For the last week I have been thinking how I often find myself on a road that is seldom used, and how it has really shaped who I am. A week ago I would have told you that it was the 1.5 years I took off between high school and the start of my college marathon, or the summer spent living in the back of my truck in Estes, or just my time in Estes, or my two international moves, or my desire to sometimes scare myself while outdoors, or the decade or so that it took to finish college that showed my desire to follow a different road.
This morning at 5 am while on a snowy closed road on a deserted mountain pass, in some random corner of the Czech Republic, in a car that is well past it´s prime, with my wife and two kids, one who was throwing up with a really high fever, I gained a new appreciation for that road less travelled, since there was only one other lonely set of tire tracks.
Our ski trip to the Czech had been a bit bumpy from the start, but at 4am Erin and I decided to flee back to the land of socialized health care (Germany), and doctors that at least one member of our family (Addie) could talk to should she need more care then Erin or I could provide. We would have been back in Germany in no time had our GPS, non existent paper map, and complete lack of understanding when it comes to the Czech language and road signs not gotten us horribly lost.
When we crept up the mountain pass on balding tires and snowy roads, we were eventually met with a snow bank and a fence obviously saying this was a road best travelled in summer, I realized the full meaning of Frost's Poem. Sometimes the road sucks!
I write the previous sentence with no ill-will to the adventure we had, or the time spent with my family and friends, but yes sometimes the road less travelled sucks, as it should, sometimes it has to suck, so that you can be reminded that life is at times hard, and will test you, and that you need more then a few brain cells to occasionally rub together to get yourself out of tricky situations, or avoid the tricky situation all together. The reminder that we got today was vitally important to any good adventure (this one currently being life in Germany) as it helps us better appreciate when things go right, when the road is snow free, bump free, and falling off the side of the mountain free. As our time in Germany draws to a close (we are under 5 months now) I think it´s important to still have missteps like this, as they help us appreciate the road less travelled we have taken, and help prepare us for the road ahead. My only hope for the roads 6 months from now is that the signs on the sides of the roads are written in English and not Czech or German.
I hope this rambling finds you all well and please know that we miss you all and are looking forward to seeing many of you soon!
Patrick
P.S. Here are some videos and pictures from the last few weeks
