100 mornings - 8

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Merry go round in Griffith Park

I had my 5th birthday in Griffith Park...seems like 9 lifetimes ago.

So yesterday, on impulse, we took the top off the jeep and drove into the park. It was a perfect day...warm, blue skies and I knew exactly where I was headed...the merry-go-round.

I'd been meaning to go there for the past few years....worried it could be one of those things that would be closed due to the economy or changing times. I'm not sure what I was looking for...but as I drove around a curve in the park, there it stood in all its glory -- magical as ever and I was filled with excitement as I parked and got my ticket (only $2 btw - cash).

Soon enough I was on the carousel happily rushing to find the "right" horse....and by "right" I mean the same criteria I used as a 5 year old -- pretty with a long flowing tail.

I made my selection and jumped on my beautiful horse and as I went round and round I had a moment where I was transported back in time...I looked up and found myself wondering what makes the horses move up and down and there was this flash - of doing the exact same thing - through the same eyes - so many years ago.

I laughed and smiled as I rode - instinctively leaning into it (sort of like what you do on a swing to make it seem faster) and I had a thought - I still felt the joy and wonder I'd felt as a child....and I thought if I had to die today...it would be ok.

It all felt very full circle....that I had survived much in this life but had somehow kept my heart intact.

I felt very lucky and at peace.


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100 mornings - 7

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100 mornings - 6

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MLK, Katrina, MJ's birthday...

The day started out great with a donation to Brad Pitt's organization "Make it Right" which is helping to rebuild the 9th ward in NOLA....then I moved onto to posting stuff on my FB page...(The MLK I Have a Dream speech etc.) and talking with friends about it...all good. Fast forward, a close friend gets in a car accident - calls and says paramedics are on the way - that he was "broadsided" - so we go rushing out the door to help him....thank god he will be ok - he's sore but seemingly ok.

And now here we are....taking a breath towards the end of the day - hitting Starbucks and admiring an old classic car...all too aware of how things can change on a dime.

Like MLK's assassination or Katrina or even Michael Jackson dying...some things you see coming and some things you don't.....but you still end up "broadsided"...

It's time to love and it's to enjoy your life...
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100 mornings - 5

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Good Deed 1

Today, I'm delivering a bike to an old homeless guy we know cuz some kids stole his.

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100 mornings - 4

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100 mornings - 3

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More LA moon

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Moon

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Sunset continues

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Los Angeles sunsets

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100 mornings - 2

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Meow From Echo Park

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100 mornings - 1

6:25
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Moon over LA

Beautiful night coming
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Back in my Jeep after our roadtrip

And kerplunk...I am back in my LA life! Running an errand in my little black jeep -- as I shift gears in Friday afternoon traffic -- it's almost like I never went away.

It's hot here -- tonight we will go see friends at our local restaurant....drink a corona with extra extra lime and talk about our fantastic trip...dayum....life is good.

It's good to go away and it's good to come home -- it's both.

Duality baby....it's all about traveling in duality.
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View of Downtown LA

We are back in our very dry wonderland called Los Angeles...

Hope you have enjoyed some of the beauty and highlights we tried to share on our 5,170.8 mile surprise party adventure!




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Aaaaaand, we're back

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Model of Crazy Horse Monument when complete

Here's what the finished monument will look like.

And I'll leave you with "Ghost Dance" lyrics from Robbie Robertson's album "Music for the Native Americans":

Crow has brought the message
to the children of the sun
for the return of the buffalo
and for a better day to come

You can kill my body
You can damn my soul
for not believing in your god
and some world down below

You don't stand a chance
against my prayers
You don't stand a chance
against my love
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
but we shall live again,
we shall live again

My sister above
She has red paint
She died at Wounded Knee
like a later day saint

You got the big drum in the distance
blackbird in the sky
That's the sound that you hear
when the buffalo cry

You don't stand a chance
against my prayers
You don't stand a chance
against my love
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
but we shall live again,
we shall live again

Crazy Horse was a mystic
He knew the secret of the trance
And Sitting Bull the great apostle
of the Ghost Dance

Come on Comanche
Come on Blackfoot
Come on Shoshone
Come on Cheyenne

We shall live again

Come on Arapaho
Come on Cherokee
Come on Paiute
Come on Sioux

We shall live again

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Crazy Horse

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Crazy Horse Monument - "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too"

Sorry I have to do these posts after the fact -- as I said, there was a glitch....so I'm playing catch up...

We got to the Crazy Horse monument at dusk. The light made it all the more surreal but hard for photos.

I keep thinking of this song I love....lyrics "Crazy Horse was a mystic...he knew the secret of the trance...."

Here's some backstory....Crazy Horse was a war leader of the Oglala Lakota....he is known to have had visions and it is said that when he was younger he and his father would go to Sylvan Lake, South Dakota and they would sit to do a "vision quest". It would appear that these earlier visions provided protective songs, prayers and war paint which would later help and guide him...in his leadership.

Although the memorial is unfinished, its scope and magnificence are more than evident. Crazy Horse will be on his horse...his face is on the left and the large rock that juts out to the right will be his horse. His face alone is 9 stories high and that portion of the memorial is complete.

The monument was started in 1948 (commissioned in 1939). There is no set completion date as it is supported solely by donations and is quite the undertaking. The whole endeavor is handled by a non-profit with no federal government involvement. I think if you ever wanted to do something in honor of the American indian....going to crazyhorsememorial.org and making a donation would be most appreciated.

There is a plaque at the site with a quote from Indian Chief Henry Standing Bear, who spearheaded the project, he says "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too"

They have all kinds of artifacts there - books, gifts etc. They do a laser light show each night (9pm) on the mountain which you watch from the visitor center.

Having the monument here, where the chiefs wanted it, overlooking the incredible Black Hills is so moving....especially because the Indians believed these grounds to be so sacred.

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Red Utah

Think we got into Utah about 5....red earth....a lot of green...really a beautiful state.
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The Road Home

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Emancipation

Prince rockin the open road with The Human Body...love this track off Emancipation....total dance track from da 90s (doesn't that seem like forever ago?)
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Cool

What can I say....... I like cool rocks
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More Wyoming

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Road Rule

Road trips require chocolate... I hope this isn't a newsflash, I don't wanna hear about your dieting bullsh*t -- you're gonna need a sugar blast at key moments and that's all there is to it.

What we've found to be an exceptional source of chocolate on the road is the "Dove Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate" bar. However, it isn't really a bar, it has three individually wrapped bars in the package so you can eat one and the rest of it doesn't melt all over the car (glove box). Which brings me to my next point. If you are renting a car, the Jetta 2.5 is the way to go as it has a glove box in which you could hang meat! Yes, I'm not kidding, it keeps your chocolate cool when you're driving in 90-100 degree heat across America.

That's ok, you can thank me later.

Hahahahahaha!!!
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The Wyoming weather changed on a dime

Just like life....
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And this one is for you mom...

Let's go where the grass is greener...my mom loved that song....shot some video thinking of her as it played. I suspect my mom is now somewhere that the grass is greener....and that gives me peace....
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Like water

There's a breeze and the way the grass is moving it looks like ripples on a lake...
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Looking through the Viewmaster, Wyoming

We're driving in Wyoming and it's yet another fabulous state. I'm looking at these clouds and they've got this 3D quality like you're looking through one of those old-school Viewmasters. It's like I'm in my own 3D cloud movie.

I've been thinking how everything has a cycle, including this trip: a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning feels all full of anticipation of what's to come, and then the ending has that feel of looking back and reflecting on what has just passed. And perhaps somewhere in the middle, we're just "in it" not looking forward or back but just enjoying what is.

I guess that's the phase I'm in right now - in my life - the middle...

and I'm just enjoying it...

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Sail on Sailor

Old Beach Boys song blasting...somehow perfect...
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Feeling wistful

Can't deny the body needs some exercise right about now, but at the same time I already feel sad that we are heading towards the conclusion of this road trip. I honestly have this sense of the entire US being my  "hood" and I've seen all my peeps in different cities, and don't wanna say goodbye...

I'll throw this out...you can't really end a road trip without dreaming of your next road trip. That would mean that we are cooking up our next scheme which will be more like New Orleans, Savannah, Nashville, Kentucky. Just debating whether we'd fly to either New York or DC and get a car there, head south and then west, then come around in a big circle up through the Chicago area and see our friends again.


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Wyoming on the 80 heading west towards Laramie

This next string of posts about Wyoming were done on Wednesday as we did the drive to Vegas. Like I said, I was having technical problems with my phone and couldn't post to the blog most of the day. So if you're getting a little confused on the timeline...these were all pre-Vegas...I just posted them after we arrived.

The grass here looks like blond hair....we drove Wyoming most of the day.
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Windy and 100 degrees at midnight

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"Home"

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I'm Baaaaaaad I'm Nationwide

As fate would have it, my phone has a technical glitch and I can't post!  You know Brian is all over it like a cheap suit....me, I'll just tell ya....I can't freakin do it at the moment and may not be able to post at all today! UGH!

So here I am at the Days Inn typing away in the "business center".....(hee hee hee I'm alllllll about business as you know)...we gotta check out and hit the road.

Plans?  Well it looks like we're driving to Vegas and cooling out there for a night or two and then home.  I'll probably do a little recap when home because I still have some stuff about the Crazy Horse Monument I want you to see (that's where my phone hit the glitch)...but in the meantime I'm gonna leave you with some lyrics that have been in my head the past day or so...thank you ZZ Top.


Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel,
I had a bluesman in the back, and a beautician at the wheel.
We're going downtown in the middle of the night
We was laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright.
Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide.
Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide.

Easin' down the highway in a new cadillac,
I had a fine fox in front, I had three more in the back.
They sportin' short dresses, wearin' spike-heeled shoes,
They smokin' lucky strikes, wearing nylon too.

Welcome back, we're nationwide.
Yeah we bad, we're nationwide.


Bye for now sweet peeps...keep road trippin!!!

More

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Awe

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Great walkway leads up to view

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Mount Rushmore

It is M A G N I F I C E N T!
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Town before Rushmore

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Aroma is unreal

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Black Hills

Now in the Black Hills National Forest, which the Indians considered the domain of the gods, on the way to Mt Rushmore.

Next chapter, Custer discovered gold here. I don't have to tell you what happened after that. Of course, we took back land we'd given them because of the gold discovery...could that be where the term "Indian giver" started?

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And we ease our pain with the bean...

On our way to Mt. Rushmore.
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Wounded Knee

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Wounded Knee Massacre

You can so feel how the Indians must have loved this land. It's like you can feel them here. As fate would have it, the Wounded Knee Massacre I was mentioning earlier today did in fact take place about 90 miles from where we are. Although we can't get there on this whirlwind, we were able to stop at the Wounded Knee Museum and buy some gifts made on different local reservations. We got this really cool prayer fan and a couple dreamcatchers, all overwhelmingly beautiful. So, we push on to Mt. Rushmore with a prayer in our hearts for all the souls who perished as the United States was transformed by our way of life. Interestingly, because of the history of the region, we understand there is a new monument being created near Mt. Rushmore. This one of Crazy Horse, built by request of Lakota Chiefs and representing North American Indians of all tribes, will be the largest statue in the world upon its completion. I feel really good about that.

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Badlands

The Badlands have supported humans for 11,000 years. The earliest were mammoth hunters-later followed by nomadic hunters who hunted bison. By the mid-eighteenth the Sioux or the Lakota came to dominate the region. They flourished for a hundred years but were followed by soldiers, miners, cattle farmers, and homesteaders who forever changed the face of the prairie. After 40 years of struggle, culminating in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, the Lakota were confined to reservations.

An excerpt from the Badlands National Park brochure

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Bighorn Sheep

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