A day unmatched by time.  On the road.  Full of breakfast coffee.  The car surfed a wave of pavement between pines as high as the clouds.  The concrete wave bucked, taking us up through snow country.  Late September snow that comes on as warning.

We rode a valley for eighty miles, headed south.  Made a pitstop at a wonderland.  Forest, cascading water.  A river so clear you could walk on it and not know the difference. 

There was no time after this.  It was one moment here — one moment on another trail.  Further down the road.  Aimed at a waterfall that breathed like a dragon.  Stone cliffs with too many teeth, broken and crooked.  The whole thing in a perpetual state of projectile vomiting.  It played its own symphony.  The conductor wore a blindfold.  The percussion section stomped the earth.  

The trail ended with chain links.  It wasn’t close enough.  We wanted to feel heat from the dragon's mouth. Forces of nature often require further investigation.  This waterfall was one of those forces.  We went over the fence and scaled down the side of a mountain.  Our hands turned brown with mud.  Adrenaline danced on our shoulders.  And again, time parted, it set us at the feet of the water spout.  

Photographs were made.  The dragon left un-slayed.  We climbed back up the mountain, up over the fence, and continued on.

A long walk on a dirt road, followed by a short walk on a trail of mud and rock.  We were confronted with hot springs.  Personal springs, the size of a love seat, steaming, chalk blue.  The rock-bed that held the hot springs in place could have brought a geologist to tears.  Swirls of time.  Layered with wisdom.  We bounced around these tubs of various temperatures.  To balance the heat of the pools, light rain played soothing music.  The perfect combination.  As above — so below.  

Back to the car and more miles south.  A stop for burgers, fries, and milkshakes.  All that was left was a long ride on the pavement wave, headed home.  Back up and through the valley.  The sky so dark it hid the stars.  High beams leading the way.  

Home to a happy dog and warm showers.

Adventure and gratitude, holding hands.