Stars so low they tangle in your hair

We didn't leave town again this weekend. We've been trying to leave for a month. I blame the dog, who must come with us or cost us another $40/day.

I find comfort in not being the only one who aches for the road. The only difference is that I feel connected to my plants and hate to be without them for days. If it wasn't for that and the damn dog, we'd most likely be gone more this summer.

We need to figure out how to leave him for the weekend at somewhere less traumatic than a typical kennel. Our options are really limited traveling with the pooch and we have to plan ahead (and we hate planning road trips until we are actually in the car and driving),.

I'm always talking about the desert these days. I'm not the only one. There are so many places in Nevada that we haven't seen (amazingly enough). So many backroads to scream down where we see nobody for hours. And what about Utah? We barely touched Utah. And the whole East Coast. And I'd even drive all through the desolate Dekotas. I don't care.

I think this is coming up because we were talking about some of the stranger trips we've been on and missing the experience. Really, we started just talking about almost every trip. I wish I would have kept a recording of our travels. There was always that one town that wasn't on the map that you would run into and everything got surreal. I wish I had more than just memories. I do have some photographs, but it just isn't the same.

I think we miss who we used to be. We are still those people, just mired down in responsibilities.

Do we save money to travel the world or just our borders? We talk of different places in the world and then of places within our continent and always unsure. We could spend decades just exploring North America and never scratch the surface.

As one of our guides in China told us, it's almost easier to want the surface experience of a lot of different places instead of how we like to travel. We get in trouble because we'd like to explore every millimeter of where we are at rather than the "highlights". Everyone has seen the highlights. There are a bazillion photos and stories of those places. But what is underneath the surface? Even just a millimeter down? That's where we are. Just a fraction of an inch down.

Eh, that does it. I'm going to spend my hard earned money into boarding the pooch and me and my favorite travelin' companion are going to do as best we know how--pick a direction and drive for hours. Look at a map and find a name of a town that sounds interesting and see what they are up to.

We need this. For us on an individual basis and for us. Until the wedding, I would tell you that our definition is "we travel". And we do. And we gotta do it again. To the coast. To the desert. Anywhere. Nowhere.