Another Road Trip
So far our road trip has been a combo of many things.
When it comes to wildlife, we have seen mountain goats atop the Black Hills of South Dakota, an elk by a quiet stream in the Rocky Mountain National Forest, and both a bald eagle and a peregrine falcon diving for fish in a pristine Rocky Mountain lake. While driving the middle-of-nowhere highways of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota we have seen cows, horses, sheep, deer, squirrels, buffalo, and even a couple of camels—much to the delight of our children.
We stumbled upon some other wild animals in Moab, Utah at a magnificent Colorado River scene. The wild animals were two homosapiens walking across a slack line 60-feet in the air tied between a boulder and a bridge, while another four homosapiens were doing gainers off the 60-foot bridge. The deep waters of the Colorado both softened and exhilarated their landings.
Another thing we do on road trips is to try to find the license plates from all fifty states. Since we have gone to so many national parks we have found over 40, but can’t seem to find West Virginia or Delaware. Come on guys, where you at?
This is the first trip my girls have loved to fish. Now, I purposely said to fish instead of catch fish. I love fishing, but it doesn’t usually fit in our road trip itineraries. This time however, my girls have been excited about it and are getting good at casting and reeling. They almost caught a couple the other day. Brit has some pretty good videos of me running back and forth to all the tangles and trying to show them how to cast. I think I have only hooked two of my three daughters while attempting to teach them.
When it comes to being cooped up in a van for the better part of thirteen days, we did pretty well. My wife is very big on snacks and playlists. Whenever we found ourselves on the brink of insanity or full on war, she would break out some snacks or a well-timed change in the music.
Our girls are amazing travelers as far as entertaining themselves. They draw and read and play cards. We sometimes do podcast stories or audio books, but for the most part, they just figure it out or sleep. The only real trouble happens when everyone gets hungry. When the discomfort of hunger, the impossibility of deciding where to eat, and the pressure to keep driving all collide it gets pretty hairy. We have had a few doozies, but we have overcome.
My thoughts as the I am out on the open stretches of American highways have been all over the place, but a few things have been consistent:
America, as a land and a human experiment, is fantastic, massive and beautiful — and worth fighting for.
Family is a most important pursuit for shaping us, securing us, and humbling us.
The world God created is fascinating, worth learning about, and preserving any way we can.
And finally, it would do us all a great service if we would take heed and live out what the Bible says about:
“Do everything without grumbling or complaining,”
“Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others,” and
“Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.”
Lord help us in our families, in our churches, and in our country to use our tongues for good and not evil.
David