8/20/20
As we leave Denver, we get to experience our first real travel days of World Race America.
Because it’s a long drive from Denver, Colorado to Layton, Utah.
I think AIM actually has a really good idea of how to do travel around the US with such big distances.
Here’s how it works: stop in the middle and take a break for a couple days.
It’s truly genius. Don’t want to do a 12 hour drive in 1 day because it’s really really hard on the human body to adjust to a) sitting for that long, b) changing altitudes, c) changing climates, and d) being cooped up in a van with people for that long, among other things? Well, just stop after 6 hours and find a place to stay in the middle.
This time that happened to be camping in Moab, Utah.
The campsite was honestly really nice. Really nice grass, right next to the restrooms. And the best part? It didn’t rain this time. A successful 2 nights of camping in my book.
So, we got there in the late afternoon the first day and just had some time to hike around and find a store to shop and whatnot. Let me tell you, this area has a ton of beautiful hiking areas and parks and all that stuff. The suggestion arose that in the morning we could go to Arches National Park for a hike to see the sunrise.
The 4:30 wake up call was worth it for the view.
I don’t enjoy tons and tons of hiking, but once in a while you’re in a place that calls for a hiking adventure. This was one of those times.
That was my first experience of Utah. A beautiful morning with the Lord and my squad mates enjoying the scenery of a new state.
Some of the squad chose to go on another hike with potential to swim in a waterfall, but believe me it was way too hot for me to want to go on a 7 mile hike. I was very content with what I did. I spent the rest of the day at camp and in the little town of Moab enjoying lunch and shopping. Met the only Uber driver in town that day. He drove all of us wherever we wanted to go.
I’m enjoying the opportunity to see God’s handiwork in our world and our countries. The mountains have been beautiful though I will always miss the flat planes and sunrises. I encourage you to never take your surroundings for granted. Love every minute of your time in nature because God loved us enough to create us in a beautiful world with eyes to see and appreciate the beauty.
Never forget to thank God for this world when you see something beautiful. Never forget to revel in the beauty and majesty, take a hike, sit and enjoy a cool breeze, be in creation any way you can at every opportunity you get. Create opportunities for yourself to see the world. Don’t forget you can always just step up to your own window and revel in the fact God made the beauty of the place you live. Don’t take it for granted.
(As a side note, I want to share something my team has been talking about a bit. In my time here, my squad has been involved in using our own personal money to buy food for some homeless folks in need and Bibles for some people we met who didn’t have one on a few occasions, which are some upcoming stories. We’re realizing that it would be really cool to invite our communities at home into contributing to this need. If you would be interested in helping out, please let me know and I can share my Venmo information with you.)
