All the Way Home (Days 55 & 56)

Day 55

Wednesday, Sept. 4th 2013

Moab

At 1:30 AM, I received a terrible phone call. My sister and brother-in-law had lost their expected baby, Jackson, and would have to deliver him still born. On today of all days, my sweet Ellie's 3rd birthday. So many tears and sadness. We wanted to get home as soon as possible to be there with our family. 

We packed everything up that morning and headed out. We tried to still make Ellie's day special and gave her one of her presents. Ellie loved the Curious George monkey we got for her. 

We drove through Arches National Park on our way northward. We tried to enjoy the beauty but it was difficult with such tragedy surrounding us. It was a very long day of driving.

In honor of Ellie's birthday, and her request for eggs for dinner, we stopped at Pizza Pie Cafe, a pizza/salad buffet (with hard boiled eggs!). 















It was pretty tasty and it refueled our tanks for more long hours of driving. 

When the girls' bedtime rolled around we stopped at a rest area. After singing happy birthday, eating some cake, opening another present, and getting ready for bed, we headed back out. The girls fell asleep and Caleb and I stocked up on energy drinks and candy.

Proud to be 3 

Goodbye Utah, hello Idaho. We drove till exhaustion forced us over at another rest area at 2:30 in the morning. 

Loving the cake!

Day 56

Thursday, Sept. 5th 2013

We were back up around 6 and ready to finish the trek home. There was a text awaiting us saying my sister had delivered baby Jackson earlier that morning. Our hearts were with them as they mourned. 

Into Oregon with a torrential rain storm to welcome us. 

Through the empty golden hills and finally into familiar ground. The beautiful Columbia gorge.

We crossed the 205 bridge and there was the sign for Washington. 

Home sweet home. 

2:40 pm - final time. 

Ah so good to be back, though under such circumstances, the happiness seems misplaced. We had a small reunion at my parents' house. Such joy and pain all at the same time.

I wanted to share something that a dear family friend wrote after she looked up that Jackson's name meant - "God has been gracious; has shown favor." Some things in life are so hard to bear and impossible to explain. Sometimes we need to take a step back and look with eyes not our own to see things in a different light. It might not answer the whys in moments of tragedy, but it may soothe aching hearts to see beyond this temporal life. Her words are the following...

"Meanwhile we will embrace the truth that this little baby was and is truly favored by God. To go from the womb of his loving mother who 'swaddled' him daily with her love-prayers-dreams-hopes, straight into the arms of his Creator. The first and only sounds his ears will hear will be the glorious harmony of Heaven. The first thing his eyes will ever see/know will be the beauty and glory of our precious Lord." 

To know no pain or suffering, to not have to live a life filled with regrets... 

We grieve that we will not have Jackson in our lives. Yet we may be comforted knowing his life will never be tainted by this imperfect world; that he lives on in Heaven in everlasting joy. 

Please pray for my family as we deal with the grief, but also, those of you who grieve with us, be comforted that we shall see this precious one again! 

"...Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." 

Psalms 30:5b

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Looking back at our trip, we thank God for such an amazing opportunity. We had a blast exploring the vast country we are privileged to call home. The road had been long and hard at times, but we saw God's guiding hand everywhere we went. 

We set off on the adventure of a lifetime and now are back where we started. Yet the journey does not end here. We still have lots to figure out, but we have been taking steps to discover God's next plan for our lives.

We've been on a mission. To recapture the American dream. We sold our house, most of our possessions and are on the hunt for a new job. Why? To simplify. To re-define the way we live. Without a mortgage and things to hold us down, we have the freedom to move where God wants us next. 

We aren't sure where that is yet, but I'm excited... excited to see what door God will open next. 

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery,

today is a gift, that's why it's called the present." 

The Grandeur of it All! (Days 49-54)

Day 49

Thursday, August 29^th 2013

We were on our way to the Carlsbad Caverns!

It would be a long drive through Texas. 

Everything was very dry and hot, with many miles of flat land. 

As we approached New Mexico, Texas got greener and there were more hills. Then we passed into New Mexico and entered Mountain Time Zone.

We found a Walmart in Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was a rough night as it was so hot out and the trailer was even hotter. The generator didn't want to start up. It was late and we hadn't had any dinner. 

I threw together some sub sandwiches and headed into Walmart with the girls. Caleb stayed back to work on the generator. Finally, he got it working and we came back to a slightly cooler trailer. We could only run the AC for so long but it was some relief for the night.

Day 50

Friday, August 30^th 2013

Even though it was hot that morning, we put on pants, socks & shoes and held onto our coats.

We were more than excited to arrive at the Carlsbad Caverns and descend 750 feet underground to the welcoming cooler temperature of the cave.

The caverns was an open tour which made it much nicer to be able to set our own pace with the girls. We took our time walking through the magnificence of the caves. 

The towering ceilings were adorned in needle like stalagmites and the ground wove around giant columns and beautiful displays of stalactites. 

We were blown away by the beauty of it all. And since we could take it slow, I actually got some pictures to turn out. =D 

Such an amazing walk through the caverns!

On the way back to our car, I found this butterfly on the road and it let me pick it up. It was content to just sit upon my hand for a long time. Super cool! 

Afterward, we drove through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park on our way back into Texas. It was faster to drive back down into Texas and then cross over again into New Mexico then to drive from Carlsbad further into New Mexico. Go figure.

So we drove through the mountainous part of Texas that jutted right up against the US/Mexico border in El Paso. We even got to see the wall dividing the two countries.

It's so crazy to see how fast the landscape changes! From wide open plains to rolling hills to mountains in the distance with palm trees dotting a more arid climate. 

And I always thought palm trees were more of a tropical thing.

Our girls got very efficient in using their feet while confined to their chairs, lol

Another Walmart served as home for the night, this time in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was another late night so we walked over to an Applebees to grab some dinner. Much nicer than cooking in our toasty little trailer.

Day 51

Saturday, August 31^st 2013

Another big day of driving. 

Along our way, we saw another setup very similar to Wall Drug except this time it was for a place called Old West. 

Signs every few feet encouraging us to stop at this “amazing” location. We had fallen for the marketing scheme last time so we didn't feel so inclined to give in this time around. 

As we passed some old rundown looking building claiming to be “Old West”, we were glad we did so. There's no place like Wall Drug. Sorry New Mexico.

A little further on, we came upon a border inspection station. What??? We weren't even near the border anymore. All vehicles were required to pull off the freeway and drive through the inspection station. 

We crawled through the line and smiled for our pictures (you know that's the real reason for this right?!?). The border agent asked us where we were from, where we were going, are you on vacation, ok have a nice trip and sent us on our way. Strange.

It wasn't long before we passed another sign. This one said “USE EXTREME CAUTION”.

Ok...

Everything seemed just fine.

Another sign cleared it up for us. “Dust storms may exist next 10 miles.” Good to know.

We left crazy New Mexico behind and crossed into Arizona. It was surprisingly green with lots of hills and mountains in the distance. 

There were a lot of random patches of giant stones jutting up from the ground.

We drove for awhile and Caleb began to get distressed. “Where the heck are all the cactuses?” (Cause cacti just sounds weird) “There were supposed to be cactuses!”

I heard this for a good long while...

Until finally, the cacti arrived! 

Arizona was cool again. 

Actually it was very hot, but I at least didn't have to hear about how lame the drive was without any cacti. ;D  

AND Caleb finally got to hug a cactus... that's one to scratch off the bucket list. 

We arrived at Grandpa Les & Grandma Betty's (my grandparents) house around 6:30. Grandma Betty fed us dinner and then we spent some time sharing pictures and catching up. So glad we could spend time together! 

Thanks... we really needed that friendly reminder... lol
These road sides crack me up!

Day 52

Sunday, Sept. 1st 2013

  

Grandma & Grandpa Witt's new home! 

We got to spend all day with my wonderful grandparents. Grandma is a crafty person and showed me how to make scarves and beaded bracelets. Grandpa showed us his cool wooden hand-carved flutes.

I discovered where I got my love for red hots from! My Grandma brought out a big ole bowl of them and even had the good brand. =) Until now, I hadn't known of anyone else who liked to gobble red hots up like I do. 

My grandma made this continuing family tree and I just loved the idea!

It was a great day visiting and I even got caught up on Mt. Neverrest again. 

Thank you so much Grandma Betty & Grandpa Les! We love you guys and are very grateful we got to stop by and spend some time with you both. 

Day 53

Monday, Sept. 2nd 2013

We said goodbye to my grandparents and set off towards the Grand Canyon. 

We made a small detour to check out Montezuma Castle. Now when I think of the word "castle", I had imagined something a bit... bigger? 

The tree bark on these sycamores was beautiful!

So when we saw the buildings carved into the side of a cliff, it was not what I expected. Don't get me wrong, dwellings made right out of the face of a mountain are super cool, just... where'd they get off with calling it a castle?

Because of the unstable conditions, we couldn't climb up into the castle, but they had a display of what it looked like back in it's glory days. 

A lot of neat history about the people who lived there and all just in a short walk - perfect for a hot day like today.

Next we dropped off our trailer at our resting place for the night, Canyon Gateway RV park. It was a decent place and price for being only about half an hour from the Grand Canyon. 

We drove through Kaibab National Forest and climbed up into about 7000 feet elevation. After pulling into the park, we found a place to park and headed off on foot. 

All you could see where trees and desert land till suddenly, the landscape cleared and there it was. 

The Grand Canyon! Two hundred and seventy seven miles of canyon stretching as far as the eye could see. 

The layers in the rock and the beautiful reds, yellows and browns formed a stunning monument. It bears the title of "Grand" well.

Ellie and Juliet loved the walk along the canyon. 

Juliet would hold out her hand until Ellie would grab it and then the two of them would swing their hands back and forth, laughing all the way. 

They were adorable and everyone we passed couldn't help watching them.       

The walkway continued on for miles but we eventually stopped and took one of the free tour buses back to the parking area. 

We headed back to the RV park, relishing the grand memories we had just made. 

Day 54

Tuesday, Sept. 3rd 2013

The rest of the drive through Arizona was just beautiful. The landscape so rugged and vastly open. 

Random rock formations towered alone along the empty plains, and then suddenly, colorful mountains would appear.  

We drove for hours until we reached the Four Corners Monument. Of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in four places at once. 

The monument was just a metal circle on the ground with the states names around it, but it was cool to get pictures! 

Ellie & Juliet wanted to get in on the action

We put Juliet in Utah, Ellie in Arizona, Caleb in New Mexico, and I hung out in Colorado. We still kept in touch though. :D 

Afterwards, we drove briefly through Colorado and then we went into Utah. The sun had set by the time we reached Moab, Utah. 

There was hardly anything in town so we crashed at an RV park for the night. 

We were 7 minutes from Arches National Park and there were a few other national parks nearby as well. 

Tomorrow would be a full day of sightseeing.