a grand adventure: the trail is the thing // road trip

the trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.

Travel to fast and you miss all you are traveling for.

- Louis L'Amour

June 24th feels like an entire lifetime ago. The day we planned for. Saved for. Looked forward to. Worried about.

The day we were to head on the road. The day we headed west. Headed home.

There was so much planning leading up to that day. Things to figure out. Packing. Praying. And yes, even crying.
As much as I had longed to head home, and prayed for the day to someday come, it was still hard. Hard saying goodbye to those I had lived near for a year and a half. Hard to see my husband have to say goodbye to his family and childhood home. Heading to a place he knew so little about. Trusting that God was guiding and leading us in the direction we were called to go.

We're coming in on a wing and a prayer.

Coming in on a wing and a prayer.

Though there's one motor gone we will still carry on.

We're coming in on a wing and a prayer.

Have you ever heard that old song before? I felt at times I really could relate to those words, in a way. It felt as though we were struggling forward, barely staying afloat, and surviving on prayer alone. Then again, isn't that how we should always be in life? Trusting fully in our Lord above?

My parents flew in to help us pack and drive across this large country. I'll admit, I was nervous. I don't do well with freeway driving and the thought of doing it for 5 days while hauling a trailer had me on edge. But, my husband and daddy did a great job and I was able to stay fairly relaxed all the way across.

We had long days on the road, crashing in to bed at night, and heading back on the road bright and early the next day. It was neat seeing the country change before your eyes, and experiencing it all with Josiah. He had never seen many of the states we drove through and I loved that he was able to see so much of it. The four of us traveling on the open road, eating packed lunches, and laughing about how sore our "tooshies" were getting. Memories were made for sure.

Here are a few ~~thousand~~ dozen photos from across the country! I hope you enjoy.

We planned to head out on the road on a Monday, but moved out of our apartment on Saturday and stayed the weekend at my Grandparents. Here is my Mother Dear helping me do my last minute packing!

Bittersweet! Our empty living room.

With Josiah's Dad, Ed. His mom, Rachel, left for Cape Cod that morning before we thought to get a photo!

Monday morning! Last look at my Grandparent's before heading on the road.

Here we go!

First (of many) lunch stops. This one was in New York.

First motel.

Tea time before bed.

Breakfast in our motel.

19 weeks

One morning we got up to a nasty thunder and lightening storm! Thankfully it passed over us fairly quickly.

A longer than usual lunch stop! We usually ate packed lunches but one day made a longer break at Applebee's in Nebraska then walked over to this little store and museum.

I love you.

View from our motel one morning! I can't express how good to felt to be back west and in the open. I could breathe once again.

Some buffalo at a rest area.

Oh so close!

My dad needed the rest room so we quickly pulled off the road at a truck stop. Turned out to be a super yummy place! It is one of the oldest ongoing businesses in Idaho and is over 100 years old.

Welcome "home"!

Our last morning waking in a motel. Pendelton, OR <3
I drove through this area many many times as a little girl. It felt as though I
had finally made it officially home.