Sunflowers

Last night I asked Edyta what she would ask if she could ask me one question about my book. The only caveats were that she couldn’t ask the big ones, like “*Why?*” or “*What?*” She decided to ask me — as you can probably surmise from the title of this post — “*What is your favorite memory from the trip?*”

I wasn’t expecting this (what was I expecting?), but I thought it was a great question, especially with my emphasis on the **Sunflowers** part of the trip. The down-and-dirty truth is that the [sunflowers stop](http://flickr.com/photos/nanderson/3026904809/in/set-72157594243461170/) is *not* my favorite memory. I distinctly (as opposed to the fuzziness that is my lens for most memories) remember that as being one of my *least* favorite memories of the trip.

As for my favorite memory from the trip, I just don’t know yet. It’s a very difficult question to field, considering the wealth of amazing things that happened to me on that trip. So in the meantime I will do the following: I will list (in no particular order) some of my favorite *memories*, followed by (again, in no particular order) some of my favorite *places* from the trip. I will attempt some other time to whittle it down to one of each, and then eventually choose one crowning achievement/memory with its own essay. Remember: *eventually*.

##### My Favorite Memories #####

* **Arriving at my parents’ home**

Between Seattle and Los Angeles we did not stop to sleep anywhere. We stopped at Portland (3 hrs from Seattle), drove overnight from Portland to the Redwood Forest (7 hrs driving), spent the morning driving into San Francisco on the 101 (5 hrs), and around 10 o’clock at night we left San Fran to drive overnight to my parents’ house in LA (7 hrs).

I drove the majority of the San Fran to LA leg, including the final few hours. I almost killed everybody in the car at least once (that I can remember) thanks to my drowsiness, so when I finally put the car in park in the driveway, the sun was peeking out from behind the mountains and we all felt some bizarre euphoria, leading to Ben sleeping on the driveway, Shane on the hood of the car, Zach who knows where (in the car?), and me finding my “second wind” and playing soccer with myself in the street while waiting for someone to wake up and let us into the house for some proper sleep.

* **Getting to the end of the trail in Yellowstone**

After three and a half miles of walking, four out of shape boys sat and rested at a crossroads and a broken bridge. It was heaven to just sit down and not be doing anything. We took a few pictures, and they were pretty accurate in describing our feelings at the time.

It was exhausting, but it felt really good. Not being able to see or hear a single mechanical thing anywhere and being surrounded by an area not touched by modern humanity was a good feeling. I don’t like it for long periods of time, but a few hours hiking is a fantastic way to get that feeling. Somehow I summoned the energy and absurdity to speed back to the car, nearly getting lost along the way once or twice.

* **Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico**

After a day driving down to Key Largo from Miami, riding on a Jet Ski in the Atlantic (you might find my sunglasses somewhere in there), eating unlimited crab legs at a buffet, and generally enjoying the environment, we found a park and beach on the Caribbean side of the island and swam there for a few hours to wind down the evening. The sun set while we were there, sealing the deal on that day, and to me, this was the last place we visited before we started “driving back home.”

##### My Favorite Places #####

* **The dead tree in San Francisco**

Having a terrible, frustrating time near Haight-Ashbury, we found a park, and I found a tree to sit on. It was hidden, and I just wanted to sit there forever.

* **The Grand Canyon**

Wow. Climbing in it? Climbing that thing? What a peaceful way to expend your [lack of] energy [from not sleeping more than 4 or 5 hours the night before after driving for 14-ish hours]. I felt like a million bucks when I got to the top. And then I dropped my camera off the side of it. Which sucked, but since Ben saw where it landed and got it for me (broken, but memory card intact, which was what I would have missed the most), the moment’s and place’s beauty and tranquility were not lost to me.

* **Katrina**

Aside from living with Zach, there is no place where I have spent so much time confined within with my friends; no place where I have gotten to know someone (aside from my partners) so well; no one place where so many amazing memories, plans, and exclamations were made. It’s easy for me to say that this is the best “place” I “visited” on the trip, but I’ll understand if somebody isn’t satisfied with this as an answer to the question above. That’s what the other five answers I gave above are for.

Like I said before, I will try to narrow my choices down as I continue building the book, but I can’t say when I’ll have made my decision by. I don’t *really* want to say there is one memory that stands above all others from this trip, but the exercise is helpful in reminding me of all the fantastic things I felt and learned, so I will work at this question with vigor. Don’t be surprised if I keep changing my mind.