We’re here! We arrived on Sunday, July 17th at about 2:00 in the afternoon and were greeted wonderfully by our dear friends Clint and Sandra! What a wonderful blessing it really is to have them here... so here's a last little bit of reading material for you before I end this unforgettable journey with you!
To end our trip, Jordan and I took the last 50 miles to discuss what our favorite parts and least-favorite parts of our journey were. Ready, set, go!
FOODS:
Awesome: Definitely our meals at the Space Needle in Seattle. Our seafood was amazing and the experience itself was once-in-a-lifetime (both to get there and to pay for it! Haha). I also really enjoyed my first mussel experience in Vancouver. Yum!
Could have done without: Gas station pastries for breakfast. We finally ate a REAL breakfast this morning when we stopped at a diner between Tok and Anchorage. Real eggs!!!!! Halleluiah!
SMELLS:
Awesome: The smell of the ocean as we walked out of the Space Needle and as we walked around Pike Place Market the next morning. Growing up on the east coast, going to the ocean was always something I enjoyed as a kid. My family always made sure to boast about being on the ocean and smelling the air when I was in Nebraska. We are soooo excited to be on a coast again. Take that Mom and Dad.
Could have done without: There are many scents that could fall under this category. To be brief, I’ll just make a list: wet dog, dirty dog, farts in the car, waste water treatment plant smell, sulfuric smells of the hot springs, the garbage dumpster at Sylvan Lake Campground in SD, and Jordan’s feet when he takes his sneakers off and puts them up on the dashboard. I’ve known he has smelly feet since the first few weeks I started dating him, but should I really be punished in this way for two weeks in a car? (Sorry babe… )
SIGHTS:
Awesome: Again, many things could fit into this category. Let me break them down into more specific classifications:
SIGHT OF RELIEF: Definitely the state sign telling us we were in Alaska! We made it!
SIGHT OF FEAR: The herds of buffalo we encountered, especially the last one in which Jordan almost you-know-what in his pants when he saw 10 large buffalo staring him down and scuffing their hooves on the ground.
SIGHT OF AWE: Even though I’ve seen it before, Mt. Rushmore still takes my breath away. I’m not sure what it is, but something about how immaculate those faces are in the mountain, and the way people were standing up for Night Wing’s performance for the 4th of July just made me so proud to be a citizen of this country. Jordan would also like to add that his first sighting of a glacier today on our drive was pretty amazing, too.
LODGING:
Category 1- Campgrounds:
Awesome: Clinton Pines Campground in Clinton, British Columbia was so beautiful. It was such a relief for us after staying in that yucky Super 8 in Vancouver. We so enjoyed the peace and quiet, the fresh air, the cleanliness, and the nice people.
Needs Improvement: The campground in Yellowstone was a little rough. Don’t get me wrong, beautiful scenery. But the $3.50 shower charge, the swarms of mosquitos, and the noisy neighbors who stayed up all night sort of ruined it for us. Next time we’ll pack our screen tent, ear plugs, and a portable showerJ
Category 2- Hotels:
Awesome: The Pomeroy Inn and Suites in Chetwynd, BC was sooooo nice. A really big room with our own Jacuzzi was exactly what we needed after a long day on the road.
Needs improvement: The Super 8 motels in both Thermopolis and Vancouver. Ew. They were overpriced, smelled really bad (I should add that to the “smells” category), and one of the rooms had hair of some animal all over the bed sheets. Again I say, ew.
I can’t put into words the feelings I am having at this moment. They much resemble the way I felt two weeks ago when we left Bellevue. I’m so excited to just get there, meet new friends, see Clint and Sandra and their kids, and be off the road. But I’m definitely sad this trip is over…. It’s something we planned and looked forward to for months, and it’s hard to believe that it’s over so soon! And I’ll also add a dose of anxiety in there of what these next couple of weeks will look like as we settle in to a hotel and wait for housing to give us a house to live in. Thank you all so much for following us on this journey. I’ve had many of you tell me you’ve been living vicariously through us by reading this blog. If I leave you with anything at the end of this trip, it’s to get off your butts and take this trip for yourself! Please do not make excuses for never taking the opportunity to see more of the country. You will never regret it… promise!
Also, thank you for those of you who have been praying for us along the way, even at odd hours of the night. Your prayers and God’s faithfulness are what really got us here. Just want to list some of those answered prayers: we made it here safely, we all stayed healthy (including Layla!), Jordan and I still want to be married (and more importantly, to each other, haha!), we didn’t have any issues with our car and didn’t even need that extra spare tire that’s been sharing the back with Layla (pretty sure Layla’s not going to want to part with her new “pillow”), and we had an amazing time and made some really great memories. We prayed nightly for you all as well, and thanked God to have such amazing friends that love us so much. Thank you!
I’ll update along the way to let you all know how our move is going and when we get settled into life up here… stay tuned!
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