my overnight stay in LaJunta was smack dab in front of me.
With tears in my eyes, no kidding, I got out of the car and took the picture. Of all the photos that I've taken in my life, perhaps this one will be the image that I will remember most fondly. It was like a promise to me, one from a God that watches over me and anyone else on the road, that we are not the ones in charge anyway. He knew exactly where I was all the while and for whatever reason, surely unbeknownst to me, this past Thursday my entry point into my home state was not to be the normal one. I rejoiced, I was glad to finally cross over no matter whether it was near Syracuse OR Johnson City, Kansas.
Four hours later, I was back in Reno County. Thank God. I had a wonderful four day stay back in Hutch and saw so many good family and friends. The time went so quickly as it always seems to, giving still new credence to the age old adage, "Time flies when you are having fun!" It will be a couple of months before I return again but I stored up memories aplenty in my heart to remember this journey by. My heart is full of love from just being there and no matter where I go, I still carry Kansas in my heart.
From atop Monarch Pass at the Continental Divide, this time I finally realized fully how wonderful it is to either go east or west and know that I have family and friends on BOTH sides of the mountain. May you my friends be so blessed as well. You know, I wasn't really lost at all, only taking a different route this time. I am glad that I found my way back to Kansas and Colorado. I know where I have come from.
The setting sun as seen from the vantage point of 43rd and Plum Streets on the last evening that I was there. Talk about the Artist's palette being full of rich colors.
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