Where, Oh Where Has My Sanity Gone?

Day 12 (Thursday, January 10th)

Anything extraterrestrial has always fascinated my science fiction-loving brain. Daniel may have been most excited to see the Grand Canyon on Day 11, but I was more excited for our stop on Day 12. We left our hotel later than intended and made our way out. I had not told Daniel about this destination, but I plugged in the address to his phone maps. We drove only for about three hours before we pulled into the parking lot of the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico! What a fantastic way to start the day! We even got some live footage of aliens with their ship and spent more money than we should have on gifts for our friends...but it was just too good to pass up! We realized that we were running about two hours later than intended and tried to rush to our next nightly stop.

Amarillo, Texas was about halfway between Roswell and our stop on the Oklahoma border, and I wanted Daniel to get a little taste of some Texas beef. He opted to have this in the form of big, juicy 16oz bone-in ribeye with minced garlic on top at one of the weirdest cowboy-themed stops I have ever seen. They had an eating contest that challenged people to completely finish a 72oz steak and ALL of the trimmings in under an hour. Daniel and I kept our spirits up and our stomachs quiet by watching via webcam as three people attempted this. One person even ended up winning! This stop ended up tacking on extra time to our trip that we hadn't planned for. We ended up getting to our hotel at nearly one in the morning. It was out in the middle of nowhere, too, which was a bit unsettling. The room was amazing, however, and we were able to rest and recover, since the next day's drive was not as taxing.

Day 13 (Friday, January 11th)

Rain greeted us as we stepped out of our warm hotel lobby on this morning. We opted to just push through in the hopes that we could outrun the worst of the storm. This choice saved us some discomfort in the end, but not before we encountered some seriously slippery streets! Honestly, the only thing we really remember of Oklahoma between sheets of rain was the overwhelming and pervading smell of all things cow and dirt. There was a nice little Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way as well as a fairly decent gas station that had some really cool gifts for our family. The people we encountered were friendly and helpful, but we were very excited to finally reach our hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Day 14 (Saturday, January 12th)

More rain attacked our hotel windows this morning. Luckily, breakfast hours are extended on the weekend at our hotels, so we were able to catch on some much-needed sleep and enjoy a nice waffle and cup of OJ. We also called in an order to the most highly locally recommended BBQ joint around so that Daniel could experience Memphis's version of the southern staple that is BBQ. I thought ribs would be an appropriate choice considering the location, and we were not disappointed. Next on our agenda was Graceland, but we though it wise to cross this off the list on a different trip, since the rain had started up even more heavily again. It was our pleasure to spend some time with friends just south of Nashville before heading down the home stretch of our journey to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It is still raining here as I type these belated blog posts while our pile of laundry is being washed and while Daniel and I shove pizza in our faces and dream of passing out until about noon tomorrow. I will likely not post more of the trip, but I truly appreciate all of your time and attention in helping us achieve this huge goal of ours! I also appreciate you sticking with us and reading through all of this text! Congratulations! Go, you! You should be proud of yourself!

Thank you all so much for your prayers, well-wishes, and contributions. Daniel and I hope to send some nice things out to people within the next few weeks, so be looking out for that. Have a wonderful week, and stay tuned for our post made entirely of pictures!!

~*Mrs. Simpson*~

Homeless Men and Burros!

Day 9 (Monday, January 7th)

Albany was such a cute little town, and we had the pool to ourselves in the morning. I had warned Daniel from the beginning that this day of driving would be the longest we would have to endure, and it ended up totaling to about a twelve hour day! We laughed. We cried. We had breakfast. Most of Oregon was exactly what you would expect - a nice blend of pines and orchards and fields. There was a bit more color there than in Washington, even with it being the middle of winter. There was also a nice balance between mountains and flatlands. Once we started the climb into northern California, however, that changed a bit. There were a lot more mountains to traverse and lots of picture moments, but it wreaked havoc on my ears!

Daniel and I were not huge fans of California. We stopped for gas a few times as well as food, but mostly it smelled bad. We thought it was just the sea at first, but we were so far inland that I ruled that  possibility out. Whatever it was permeated the air wherever we went. That day was so long and uneventful. I also happened to get sick this day, which made both of us feel worse. We were both grateful to arrive at our hotel in Fresno, California. The outside did concern us a bit, but the room ended up being beautiful. We were hopeful for the next day's drive, and Daniel even found a bright yellow California hoodie that matched my Wyoming one! We were also sad to learn that, while on the road, we were only about an hour away from the college football championship game at one point! Talk about missed opportunities...

Day 10 (Tuesday, January 8th)

Our stay at Fresno was probably one of our more swankier choices. With all of the Hilton points I had accrued thus far, I spent them on a Doubletree hotel. I feel like it was worth it just for the cookies. Daniel does not share my sentiments. Regardless, we completed our normal routine and headed on our way. Just outside the hotel, I saw my first real palm tree and also my first homeless colony. California was much like the day before until we reached Bakersfield. There is a little stop just before the pass to Mojave called Meyers Fruit Stand, and it was one of our favorite stops of the entire trip. The billboard advertised a free bag of fruit for filling up at their gas station, and we needed to stop anyways. We pulled into the parking lot and saw that they had quite an impressive store that sold fresh produce, sweet treats, country decorations, touristy stuff, and hot meals! Daniel ordered a breakfast hand pie, and I tried their salsa verde version. The pastry was simply amazing, and I hope to include a picture or two in our "album post" later.

By the time we recovered from our food coma, we had reached the tiny town of Oatman, Arizona that a friend had recommended to me. I knew that the little desert town was overrun with wild burros, but I hadn't told Daniel. Boy, was he surprised!! It was such a surreal experience, and the fact that we arrived there in time for sunset made the whole stop that much more memorable. The entire road away from Oatman wound up into the red rocks behind the town, and the blood red sky illuminated every peak. This was one of Daniel's favorite memories of the trip so far. We ended the night in Kingman, Arizona at a hotel that may or may not have had an In-N-Out Burger nearby that we partook of...

Day 11 (Wednesday, January 9th)

The Grand Canyon was our main goal for this day, and we knew our destination was not that far away, so we took our time getting started in the morning. The hotel even had a brand new hot tub! The drive to the canyon was fairly uneventful and very pretty. Even Arizona still had a light dusting of snow, which I thought made everything better! We met some very nice people in Williams, Arizona just before we arrived at the canyon and had a very nice conversation about the history of the area. I unfortunately was feeling even worse by this time, so poor Daniel was worrying about me the entire time. The entrance gate to the Grand Canyon was unmanned because of the government shutdown, so no one was there to collect entrance fees. The walking paths were still a little snowed over, but it was easy finding Mather's Point and enjoying the unique sight. Daniel absolutely loved it. He said he could have stayed there for hours just trying to comprehend the magnitude of it all. It truly does make you feel so small! We definitely hit that gift shop hard. It was one of our most tourist-ey moments. After spending way too much time and way too much money there, we made our way to our stop for the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Wind, Washington, and Well-Wishers

Day 5 (Thursday, January 3rd)

By this time, Daniel and I had established a fairly normal routine of waking up at eight, swimming, grabbing breakfast, getting ready for the day, and heading out by nine or ten. Some days this was easy, and some days left us wishing we could magically add another day into our trip. This Thursday was no exception. We located the nearest Starbucks for breakfast and a pick-me-up, then we headed on our way to the Washington state border. I loved the ride through Wyoming, but Daniel did not. It was such a beautiful landscape with a fresh dusting of snow! Nothing else exceptional happened besides our driving through Casper where my parents lived for a while and my finding the best, warm, cuddly, highlighter-yellow Wyoming hoodie on the face of the planet! We ended the day by staying at a hotel in KennewickI hope to post a blog entirely of pictures when we return to civilization. We simply don't have the bandwidth to on the road, unfortunately.

Day 6-8 (Friday, January 4th-Sunday the 6th)

Daniel and I allowed ourselves a couple extra hours to sleep and swim on Friday before heading to our hotel in Gig Harbor. We also had to plan the second half of our trip along with the hotels at each stop, and we had to figure out a game plan for the weekend. Daniel's father was in the hospital, so we surprised him that night! Daniel's mom also was kind enough to let us do some laundry, which had piled up a bit at this time. We slept very well this night, because we knew we didn't have a very long drive ahead of us the next day, and the Inn at Gig Harbor was our absolute favorite hotel of all! It had a big jacuzzi in the room and a special suite with a sofa and even a conference table and guest half bath!

Our main priority the next two days was to fit in some time with as many friends and family members as possible. It was inevitable, of course, that we were not able to accomplish this with everyone. Daniel was especially refreshed and encouraged  by spending time with his immediate family who were not able to be at the wedding and by seeing/meeting all of his nieces and nephews. It was a joy to watch. We were both very sad to leave our family (and that hotel!), but we decided to get an early start on the road Sunday afternoon after the lovely reception Daniel's mother arranged for us at Westside, Daniel's old church home. We ended Sunday night in Albany, Oregon after a relatively short drive.

Happily Ever After the Next Stop

Hey Y'all! I can't believe it's been a full four days of marriage to my lovely man! w00t! We both are so grateful to everyone who helped with the wedding (including but not limited to) Miriam & Randy, Garth & Becky, mi familia, Summer, Lindsay, Sarah, and Cathy! Many more helped set up the venue and reception, and many many MANY more of you were so kind and generous enough to make our honeymoon trip possible (and safe!). God has truly blessed this time of starting a new family together. With that said, here's a look into our trip so far!

 Day 1: After spending the night in downtown Greenville, Daniel and I hit the highway on our way to the Creation Museum. It was one of our longer legs of the trip, and it was fairly quiet. Driving through the mountains is always enjoyable.We arrived at the Creation Museum at around seven at night. Honestly, we were worried that the office would be closed or that we would only have about half an hour to wander around. Not only were we two hours before closing time, but the whole place was still decorated like a winter wonderland with all of the fairy lights and even "Bible characters" wandering around talking about the good news. The man at the ticket counter even announced that there was a special which included access to this amazing walk through the grounds and two very nice travel mugs with unlimited hot cocoa during our time there!! God is so good! When we finished walking through the place as best we could, we started making our way to our night's stop about an hour from St. Louis. We were so thankful for that hotel, especially after passing through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana (twice), Ohio, and Illinois.

 Day 2: Rain visited us in the morning, and we skipped the hotel breakfast in order to get some miles under our belt for the day. We eventually stopped at this little restaurant called the Blue Springs Cafe after seeing a sign somewhere, and it happened to be the best random food decision of the trip that far. I have never had better meatloaf, and I am fairly certain Daniel would have loved taking a bath in that country fried steak and gravy. Apparently, this cafe was "Home to the Mile-High Pies as Seen on Food Network", so we decided to test their banana cream pie. I can see the...a-peel. Haha. Get it? Banana. *cough* ANYWAYS, we finished driving through Missouri, which was a lot of flat farm country. Iowa was next, and though the road was smooth, I would rather not drive through it again. The land was so flat that, after the initial awe of seeing everything for miles, it was rather dull. Towards the end of our drive through Iowa, we crossed over into Minnesota and had to skip our adventures to the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption and the Jolly Green Giant statue due to the weather. The roads had become a little icy and it was snowing. Thankfully, our AirBNB was just over the Minnesota border, so we drove through this cozy little town of Fairmont easily. It was a town straight out of a Hallmark movie with powdery snow covering the ground and all of the wreath-trimmed light poles lining the main street. The only complaint we had was our first encounter with negative seven degree weather and strong winds.

 Day 3: My mom gave me a new luggage set, some cozy fleece leggings, and a very thick pair of gloves for Christmas......and I absolutely used all of these and two layers of clothing the next day. Poor Daniel volunteered to warm the car and even pull it around to the front of the apartment, so that all I had to do was load the luggage and hop in. We started our daily journey early in the morning, knowing that we had a good bit of ground to cover. The flat farm country started changing early into the day, and we crossed the South Dakota border not long after. Flat farmland also greeted us on this stretch of road, but we started to see more shrubs, hills, and even a few jackalopes along the way! Our original goal was to visit the Corn Palace, then Wall Drug, then round out the evening by seeing Mount Rushmore before heading back to a surprise hotel/stop that I had planned for Daniel. The Corn Palace was closed, since it was New Year's Day, and that made me sad. It was still very cold, however, so we took a picture with the mascot and hopped back into the warm car. Wall Drug was also closed, and we were very hungry by this time, so both of us were disappointed with not getting a juicy bison burger. We kept plugging along through the endless stretches of road until about an hour and a half to our stop. The snow had stopped the night before, but it left a lot more ice on the roads. The setting of the sun made this even worse, so we decided to skip Mount Rushmore that night and head straight to the hotel. When we arrived at the surprise, we were both tired from a very tense drive, and I remembered that Rushmore likely would not be an ideal stop during the government shutdown anyways. We relaxed by treating ourselves to some pie at the local diner and passing out in the room.


 Day 4: I was SUPER excited about this stop, guys! It was my intention during planning for this trip to provide a fun stop and a nice break from driving on this day before traveling to the next stop. The hotel we stayed at had an indoor water park where we ended up spending the morning. Daniel's eyes lit up when he saw the huge jacuzzi, and we got there early enough to beat most of the crowds. We took our time getting ready and started to drive through Wyoming. I was afraid we would face more of the ice that had given us such trouble the night before, but with the sun coming out and making the day a sweltering forty degrees, the snow had cleared up for most of today's journey! Wyoming has been the most picturesque drive by far. Sturdy pines poked up out of their pillowy blankets and the mountains came alive with winds strong enough to blow someone into another lane if they weren't paying attention. One of my favorite views was seeing the setting sun through the mountain peaks. Our hotel greeted us warmly with the smell of freshly baked cookies. It was nice to feel like we had returned to civilization. There was even a Starbucks down the street! Before we turned in for the night, we decided to give the sushi and Chinese food restaurant called Bonsai a try. It sat right in front of our hotel's entrance. This definitely topped the little cafe in Missouri! The fish was so fresh, you could taste the stream. Now we are full and ready to pass out again. Who knows what we will encounter on the road tomorrow, but we hope to see Daniel's home state of Washington soon and earn a good rest near family.

 ~*Mrs. Simpson*~