Posted May 15, 2025 – Narrated by Jim
“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”
Some of the world’s greatest stories involve bridges.
Building bridges…
capturing bridges…
crossing bridges…
and lighting them afire.
For better and worse, bridges establish challenging and sometimes incompatible connections.
“Burning Bridges” can mean a bad decision made in haste or it can mean a deliberate act of self-renewal.
For my great-grandparents, bridges were the closest thing to flying.
Bridge-builders are the wizards of travel alchemy.
Foot bridges…
arched bridges…
steel deck bridges…
suspension pedestrian bridges…
cabled bridges…
famous bridges…
old bridges…
modern bridges…
remote bridges…
and even piers and docks perform the impossible, if only for a momentary retreat…
to expand your horizons.
Every bridge crossing is an epochal moment…
a promise to transport you…
into the future.
“Praise the bridge that carried you over.”
Bridges fascinate us, even if it’s only a few logs thrown over a puddle.
Maybe that’s because we put a great deal of blind trust in bridges.
Collapses are not uncommon.
If a bridge falls there’s nothing but the sky to grab onto.
Bridges describe the delicate condition of one’s connections to friends, family and career – especially when the bottom drops out.
Our long blissful stretch of halcyon years on the road came to a screeching halt in 2023 when Carmen’s camera and purse were stolen from our truck in Memphis. The thief broke the Beast’s driver’s side window while we were swimming at the Y for physical therapy. We were both lame that Fall – Carmen with an episode of plantar fasciitis and me with gout. We spent our coldest winter ever in Gulf Shores and then in February ’24, our old neighbor Mojo Nixon died unexpectedly, then Pico de Gallo in May (one year ago today), my nephew, Van Carter, a week later, and our dear friend KB Mercer in September.
Back in San Diego in mid-summer to nurse our broken hearts, Carmen had two freak accidents two weeks apart. She suffered head injuries, a broken left hand and dental injuries (no bicycle or wilderness hiking involved. Ironically, “safety” infrastructure got the best of her– a handicapped picnic table and a traffic barrier arm). Now – thanks to a long winter’s rest in our sunny and warm Chula Vista sanctuary – we are healed and back on the road traveling north through wine country toward our son’s wedding in San Francisco.
We crossed our Bridge of Sighs and were granted a reprieve.
That old idiom, “water under bridge” describes the living energy of the past, something forgiven, if not forgotten.
If we could only see the treasury of memories bridges hold!
The Bridges of Madison County is a charming small town story about forbidden romance and a tender secret held by a prim tight-lipped covered bridge.
Bridges are to be praised for carrying our weight.
A Red Hot Chili Peppers bridge holds the weight of past mistakes.
An Adele bridge holds the anguish of unrequited love.
A super-powered Simon and Garfunkel Bridge will hoist you over a rough spot.
Classic literature often compares journeys and crossing bridges to enlightenment and death.
In Japan, bridges are a symbol of transience and a link between the earthly and the divine realm.
Soribashi, the arched bridge, is the focal point of any Japanese garden. It is a metaphor for life, death, and ascension to paradise.
The arch, projected over water, creates the reflection of a circle image, or eye, to remind us of the transience of life’s highs and lows. The past and the future are circular, predictable.
While future details may be obscured, they are hardly unknown. Yep, I’m talking about death and taxes.
TobiIshi, stepping stones, is a sectional bridge. This explains the progression of life from one phase to the next toward one’s ultimate reward… Social Security 😉.
The significance of flat bridges, hirahashi, is straightforward. It’s an elegant statement about expedience and economy. Time’s a’ wastin’. Cut to the chase.
A bridge, obviously, has two sides attached to countering abutments. But there are also two sides to the deck.
On a river there is the downstream side …
and the upstream side …
Since ancient times these four distinct quadrants or realms have been mapped in the Medicine Wheel, the Four Rivers, the Cross, and the compass.
Where does “Water Under The Bridge” fit into the equation?
Is it a 5th realm?
A portal to another dimension?
Water is a universal mystery, used in ritual ceremonies worldwide since prehistoric times.
It is the most revered element on earth.
Think about bridges enough and everything will start looking like a bridge. Education, marriage, starting a family, retirement… The Rig.
Beauty and the Beast are our Bridge to Adventure, our Boredom Evacuation Plan.
This year – more than ever – our Forever Camping lifestyle is fueled on spontaneity – what young people call “random-whatever.”
In this, our “no green bananas” life-phase, planning ahead is more like wishing – and in fairy tales wish-amounts are limited – so we keep our schedule flex.
Next year Beauty will officially be “vintage,” 25 years old.
This year she got her first bathroom remodel. In October Vinnie’s Northbay Airstream Repair will install new awnings.
Had I known when we started out that we’d be Forever Camping ten years later, I might have shopped for a younger trailer. But Beauty is family, and age becomes her.
Lately it seems like “fluid” describes almost everything – wars, timetables, leadership, the economy – whenever the word “unstable” would suffice. One thing I have observed is that wherever there is fluidity there will be bridges.
Carmen and I cannot see the future, but our footing is secure and we will begin this new chapter of our Living in Beauty epoch…
One bridge at a time.
If you want to see the exact route we travel, click here.
*photos in this post (unless otherwise noted) were taken and copyrighted by Living In Beauty.
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Thank you for sharing. Wonderfully written and the photos… beautiful! We always enjoy seeing the email telling us a new article has been released. We are long time followers, almost since you started.
Joanna, thank you for your kind words and being a follower of Living in Beauty all these crazy years. Hoping more years to come. Jim
What an amazing collection.
Jacqui, glad you enjoyed the photos. Jim
Beautiful bridge between then and now. I’m so joyful you are back on the road!
Linda, we too are glad to be back on the road. The last year has been eventful and challenging at times. Thank you for following LIB. Jim
OH my – this was a breath-taking read! Incredible pictures and thoughts. thank you for sharing your lives and the adventures that you live!
Those photos were taken over the past 9 years. Carmen loves taking photos of water under bridges. There is nothing quite like standing on a bridge listening and watching the water past by. Thanks for being a follower. Jim
Glad to hear Carmen appears to have healed from her accidents and that you have resumed your travels. Beautiful photos!
Meagan, yes, Carmen is doing so much better. Her broken hand is going to take a long time to get back to normal. Lots of physical therapy was done before we left San Diego. All good! Glad you enjoyed the photos. Jim
Wonderful collection of photos – enjoyed the commentary too! Glad you are healed and back on the road.
Glad you liked the photos and thoughts we shared. It does feel good to be back visiting places we have never seem before and seeing places we have enjoyed in the past. Jim
I had to go back and re-read “Pico has Left the Building” as one of the truest descriptions I’ve read of living with a bad-to-the-bone chihuahua. My favorite breed for so many reasons but loyalty and fierceness in a small package (I may be projecting here) are high on the list of why I adored my darling granddogs, Edgar and Ana. I still tear up thinking about them and believe they were the litmus test for who was a good human. Birdie (a rescue foster chihuahua that caused our son-in-law to cry when a home was found) followed them in our daughter’s household (she succumbed to her spouse’s tears and added yet another dog to the pack) and is as weird in her own way as they were in their unique way. You’ve had a tough year or two and take care of yourselves. I subscribe to several newsletters but yours is one I look forward to seeing pop up in my email box and always open and read immediately.
Thank you for sharing your experience and stories about your chihuahuas. They are a VERY unique breed of dog. 🤪 Thank you for being a follower of Living in Beauty. We do try to provide valuable content. We are not paid for this blog. We simply do it because we enjoy this lifestyle and like to share. Jim
What a beautiful set of writings and photos. Thank you for sharing!
Marni, glad you enjoyed this post. We had a lot of fun selecting the photos from hundreds and hundreds of bridge photos we have taken in the past 9 years. Jim
Wonderful
I really lost myself reading this post.The photos are beautiful.
Have fun on the road
Nancy
Nancy, well… you made my day 😊. Glad you enjoyed reading this post. I looked it up and I want to thank you for following us for more than 8 years! Wow! We really appreciate you and your comments! Oh, and we ARE having fun on the road! Jim
Unusually poetic from a man that only wears shorts and Tommy Bahama shirts. I forget that you also smoke cigars and enjoy a dram of whiskey or a good Pinot Noir ala Hemingway. You resemble him as well.
Beautiful photos and excellent story-telling. A bit wistful at times. I’m wondering if you are mellowing in your dotage.
I really enjoyed this missive. Pix and prose.
I am looking forward to your effusive story about your wonderfully relaxing summer in Santee.
See you at the wedding. I will be dressed in red as will Sam
Ciao
FM in SD
Jimmy-boy
Jim, as always, it is fun to read your comments. I tried to convince Chris’ fiancée to let me wear a Tommy Bahama shirt, shorts and flip flops to the wedding. Hmmm, that didn’t go over very well. So I actually bought a suit for the wedding. I have no idea what I will do with it after the wedding, but I now own a suit. Go figure. And yes, I am mellowing in my dotage, no doubt about that. See you in a few weeks. Jim
Wow… that’s a lot of bridges. Beautiful!! Thank you, Jim for sharing your life and adventures with us!!
Ha Ha! We only used a fraction of the photos we have of bridges. The hard part was deciding which ones to us and which ones not to use. We could do four more posts like this one… all with different photos of water under the bridge. Thank YOU for following us. Jim
What a beautiful, poignant post, dear Beaubeaux two.
It made me feel happy, sad, introspective, in wonder, and in agreement with your well chosen words. I love you both.
Eva, it brings a smile to our face very time we see your name next to a comment. Of all the folks in this world, Carmen and I hold you as a precious friend. We are so happy to hear you enjoyed this post. Jim
You two pick the best topics and metaphors! I love how you could pick up Pico when crossing a bridge with metal squares or footing, so awful for dogs’ paws. Not something we can do with Maya!
I remember that bridge in Taos all too well. I took the same photo of Mark driving our then camper – Zesty, a Westfalia/Sprinter van over it. It’s actually one of the header photos of my blog. 🙂
That “Under the Bridge” song of the Red Hot Chili Peppers used to be one of my favorites when I was a teenager.
I’m glad you had some well-deserved rest these last months. Happy travels once again!!
Liesbet, thank you for your comments. Yes, Pico had very little feet and we always picked him up when we were going over places where they could be caught. Miss that little guy. That bridge in Taos is beautiful, isn’t it? I like that song by Red Hot Chili Peppers myself. Stay safe out there! Jim
Jim, a few years back we went to bike the Virginia creeper trail. We got to the river where the campground was at only to find that half of the bridge was missing. They were rebuilding the bridge and reduced it to one lane, 8ft wide. They had removed 300 ft of the bridge. So, I had to cross an 8ft wide bridge with no rails. The camper is 8ft. Best part a few days later I had to recross this fun bridge.
Gary, great story!!!! Thanks for sharing! Jim
Beautiful! Pictures and words. Continued safe travels
Cathy, thank you. Coming from someone who I have known since kindergarten, it means a lot. I believe this is you in Mrs. Hills class 1959. Am I right?
Yes you are correct Jimmy!
Thanks a lot for posting 😉!
My sister still lives on Harbison!
What an amazing life you are living. And thanks for sharing with others. Keep on keeping on!
It’s so fun reading about your adventures, and sometimes mishaps. I hope you have a wonderful summer!
Thank you! We do prefer to share the good and the bad since so many folks think this lifestyle only has it ups, when in reality it has its downs as well. It is life! Jim
I thoroughly enjoy following your travels! We actually met you in a Harvest Host in Rodeo, California and enjoyed visiting with you both. Safe travels!
Erik, I remember, it was Four Fools Winery in Rodeo, back in February 2022, when we were on our way to Alaska. Thank you for following Living in Beauty. Jim
I enjoyed your bridge review. It makes me want to go back through my 17 years of images to see which bridges we have crossed. This year we crossed our final bridge when we sold our Winnie after nearly 175,000 miles of adventure. I’ll have to live vicariously through your travel journal. Best of luck to you and LIB. Happy trails.
Vince, Wow! 175,000 miles! Sorry to hear you have sold your RV, but we figure someday, hopefully not soon, we will be faced with the same decision. We find it hard to believe we will be starting our 10th year on the road in July, having pulled the Airstream a little more than 75,000 miles. Glad you enjoyed this post. Thank you for following LIB. Jim
In a ‘life style’ where you might think everything is transitory, you two come across as two of the most solid and set people I have shared pictures and travel with. Don T. shared your photos, and most importantly your exposure to the beauty around you. A little off track, but I can still remember my grandmothers red wool patch pocket penelton coat and the copies of Arizona Highways with the Airstream camp out taking place in huge circles. Sorry to hear about your long stretch of bad luck and pain, but your exposure to the beauty seems to have helped you ‘bridge’ that issue. K Mason.
Mason, thank you for your kind words. And thanks for sharing your story about your experience at Airstream Rallies. You are correct, experiencing beauty has helped us heal. Stay safe out there! Jim
I always enjoy reading your well written blog filled with great pictures. Thank You!
Steve, Christy, Anna and Phoebe,
Glad to hear you enjoy reading our posts. We have a lot of fun gathering all the photos and writing about this amazing lifestyle of full-time travel. Jim
I love bridges but I’ve made a personal pledge not to go over the Hood River Bridge again! 9.0 ft lanes with an 8′ 6″ trailer is too much stress. 🙂
Steve,
We have a funny story about that bridge.
In the summer of 2018, we left the Salem International Airstream Rally and headed to Portland for a short visit with friends. While there we looked up and found a Harvest Host in Parkdale, Oregon, Montavon’s Berries. We stayed there one night.
We then headed north on Highway 35 toward Hood River, planning to cross the bridge.
Not just a no, but a HELL NO, came out of our mouths, so we turned east on Highway 84 staying on the south side of the river until we could cross safely at Umatilla, Oregon on Highway 82.
Thanks for sharing your story. Jim
I agree with you. I travel up and down the Columbia Gorge hiway more than a 100 times and I rarely cross that bridge. We had a club member hit be a long flat bed trailer and it was like someone took a can opener to his trailer. No place to stop until off the bridge and even then very limited space to park.
Wow, you take some good pics!!!!
Nancy, thank you, we try! Jim
Every time I read one of your posts it brings back memories of our 15 months full time. I wish it had been longer and 6 years later I still want to go back “out.” Your posts always make me look up at my bulletin board and read my favorite quote: “The call of your soul is not a wrong number.” Thanks for taking me along as you enjoy your life on the road.
Sheila, thank you for telling us about your 15 months traveling full-time six years ago. When we think about stopping, we get all stressed because we are still enjoying this lifestyle after all these years. We know it will be a sad day the day we stop. So many of our friends and family do not understand our choice to live on the road. Why would we give up two beautiful homes in Coronado, California to live in 180 square feet of living space in an Airstream. What we try to tell everyone is that we actually do not live in 180 square feet, we live outside in some of the most beautiful places in America. What a life!!!!! It is magical at times. Thank you for following LIB. Jim
Carmen & Jim – We always enjoy your posts; this one is truly special. So many exceptional pictures and as always your commentary brings us “there” to enjoy your travels. Hope Carmen’s hand heals quickly, but in the meantime, use that to get Jim to spoil you!
Michael and Judy,
It always brings a smile to our face when we see your name pop up. Don’t know if you two remember, but we sure do, that you have been following Living in Beauty since the very first post, The Rig, published on January 19, 2016. You two were one of the first to make a comment. You wrote “Congrats! Can’t wait to follow your adventures.” Back then we had never met each other, except through Airstream Facebook groups. What a delight to have finally met you at the Airstream International Rally in Salem Oregon in the summer of 2018. And, of course, our paths have crossed a few more times since then. Carmen and I hold you as very special friends and do hope someday, out there in this big big world, that our paths cross again. Stay safe out there and happy travels. Jim
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!
You make the road by walking it.
Ben Macri
OK Ben, you are quoting from John Huston’s 1948 movie “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” I’m trying to get into your mind and your twisted sense of humor 🤪. You must realize that is a difficult place to journey. Stay safe and give our love to Ruth! Jim
I especially love the bridge photo from Port St. Joe. I think I stook in the exact spot to take my own picture. We couldn’t tell the water from the sky! Just lovely!
I hope your travels continue to be great. It was a pleasure to meet you at Sun Outdoors in San Diego this past December/January. I am the Canadian whose wife’s name is also Carmen!
Stay well.
Leonard R.
Leonard, Carmen and I remember you both. It is easy to remember your wife’s name.🥰 The photo was taken slightly north, (a 5 minute walk) of Presnell’s Bayside marina and RV Resort in Port St. Joe, Florida. Thank you for following LIB. Hope our paths cross again. Jim
Beautiful post, Jim. Seeing Beauty makes me miss our two former Airstreams, Lola and Rolling Pearl. We traded the most recent one in for a new Class A coach last year. In MHO, there is nothing like an Airstream. Hope your updated bathroom turned out well too. Thanks for taking us along.
Kathy and Steve, thank you for following Living in Beauty for all these years. I saw that your first comment was 8 years ago. Hope your decision to move to a motorhome is one you are happy with. We cannot imagine living any anything but Beauty, she has been so good to us since we bought her 10 years ago. The bathroom remodel turned out great, although it wasn’t planned and only happened because when I was replacing a cartridge in the bathroom faucet, it broke inside and could not fix it. One thing lead to another and… well, it turned into a huge job. Hope someday our paths cross on the road. Stay safe out there. Jim
Hey Jim n Carmen,I’m a big fan of your Living in Beauty blog!
Particularly enjoyed the “Bridges”. Fantastic photography and commentary.
Sam, glad you enjoyed this post. It was fun collecting photos of water under bridges for years and being able to assemble them into a story. Jim
Fantastic blog on Bridges… life is like crossing a new bridge every day isn’t it? Reading your post was a calming way to begin my morning. Here’s a few ideas for giving away your suit. Organizations like Becca’s Closet and Project G.L.A.M. accept dress donations, which are then gifted to students in financial need. Operation Prom, on the other hand, accepts both dresses and suits in a variety of states. Stay calm and carry on, Mary
Mary, so glad you enjoyed this post. Thank you for the tips and suggestions on how donate my suit after the wedding. 😊 Jim
Great blog! Love all the meanings bridges can carry in our lives and thankful your writing, experience, and travels are a bridge to this community you’ve built!
Jerod, thank you for your kind words. We had a lot of fun putting this blog post together. Glad you enjoyed reading it. Jim
I stumbled upon this post and couldn’t leave without saying how much I appreciate the effort behind it. So well articulated and beautifully executed. Hats off!
Beverly, thank you! Jim