My first trip across the country was an accident. Me and some friends had planned a road trip to San Francisco. They bailed out due to money problems leaving me with three weeks off work. So I went alone, white knuckling the steering wheel the first four days. The trip changed my life. I was free. Free to turn left or right. Free to stay or go. I visited St. Luis and the Arch. Kansas City and the WW1 Memorial. Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Denver. The Rocky Mountains. Garden of the Gods. Navajo Nation. Oljato-Monument Valley. Horseshoe Bend. Grand Canyon National Park. Meteor Crater & Barringer Space Museum. Valley of Fire State Park. Hoover Dam. Las Vegas. The Strip. Death Valley National Park. Yosemite National Park. San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge. Alcatraz Island. Fisherman's Wharf. This solo artistic road trip would spark my journey to becoming an art teacher.