We have been wanting to write some sort of final blog post about our trip this summer but have been putting it off for quite some time because whenever we begin to think of what to say we come to a major road block. How do you sum up such an amazing experience?
When we think about our trip this summer tons of memories come back to us, camping, driving, laughing, family, getting lost, reading, friends, taking pictures, blogging, exploring, sketchy hotels, nice hotels, turkey sandwiches, talking on the phone, hiking and much much more. If we had to sum it all up there are two main things that come to mind. 1. We have an amazing country and 2. We have an amazing God.
1. Our country is vast, diverse an beautiful. From the small towns of rural Utah, to the traffic of L.A., to the rolling hills of West Virginia it is all AMAZING. We strongly urge everyone to travel here. Most people have other countries on their travel list (we do too, don't get us wrong) but add the good ol' USA to your list: there is so much to see and you won't be disappointed. We have so many places to see right here in our own backyard and it is much more economical than traveling overseas. The more we travel, the smaller we feel and the more we realize we still have a lot to learn. Keep traveling, keep questioning , keep discovering!
2. Our God provided and continues to provide more than we could have ever imagined. We learned and grew closer to Him on this 70 day adventure than we initially realized. As we look back we can see in multiple ways how the grace and guidance of God kept us safe and out of harms way. We are so thankful to God for all the things he has blessed us with: our families, our friends, our relationships, our jobs, rest, adventure and the opportunity to see our country.
We miss traveling and being on the road and would certainly do it again (even next week) if given the chance.
FAQ's
1. Q: What was your favorite place?
A: I have changed it multiple times but my top three probably go.....1. Grand Canyon- it is SO big and I can't wait to go back and continue exploring. 2. Yosemite- natural beauty at it's best. Each direction you turn there is another breathtaking view. 3. Southern Utah- the country's best kept secret, crazy landscapes that are unlike anywhere else.
2. Q: Did driving get annoying?
A: NO! We actually liked it! We had a great time in the car. There was usually interesting stuff to look at and a new destination awaiting at the end of the drive. It is much easier to do a 17 hr drive when you know at the end of it you will get to stay in Wyoming for a week!
3: Q: Did Jeremy do most of the driving?
A: No, the driving was split almost equally. Jeremy drove more in the cities and we traded off on the long stretches on the highway.
4. Q: What was hard?
A: Packing and unpacking the car! It was a tight puzzle to get everything in there therefore we had to be very neat and organized to make sure that we could get to all our stuff. Everything had a spot but after a while you just want to throw everything in and go! It also takes much longer than you think to get and stay organized everyday.
Also, we under-estimated the amount of time we needed to do administrative things. About once a week we needed some time to check emails, pay bills, figure out where we were going next, and other boring, mundane every day things.
Finally, blogging was tough, especially with slow internet connections. There were many days in which the last thing we wanted to do was enter a post and upload pictures when we were really tired and the drive started early the next morning. There were times when the pictures took 5-10 minutes each to load. In the end, it was really worth it. First, it allowed us to put down our thoughts in the moment. Now, the whole trip seems like a whirlwind so its great to have an account of what we thought as we drove up to the Grand Canyon for the first time.
It additionally allowed us to stay in contact with many of our friends that we didn't get to see or talk to as often as we would have preferred. Also, Jeremy's computer got stolen and we lost many of the originals of our 3K+ pictures. Without the blog, the photographs to document our memories would have been permanently lost.
5. Q: What did you eat?
A: Turkey sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly and granola bars. We would occasionally get an egg McMuffin from McDonalds (no meat, with the good scrambled eggs from the Big breakfast) but other than that we only ate fast food twice. Our usual plan was to eat 2 out of 3 meals from our cooler and then buy something for the other meal. Lots of Mexican--it seems to be everywhere.
6. Q:Where did you stay?
A: We camped for 6 days, stayed at hotel for 16 and stayed with family and friends for 48.
7. Q: Smallest population?
A: Twin Bridges, CA. posted population- 10
8. Q: Where do you want to go next?
A: Pacific northwest
9. Q: How many tanks of gas?
A: Don't have an answer now - but it is documented on in a notebook in Laura's car.
10. Q: How many miles did you travel?
A: Almost 12K
If anyone ever wants to take a trip cross country or to one of the places we went, please feel free to contact us. We would love to share our thoughts, ideas and suggestions.
