Here begins the start of the longest road trip of my life; from Fall City, WA to Gainesville, GA. It was tough saying bye to my family knowing I was moving across the country for this next season. I was so blessed by my family and friends while I lived at home the last 9 months. I left in high spirits though, and was excited to begin this next chapter in my life.
I soon realized how 11 hours in the car by myself would look. I realized that when I drive by myself, I came up with many reasons to stop and take a break, so the normal 6 hours that it would take to get from Spokane to Bozeman took me almost 9. It seemed logical in my mind to stop and take the scenic route around Lake Coeur d’Alene, stop at every rest stop (because the signs that say “next rest stop in 79 miles” seemed really intimidating), and stopping to exchange some pants at Target.
I finally made it to Belgrade, Montana where Nika (one of my best friends from the World Race) joined me for the rest of the road trip to Georgia. We spent 3 days here in Montana planning our trip and then left for Wyoming.
This picture shows what most of our meals on the road looked like. We would usually stop at a gas station or grocery store and eat our lunch/dinner off the hood of the car. 🙂
We spent a night in Jacksonhole, Wyoming.
The next day we drove all the way across Wyoming and got to see the Grand Tetons. SO beautiful. We were so stoked to be on such a beautiful drive!!
We couldn’t believe our luck when we stumbled on the World’s Largest Jackalope Exhibit in Dubois, Wyoming!!
Our excitement soon died down when the road looked like this for what seemed like eternity. For one of the first times in my life I experienced the sun coming through the back window during sunset!! At home there are always trees or mountains blocking it from shining through the back. We had a lot of time on this stretch to ponder strange life questions, to practice belting out songs for karaoke, and staring blankly for hours.
Finally, we arrived in Colorado and we were SO thrilled to see hills, trees, and mountains again!!
We had the wonderful opportunity to stay at Wind River Ranch in Estes Park, CO with our friend Sara (from the Race). We were able to volunteer and do work on the ranch with the wonderful staff that we quickly became close to.
We even got to wear staff shirts while we welcomed guests to the ranch. I can’t emphasize how blessed we were during these 3 days. The days we stayed there happened to be the same day that a Women’s Retreat was being held at the ranch, and we were able to attend free of charge. The messages and sermons we heard seemed to be perfect for what we were going through. We were able to be apart of a women’s small group of all ages, where we got to just share life and experiences with each other. Those ladies poured so much life into us, and gave us so much encouragement and support for the next chapter we were stepping into. As Nika and I were leaving the ranch, I felt so much more prepared for this next season of leadership.
We had the chance to catch up with another Race friend, Madison in Estes Park! It was so fun seeing her and hearing all about her wedding! 🙂
Once again we were back on the road for another long stretch, with a lot more fields, heading to Kansas.
At one point our GPS seemed to think this road was “23rd Street” but I don’t think it had been re-done since Lewis and Clark travelled on it so we turned around after about half of a mile of this view.
After we found civilization again, we got to stay with another Race friend, Ciera, and hear all about the wonderful mission trips she has gone on this summer! 🙂
Once again we found ourselves on the road again and ended up at another Race friend, Rebekah.
We spent the night catching up, playing cards, and being blessed by her cooking and treat bags she made for us. 🙂
The next day we drove through all of Arkansas…that’s about all I have to say for that day.
Nika and I spent 2 nights in Memphis, Tennessee and got to hang out with these wonderful friends from the Race! 🙂
We happened to be in Memphis same night that Need to Breathe and the Oh Hellos had a concert, so we had the chance to attend. Nika and I had been listening to Need to Breathe throughout our whole road trip so it was so incredible hearing them in person!
We left Memphis and spent 2 days exploring Nashville!
We were able to visit a couple more friends that we knew from the Race. We got to stay with Angie and she showed us around Nashville. 🙂
Soon enough we picked up Sara at the Chattanooga,TN airport and were on our last stretch to Georgia!! As you can see, we left her plenty of room in the car… haha. After two weeks of living out of this car, we were ready to get settled in Gainesville! I can’t say that this road trip was the most organized, but I am so thankful for all the experiences we had that we wouldn’t have had if we had just flown to Georgia. I realized that in life sometimes we take the fastest, easiest route to get somewhere, but often there are more gifts and experiences by taking the long road; the road less traveled. God was there all along the way and prepared our hearts, and filled us up for the adventure He has for us this fall.
