Even though I had suspected that we had entered a higher elevation, I was not prepared for my sunrise surprise.

This was the day that my mountain obsession truly started.

I had no idea that I would see mountain range after mountain range for the entire duration of this trip. I have seen the Rockies as they run through Colorado and into Wyoming. They are consistently huge and glorious. Consistently. But the mountains on this trip provided variety even in similarity.

Every day I thought the mountains I woke up to would disappear and the land would become flat. This expectation may spring from the way one can see the Rockies and then can't see the Rockies when traveling through Colorado from Pueblo to Denver to Longmont. Or even trips to areas where there are hills to the north, south, and east of Dallas … there is all this flat land surrounding each area of hills. Not so when traveling through southern New Mexico, Arizona, across and north through California and through Oregon.

So, right, this was not an extremely well researched sightseeing trip. This trip was all about getting there. Distance between points was researched. We realized we would be traveling over/past some elevated areas. Would that put us at risk for snow? Would it affect how quickly we reached a point? Those were researched and pondered … and it was assumed we'd see the land … and I was expecting to feel the awe I always feel on the open road. All the same, I was like a kid in a candy store. "OH look there and there and there!" I knew I would have candy but I was surprised by the variety each day brought.

It got kind of old for Valerie really fast. It was also a point of hidden stress that she couldn't find words for until later.

There came a time much later in our trip where we kind of reached a point of ... I don't know what to call it. It's definitely one of the very vital themes of "Shifting Gears."

For now, let's just say we reached a point of thinking a little less in terms of "Mother Dictating" and "Daughter Resisting or Complying." And it surprised us both to discover ways our old roles were still playing out.

But since we hadn't come to that point in the trip yet ... we didn't exactly know what to do with each other about this. She did find enough words to let me know that my repetitive exclamations were wearing on her very frazzled nerves. So there were times I was stifling my enthusiasm and there were times Valerie was trying to refrain from causing bodily harm.

That said, don't think we weren't also having fun. There were lots of wide open spaces in between these moments of "hidden stress" where we were on the same page in awe of our circumstances and our surroundings.

For example ...

When we took off, we were so amazed at how the mountains really looked so much like heaps of dirt and stone scattered about. And so I must tell you about one of those moments parents are privileged to from the time their children start talking -- the opportunity to look at the world though the fresh perspective of their child -- because kids say the most surprising things! I was just amused to find I still felt that way ... what with her 20 and me in my 40's. (Don't make me figure the exact age out!)

We were driving along gasping and gawking and Valerie said, "Well, I guess God had to do something with all that dirt out of the Grand Canyon!"

It might not line up with your science or theology ... but ... hey ... I adopted it as truth right away. It's just so bloom'n obvious and all.

The other thing you should know is that Shelbie dog did Not like the fact that there was NO grass in the desert. She would not release her poor little bladder until she located some greenery. And it didn't matter to her if it was thorny or not.

There is more to tell about this day but I am out of energy and time. So, here's what I plan to do ... as the weekend and week progresses, I'll put up some of the photos from the trip and we will tell some more about the trip.

Let's see ... this day was December 31, 2003 and we traveled Hwy 10 from Van Horne, TX to Phoenix, AZ.

Valerie and I haven't gotten to compare a lot of notes this last week but the plan is that she'll be adding a comment here and possibly adding a post during the week.

And now it's also your turn to weigh-in with your comments and links. Of course, as usual, we want to hear your observations and thoughts about our story thus far. AND If you have a story or photos about living or driving in this area of the country, tell us about it or link us to it.