2020

Of all the states we were planning to travel to in our 4 months of wandering, South Dakota was the only one I had never been to. So obviously I was most excited about this one! I had always wanted to see Mt Rushmore, and even though I've heard people say it is disappointing, I didn't care. It was still tops on my bucket list! After visiting Devil's Tower, Wyoming, we once again started heading east, making the short drive to South Dakota. We stopped at the rest stop/visitor's center on the border of the two states and asked for a recommendation of an RV park. The woman suggested we go to Wyatt's Hideaway in her hometown of Belle Fourche (pronounced "bell foosh"). We had already been to Belle Fourche -- it was the geologic center of the United States that we had passed through earlier in the day -- but we were all about taking recommendations from locals, so back to the center we went! And we were so glad we did. The plan had only been to spend o...

Yellowstone National Park is uniquely situated so that it spans 3 states: Wyoming (96%), Idaho (1%), and Montana (3%). So all week we were bouncing back and forth between these states! (Fun fact: Wyoming is the 9th largest state in the U.S. in terms of land size, but the least populated of all 50 states. Montana isn't much different, ranking 4th largest in land size and 44th in population. No wonder this is Big Sky Country--there are no people or businesses or homes to block your view!) After leaving Yellowstone through Cooke City, we took the Beartooth and Chief Joseph highways into Cody, Wyoming. I can't tell you how many people we've met in the last few months who have told us to go to Cody. No one ever said what we were supposed to do there, however, they just said to go. We found a town full of history and museums, guns and graves. And I couldn't muster up the energy for any of it.  I sent Randy and Van off to explore while I took a nap (the ...

Because we were having so much fun hiking the Redwoods, we left California late on Saturday afternoon and rolled in to Portland, Oregon, around midnight. While there was much to see in between, we rushed to get to Portland so we could go to church with Randy's brother and sister-in-law the next morning. Roy and Suzanne were enjoying a neighborhood progressive dinner while waiting up for us, so we all mutually agreed to go to the late (11:30 a.m.) service the next morning. I was so glad we were able to make it to church. Many of you know that I’ve been claiming a “ word of the year ” for the past 5 years. This year’s word is “fierce.” While I no longer dislike the word like I did in the beginning, I haven’t exactly owned it either. So I was thrilled when the band started playing a song I’d never heard of – one called “ Fierce ” – that was all about the fierce nature of God’s love for us. (Apparently I've been living under a rock – or in Mexico – because this song came ou...

Arizona wasn't the only state on this trip that contained wonderful memories for me. So did Utah. Randy and I have both spent time in Utah before. We have both fallen in love with Zion and Bryce National Parks before. And so this part of the trip was a fun time of remembering for both of us. Randy remembered driving his young daughter through Zion as the sun came up. And eating the best fried chicken on the planet outside of Bryce. I remembered taking the Riverwalk in Zion and watching a family disappear into the Narrows. Then traipsing through the sandy trails of Bryce, preparing my heart for a move from California to Arkansas to live with my grandmother to pursue my dream of becoming a writer. Zion National Park is incredibly close to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, so getting there was our first plan of action. Upon arrival we discovered that all of the nearby campgrounds were full. We talked to one of the owners who directed us to a neighboring town with BLM (Bur...