Last week was spent rolling through 10 different states throughout the Southwest United States with 3 great friends.  We left Ames with no more of an agenda then to get to Denver, CO and make our way to the Grand Canyon.  Some might say 50+ hours in the car can get boring but I was constantly catching my breath at the beauty of God’s handiwork.  We drove through snowcapped mountains then red-rock deserts, pine trees then tumbleweeds (actually we only saw one tumbleweed and it was in a neighborhood, but it sounded good).  I never tired of expressing my awe to my travel companions.  A huge lesson I learned while on this adventure was that its the simple things in life that can rejuvenate the soul and bring us closer to each other and God.  Here are some of the simple things learned over the course of the trip that have brought God’s peace, love, and grace into my life this week.

• Sometimes no agenda is the best, you’re never late or behind schedule.
• Packed lunches are really the best lunches.

• Disposable cameras are cool and it’s okay to ask people to take pictures of your whole clan.
• God’s imagination is UNBELEIVABLE!! I had to pick my jaw up like every day lol

• You can find current road atlas’s that get you where you need to go and they don’t run out of battery or have to “re-route”.
• “Mom & pop” and “hole in the wall” restaurants/bars have the best food, environment, and are great for making memories.

• I should road trip more often.
• Connect 4 is still fun at 22.
• Hospitable people are gems.

• People of many walks of life are fascinated by the beauty of nature, which is the closest thing we have to comprehending God in this world. Nature brings awe to many, but how many people understand that when they take it in, all the ooohhs and aaaahhs, is worship to our Creator God in heaven?!

• Traveling through 3 time zones in one day may make one hysterical and/or delusional.
• Sometimes we feel lost but there will always be someone (God) or something (cairns) to keep us en route.

• Eating a whole meal with chopsticks every once in a while is a must.
• LAUGH!!! and then laugh some more 🙂
• When you get the chance snap some pictues standing, sitting, laying, in the middle of the road.

• The best times are free of data and wifi
• Road trip birthdays are fun, especially when they end by closing down a bar

Ames, IA => Denver, CO => Hanging Lake, CO => Arches National Park – Moab, UT => Monument Valley, UT => Tuba City, AZ => Grand Canyon National Park => Flagstaff, AZ => Sedona, AZ => Flagstaff, AZ => Amarillo, TX => Ames, IA