What a whirlwind!

So we're back! Back home! After such a trip it feels amazing to be back in familiarity with no use for maps or our GPS or campgrounds or trail mix. Forreal. And to be back with our family and friends that make home home - that's what they'd call icing on the cake. Delish! 


Now I swore I'd sleep a whole week when we returned, but if our trip taught me a single thing it is that things hardly go as planned. And oh so rarely is that little life truth proven wrong. 


So to catch you up...our way home was supposed to be filled with visiting a bunch of friends right?! And a big final bash in DC right?! Welllll, about that. So to start off, we spent some great quality time with my cousin Laura and her man, Bob in Columbia, MO where we were treated to dinner and loads of unbelievable hospitality. Laura and I stayed up late chatting and catching up, giggling over old family photo albums and what everyone in the family is up to now. We just appreciate them so much, they're always up for a visit for the books! From there it was off to another staple stop for us, to see Shawty in St. Louis. And bless her, she and her great boyfriend, Nick were quite the host and hostess with the mostest for three whole days! She filled our days with a perfect blend of fun and relaxation - some 24 marathons, homemade dinners, bookstores, downtown strolls and a oh-so-fun trip to St. Louis' awesome city museum! Seriously, in you're ever in the area, ya just gotta go! Its like a huge, creative, recycled playground!

And the fun continues for 10 stories, all the way up to the roof! So after a bittersweet goodbye to Shaw, who I wouldn't mind hanging with everyday, we headed to another set of camp friends that I would love to live closer to - Julie and Jeremy. The hospitality just kept right on going. We kicked off with a homemade spaghetti dinner and a perfect, lazy night on the couch. Did I mention I missed some good couch time while we were gone? The next day the workers had to work while the bums had to bum (tis our duty) and that we did. But most importantly, I did spend time on the phone with Katie and Harper to get plans situated for DC. After some back and forth and rearranging, and wonderfully appreciated flexibility on their part, we settled on a plan. Mike and I were siked to see them! We ran to the grocery store to get stuff to barbecue ribs and bake sweet potato fries for dinner for the Julie and Jeremy, earn our keep you know. Repay our sweet friends for being so dear to us. Dinner was well on its way when they got home and we kept adding delicious goodness to our menu and wound up with a feast. It was oh so good! All seems according to plan so far right?! Well we go to check on Sully outside on the back patio shortly after dinner and dun. dun. dun. Sully had thrown up everywhere and we instantly figured out he'd gotten skunked. As in sprayed by a skunk. My poor, pitiful, sweeter than sweet boy! We washed him twice with every tomato juice product Julie had in her kitchen. It knocked the edge off to odor, but not enough. We set up a fan and had Sully sleep his stink off in the garage, and went to bed assuming it would be gone in the morning. Or a the very least bearable. What was that thing about life not going as planned again?! Yeah, in the morning it was worse! We could hardly stand to ride in the car with poor Sully, much less take him to people's homes while we visit in DC. Soooo we made the decision to head on home, although disappointed not to get to follow through with our plans with Katie and Harper in DC! Bummer, but what could we really do at that point? Thankfully, they understood our situation and it'll just make our eventual visit that much sweeter! 


So, a bit on the unplanned side but, nonetheless, we made the trip home on July 14th. And after a month and a half away, we hit the ground running. First on the agenda. Jobs. C'mon, have you seen our bank account?! It looks like we've been traveling for a month and a half. Imagine that. We splurged and had ourselves a weekend filled with catching up with family and friends (like my best guy friend that moved to Michigan that I miss so very much, and my BFF that insists on becoming a vet so has to spend her time in Auburn learning and junk) and going up to our high school hangout spot at Wilhite's mountain cabin on Crystal Lake. Such a great time catching up with friends from high school. Yes, please. And later we visited another old tried and true hangout - TTT's in downtown dear old Clemson for Meg's (that soon-to-be vet I was telling you about) 24th birthday. 

We can't quite kick it like we used to. :) Anyways, the following Monday I contacted a lady, such a sweet lady, that owns a RD consulting company out of Greenville and went for my interview just yesterday. It went really, really well. Like I'm in, but may have to do with more part-time work until she has more for me to do. That part's a bummer because we can't really pick up and move from our graciously free basement dwelling to our own place in Greenville with one part-time job between the both of us. Not that home isn't our first choice, but we gotta go where the work is. And we'd like a place (a house with a yard for Sully) that we can plant ourselves for a while, and the certainty that Mike can find a job there that he enjoys. He actually impromptu interviewed with an equipment dealership the same day I did. Lloyd was amazing and brought him a set of nice clothes all the way from home so he didn't have to take advantage of the employers free time in the shorts and sandals he initially rode to Greenville wearing. Bless him! Although no effort was in vain, the opportunity they proposed doesn't feel like what we're looking for. Mike was just too overqualified. We'll just keep pumping out his resume and sifting through the nibbles. So, really, even when you get downright serious about planning things they don't quite always go as planned. 


But as Mark Twain says, "Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." Highly applicable to life at the moment. Which is beautifully uncertain. And we thought the adventure was over! :)

Homeward Bound!!!

Sittin' here on the eve of our eastward trek back to HOME.SWEET.HOME, Mike and I have done some reflecting. Oh how we've missed our families and friends and the sweet, comfortable, easy kind of summer that goes along with living life in our neck of the woods. But we've certainly had ourselves the adventure we set out to have. From Great Sands to the Tetons there's been ups and downs, we'll make no bones about that, but we've lived. Lived a smidge of the dream we dreamt. Amen and Amen!


Fortunately the dream's not over just yet. We're stretching our homeward bound to accommodate 8 glorious days of visiting with precious friends and family! The lineup - Columbia, Missouri to visit and catch up with my cousin Laura, St. Louis to have such a sweet reunion with my dear camp friend Shaw, Kentucky to potentially crash on the lake with my BFF Meg and her boyfriend Dan, Nashville to stay and play in the brand spankin' new home of more dear camp friends, Julie and Jeremy Spencer, then finally up to Washington DC to reunite with my long lost Hokie, Katie freakin' Horner and to pay a solid visit my cousin, Harper, whom me and South Carolina miss so much! I CANNOT WAIT!!! No lie, we've seen some beautiful places, but seeing people is my absolute favorite and I'm so thankful to cap off our trip with such a special lineup. 


But with the entirety of Kansas as our foe tomorrow, I truly need to get to sleep. Seriously, Kansas could burn. Am I right Megan and Mike Martin, Chris Ward, am I right?! But in honor of reflection I'll collect some of my favorite memories of our trip, although I know with such special people to visit there will be many more to collect.

Feeling so small on top of the dunes at Great Sands

Catching it just right for a night on the town in Ouray during a local food festival

Hiking with my two favorite boys

Being joined by Ben and changing up some scenery to the red rocks of Utah

Getting to photograph some of America's most photographed places for myself

Climbing my first 14er and getting to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day from the top of a mountain

Not that I liked the truck breaking down, but we did learn to roll with the punches

Auto-touring through Rocky Mountain NP

Besides the 5 star meal at Chico Hot Springs (thank you Bonnie!) and our post-14er meal at Outback (thank you Shellee!) the Mountain Buzz was our best meal of the trip

Our lazy day on the South Platte River near Denver

Exploring the winter wonderland that was the Beartooth Highway

Staying busy or not so busy at Chico

Seeing the double rainbow in the West Thumb of Yellowstone

Mike getting to fly fish in the premier Gibbon River

Getting to see all the wildlife, but especially the Mama Grizzly and her cubs (from a safe distance!)

Having Sully Bink with us every step of the way

Hiking with the family in the Tetons

Getting to play around and try out some bouldering at Enclosure in Jackson Hole - very cool! 

Watching the sunset over the Tetons from Shadow Valley Road on the 4th of July per recommendation of a local

Sharing this adventure with the love of my life!

Hiking to Leigh Lake in Teton NP - hands down the place I would take home with me if I could!

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are willing to make them come true."

The new mix!

Things have livened up here on the road trip, as the Anderson clan has finally joined us! We're so excited to have them here with us and are so blessed to call such a special bunch family! We've been catching up and jumping right into vacation mode - so far all along the wintery Beartooth Highway and while relaxing at Chico Hot Springs. And lots and lots and lots of laughing has commenced, in true Anderson form. Michael and I are just so very thankful to kick off the tail end of our trip with them!


Photo dump:

Don't you worry South Carolina, we are coming back to you!

Firsts...

This adventure of epic proportions has propelled Mike and I into quite a lengthy list of firsts. Some are worth a good belly laugh, maybe the beginnings of a slight grin, and some are of a more serious nature. A mixture of expected and unexpected, as well.

• Laboring over such disappointing meals. Charcoal dependent meals, for lack of a better description, suck leaving you to lust after the very same meal just prepared by other tastier, less temperamental means.
• Being continuously rerouted by snow...in the usually blistering, genuinely-cannot-possibly-be-more-summery months of June and July.

• Basing our next move on the map purely on account of where we can snag ourselves a much needed shower.
• Our incapability to avoid the general -10 star experience that is vaulted toilets lousily managed by the US Forest Service.
• Being so far engulfed in Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong will sooner or later. The Dodge's been quite the lemon!
• Encountering (yeah, we'll call it that) a lone nudist in a hot spring. He inconveniently resides in the wrong state, as Utah prohibits public nudity.
• Being so frequently called out on my Southern drawwwwwwwww. And I ain't got a piece of shame :)
• Sleeping in a rental car curled up with Sully Bink (while the boys tent camped in Rocky Mountain NP). A few more notches on my nomadic belt, if you ask me.
• Feeling so hopeless (not to mention, homeless) while at the same time being so certain of God's steady hand at work.
• Surviving on so many Clif Bars - our go-to road and trail meal.

• Been so in awe of God's creativity and sovereignty, among many other qualities!
• Enjoying (although not as much as Mike) Ben's nightcap of Makers and Ginger Ale.
• Climbing to the summit of a 14er - it'll get your blood pumping. Only 51 more to go...Ha!
• Rearranging all of our belongings on a daily basis.
• Searching so far and wide for free wifi in so many different towns.
• Coping with all of my OCD tendencies while they're impossible to keep. We're talking general neat-freakiness here people, not repetitious rituals - just not possible living out of a truck.
• Being quite resilient through setbacks. G.R.O.W.N.U.P. setbacks, folks!
• Been such a laughable tourist (or terrorist, whatever).
• Blogging with so much material. Life's never really been this interesting :) 

And on deck this coming week, another first for us. Yellowstone NP with the Anderson clan! We're pumped to be joined by family and head North to see some different country. 

We love and miss everyone at home so much, and that's no first at all! :)

The highs and lows

I'm updating from the comfortable amenities of a hotel yet again. The reason. Our truck BARELY limped into Denver after just a few short days of adventure with Ben. And believe me, we squeezed that out of it, well us and our faithful God who brought us safely into another city that can take care of our struggles - however repeating or familiar. But adventure we had and we're not stressing too much! 


We kicked off in Moab, Utah, situated in the center of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We camped in town due to a late night roll-in that prevented us from a sweet spot on the Colorado River, but showers were included so we did not grumble for long. We arranged a babysitter for Sully (the clever sign at her house read - Live. Eat. Play. Roll in a dead squirrel) the next day and took off first thing to Arches to hike the primitive 7.2 mile loop around the Devil's Garden. Such a solid red rock trail to 9 or so natural arches in the park, and not crowded at all. And you would never guess who we ran into! None other than my high school friend and soccer teammate from home, Katie Marshall! She happens to be on an eerily similar life-transition-cross-country-outdoorsy-road-trip herself! We swapped hugs and exchanged our surprise at our run-in and arranged to meet up for dinner and drinks later that evening. After all, we already had a babysitter :) After we cleaned up we headed to meet Katie for dinner at Moab's Brewery and had a meal that didn't disappoint. Intentions were to cap off a great first day with a hike into Delicate Arch to watch the sunrise the following morning, but the clouds have been unfortunately looming since Ben's joined us. Those clouds kept us in our warm sleeping bags past the sunrise, but we did make it to Delicate Arch by morning along with a crowd bigger than we would have liked. Nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful. Afterwards we headed East to Colorado with a relieved Sully Bink in tow. Ben was in the primetime seat to snag some good drive-by pictures along I70 coming back into the Rockies. We had a bit more bad luck with hunting a campground, the name of the game for weekend days. We pushed on from Avalanche Creek in Carbondale, CO to Aspen in hopes of a good spot. Aspen, although full to the brim with more hoity-toity general ness than I prefer, was quite charming and had space for us to camp. In true Aspen form, our spot was gorgeous, right along a clear, rushing creek surrounded by an Aspen grove. It was here that we had our first smores of the trip, made even more glorious by Ben's delicious coffee nightcap. A slight blemish to our night was Mike's recognition that the Dodge was having some significant issues under the hood. Before leaving out the following morning we had a prayer sesh that we could continue our adventures and make it to Denver before the truck rendered us stranded. After a short stroll around downtown Aspen we headed towards Guanella Pass to set up camp and get ready for our stab at climbing Mt. Bierstadt early the next morning (one of Colorado's 54 14er's aka mountains that stand to linger among the clouds above 14,000 ft tall in elevation). Our pre-game dinner was a dream for the camp-life we've been living - sun-dried tomato basil pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and sautéed lemon-pepper broccoli. Yum! Cell phones alarmed at 5:00 AM to get us moving towards to trailhead early enough while the snow is still solid enough to walk through without post-holing the entire way up the mountain. After gaining roughly 3000 ft of elevation we reached the summit, despite the thin air and high altitude conditions we aren't accustomed to. After eating nearly frozen Clif bars for lunch, we proudly posed for pictures. I had made a "Happy Father's Day" sign for my Dad out of cardboard that I "borrowed" from behind a grocery store dumpster (what a resourceful nomad) and we each took pictures to send to our Dads to celebrate their greatness! And many more people joined in, so hopefully many fathers Father's Day was made from the top of the summit :) We made a flashy decent, mostly due to my severe need to pee and nowhere with adequate cover to do so, and ended out our trek at 6.8 miles RT. The three of us prayed (again) over the truck and our tired, sore bodies before willing the truck towards Denver once again. AS SOON AS we reached I70 the truck began its pitiful limping. Mike diagnosed that the water pump had gone out (the AC is still fried, mind you) and we had to stop periodically to let the engine and radiator cool down enough to add nalgene bottles of water to hopefully keep us cool enough to roll into town. In true nomadic form, food was at the top of our list and Outback was our beacon of light. Thanks to gift cards courtesy of my amazing sister, Shellee, we more than filled our bellies with salads, entrees and desserts to all but negate our climb from the morning. Fully satisfied, we offered the truck some more TLC and limped on to a hotel. When I say limped I mean we dragged two broken legs. With Ben watching the miles creep on the GPS and Mike announcing things as they broke and gave out, we parked in the hotel parking lot, situated ourselves for the tow truck we would need in the morning and retired to our room for much needed showers and rest. 


Final tally amounts to a broken water pump, a serpentine belt laying on the ground, loss of power-steering and power-brakes, and a busted compressor and evaporator. Priority today is getting the truck towed to a dealership - strategically and cheaply as possible, renting a SUV that can fit all that we'll need to do a little tent camping tonight around Rocky Mountain National Park, and update our fine followers with some pictures of some of our literal highs and lows of this past week. 

Fifth Water Hot Springs

Dead Horse Point State Park

Double O Arch in the Devil's Garden

They mark the trail with piles of rocks in Arches NP

Delicate Arch

The boys on the way up to summit Mt. Bierstadt

I love you so much, Daddy! We're playing REAL purty :)

We love you big time too, Papa Roid!