What’s In Between

What’s In Between

“ The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between…”. Horton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth.

Why?

This is a question you may be asking. Why would I embark on a solo road trip between Cincinnati, New Mexico, Minnesota and back home? It’s not as if those destinations are close to each other. As a 61 year old women, is this really a good idea? Well, we are going to find out.

As a child, I spent a large portion of my life in the backseat of the family car on vacation. My father worked for Procter & Gamble and we moved from Seal Beach, California to St Louis to Chicago to Chesapeake, Virginia, to Lima, Ohio and then to Cincinnati. My parents loved to travel but with 3 children, and another to be born when we lived in Virginia, it would have been prohibitively expensive to fly everywhere. Plus flying was such a glamorous event back then, I don’t blame my parents for choosing a car trip over a flight where you needed to be dressed up and on your best behavior. So we drove and often camped while seeing parts of the United States. One summer it was New England, another out West, another the Midwest. Usually whatever was near by where we were living at the time. My mother was a history major so we spent one summer visiting Civil War battlefields (as an 11 year old, this was supremely boring as one field looked just like the next). Both sets of my grandparents lived in Arizona, and my cousins lived in California, so there were many road trips to visit them. I think I developed my love for reading during these trips in the back of the car. If I could get in the way back of the station wagon, that was the perfect spot. Old people will know what the way back was.

One of my favorite books in 4th grade (living in Chicago at the time), was The Phantom Tollbooth. For those unfamiliar, a young, bored boy named Milo is gifted a small tollbooth and he uses his little electric car to drive through it and to worlds beyond. The trip changes his outlook on life. As a child, I yearned to drive myself on a trip to unexplored places. Frankly, I was enamored with driving, hoping to become a bus driver when I grew up since I would be able to drive all day long.

I have traveled to many places here in the US and around the world, and each trip has changed my outlook. But I have never traveled by myself. So on March 1, 2025, I will get in my little car, drive through my little tollbooth, and see what is in between here and there. If you would like to see what it is, please follow along.

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jgapfelbeck

Albuquerque March 6, 2025

We were going to start our day by taking the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway to the 10,378 crest of the Sandia Mountains. However, there was a high wind alert for today, and thus the tramway was closed. We needed to make an alternative plan.

Bridget found a trail at ground level and so after a breakfast of fruit and toast, we drove 15 minutes to the Cibola National Forest at the base of the Sandia Mountains. The trail took us through scrub, past cacti, through trees, and up and over rocks, and after getting lost only once by taking the wrong trail, back to the parking lot.

This was at the beginning of the trailhead, (we did not see any).

After our hike we ate some trail mix and protein bars and headed to the Center for Action and Contemplation. I thought it would be in a large center, out by itself, with a lot of ground to stroll around. But it was a small adobe structure, in a neighborhood, tucked between a house and a small dirt paddock for horses with a falling down building. It is in the exact right spot. Of course, it would be in a community, available for people to walk in to purchase a book, or chat with a staff member. The mission of the CAC is “To introduce Christian contemplative wisdom and practices that support transformation and inspire loving action”. A quote from the website states: “If we’re working to create a more whole world, contemplation can give our actions nonviolent, loving power for the long haul”. How important that is for all of us, no matter what your opinions or beliefs are. We were welcomed by a young woman, Hannah, who showed us around and arranged for us to share a contemplative sit together.

This Spanish Cottonwood, named the Trinity Tree, is over 170 years old. It is a special place for contemplation. Cottonwoods typically have a straight trunk and straight, strong branches. However, due to a genetic mutation, this trees branches loop in on each other creating unique shapes and shadows. Hannah reminded us, “Where God sees perfection, humans see imperfection”.

Three doors down, the CAC has a labyrinth you can walk, that is behind an always unlocked gate. We went there and all silently walked the labyrinth, praying for whatever we were felt called to pray for.

As we made our way back to the Airbnb, my heart and mind were calm. They haven’t been calm for a while now. But today, they were calm.

We made a dinner of charcuterie and wine and talked for 5 hours about how we met our spouses, how we came to our professions, whether we believed in heaven and/or hell, our children, and many more things. We shared things we have not shared with anyone before. What a perfect way to end the day, with friends you can laugh with, cry with, and learn from.

Tomorrow is another day of adventure, sharing, laughing, and driving. After the tram to the top of the mountain, we drive to Moab, Utah.

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