We are now officially American. In order to break up our drive from Texas to Colorado Springs, we “camped” in Trinidad, Colorado. But here's the thing, we didn't just camp, we Walmart camped! We had heard of this true blue kind of camping online, and felt we wouldn't be true Americans if we road-trip across America without doing this. Arriving in Trinidad right before sundown, we located the local Walmart, found the row of Rvs parked on the far side of the parking lot and pulled our van inbetween. It felt like we were pioneers, traversing a new-found land, and circling up our wagons for protection through the night...in some strange, modern sort of way. So after perusing the aisles of Walmartville, Dad treated the kids to a real American dinner—Chef Boyardee. Mmm. After our dinner ... read more

We drove through New Mexico bound for Colorado. Following the Santa Fe trail, used long ago for trading with the Native Americans, we came to a rather small town with a rather small welcome center. The man inside told me that in the 1800s his grandfather from Wales had immigrated to a town in PA, called Germantown. Due to lung disease his grandfather was sent to New Mexico where he began a wool trading business, bringing top-quality wool from Germantown to trade with local Indians along the Santa Fe trail. As we traveled further north, we were surprised to see random roundish mountains appear along the plains. According to the information we had gathered in the welcome center, these mountains were volcanic in origin. By about 5 o'clock we neared Crater Rim, a larger volcano with ... read more

Enter Oklahoma. Suddenly trees are shorter, and the weather was very windy and very warm. We are loving each state with all its uniquenesses and adventures! Our best adventure in Oklahoma City was long conversations with our sister and brother-in-law and going to see their work, building projects, and the distinctions of the city. He grew up just a bit north in Guthrie, the original capital of Oklahoma and was able to really fill us in on many of the interesting history of this great State and city. Not only that, they also filled us with some really GREAT food! Excellent BBQ, tremendous breakfast, and an amazing Mexican lunch! However, Rob did underestimate the size of platters in the USA. Unable to decide one of us went for the sampler platter. It was HUGE … and ... read more

We rolled 90,000 miles on the van we are borrowing, whom we affectionately have named Balaam's Beast. If you are unfamiliar with who Balaam, or his beast is, check out Numbers 22-24 or trusty Wikipedia: . After about 2,000 miles into our journey it is our desire that the Lord take us right where we should go and if we need to slow down, adjust our route, or just plain listen more carefully to God's voice that we would measure any troubles with “Balaam's Beast” as an opportunity to look to God in prayer ;) 90,000 miles conveniently passed right at a rest stop! How awesome is that? Then we all got out, stretched our legs by running some races through the pines of Tennessee! ... read more

We have had a great time driving through the rolling hills, seeing the beautiful whites, purples, shades of orange, and spring greens on the trees lining the highways. We've enjoyed seeing the expanding campus of Liberty U in VA, the history of Billy and Ruth Graham's work at The Cove in NC, our friends treating us to a day at Dollywood in eastern TN, and touring Vanderbilt campus and the home of country music in Nashville. Yet visits with friends have undoubtedly been the greatest highlights of all!... read more