Day 17 – Going WESTTT in a covered wagon

This morning we left Grandpa’s house and headed back to Pike Place for the third time. We love that place, except for its lack of parking spots. Each of us got a beautiful tulip and then we went across the street to get a baguette and some cheese to make a nice French picnic lunch. Then we tried some signature Seattle coffee at Tulley’s rather than Starbucks. Yummm. Lo’s uncle provided us with a free oil change and then we headed out on the road to Portland. The three hour drive was a nice change from the usual 8 and 9 hour drives. When we got to Portland we made Lo’s sister, Katrina, walk 20 blocks with all her luggage to get to the car because we couldn’t find the train station. The weather in Portland was gloomy so we decided to stay in for the night. After getting some great endorphins from the exercise room at the hotel we ordered pizza and had a chill recovery night to gear up for the amazing drive down the West Coast this week!!!!!

Peace Love,

- Lo, D, Eliz, Kat

       “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 
       so great is his love for those who fear him;

       as far as the east is from the west, 

       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:11-12

Day 15 & 16 – Sleepless in Seattle

We FINALLY made it to Seattle and to the original Starbucks. Our first stop in the city was to find that coffee, soo good. Three venti’s yay! So, super hopped up on caffeine we wandered around the famous Pike’s Place fish market and made horrible fools of ourselves when they threw a fake fish at us. This one guy mocked Elizabeth like no other as she was amazed at the size of the king crab legs. There are some very interesting people in Seattle, ya, very interesting to say the least. We loaded up on free samples of fruits and nuts and even chocolate spaghetti! while peering in all the windows of the cool little shops along the street, and then headed back to Lo’s grandpa’s house for the night. We even crossed floating bridges and lots of tunnels on the way, after Lo totally squealed her tires when trying to drive up the hills in the city. San Francisco will be fun for sure.

Today we ventured back into the city and saw the infamous space needle, took the monorail back down to Pike’s Place, and had cookies and coffee for breakfast. We checked out a ton more shops and didn’t even get close to seeing them all. There really is a coffee shop on every corner of the city, by the way, in case you were wondering. And this afternoon we took a ferry across the sound just because we wanted to and it was so much fun! The water was really still so it was a great ride across the water and we braved the cold, standing on the front of the deck the whole way. Denise gave an impromptu show when the wind blew her skirt up, thank heavens for leggings haha.

The weather in Seattle was amazing these last two days, in the 60s and sunny! We feel like that isn’t normal for the city but we are not complaining. Tomorrow we start our trek south along the coast and will really see the Pacific ocean for real! Bonus: we are picking up Lo’s sister along the way as well wooo!

gettin kinda sleepy in seattle….. g’night!

Lo, D, Eliz

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20

*angels shadows*

Pictures!

As you may have already noticed, we figured out how to put up pictures!! Yay! So go back to each post and see the ones we posted for each day. Some don’t have any but others have more than one.

Enjoy!

Lo, D, Eliz

Day 11 & 12 & 13 & 14- oooooooops

Day 11- We started our 2nd day in Colorado by hiking around and climbing up the 3 billion stairs of Red rocks, it was amazing!! Talk about out of breath…try running stairs plus being at 10,000 feet altitude, whew. We then ventured to the hippie town of Boulder that had cute shops and we bought friendship bracelets for a dollar, heck yessss. Later that day we went to Denver where we stumbled upon a lovely city park in the middle of downtown and proceeded to make fools of ourselves by rolling down the huge grassy hill, it was amazingly fun. The city was beautiful. For dinner, Katie took us to her favorite wanna-be Mexican restaurant, Casa Bonita, that reminded us of a Disneyland ride. Elizabeth cried after braving the scary cave desinged not even to sare 3 year olds, but we love her nonetheless. Lo might have screamed once too. Haha. Alsooooo, in the middle of the restaurant there was something that we had ever seen before; a waterfall complete with a super hot cliff diver, umm random ya.

*hiking at 5000 feet*

*handstands in denver*

Day 12- Rocky mountain drive!!! Sooo we had our bikinis on as we intended on stopping at the hot springs, meanwhile it was flurrying outside and the mountains were covered in fresh snowfall. Haha. We also took a slight detour to Vail, such a cute little mountain town, also a very high altitude, nothing like us girls are used to. Once the Rocky’s disappeared, we entered the endless flatlands of what is called Utah. And crazy storms came along with it. We definitely went a long time without seeing any form of civilization, and when we did stop for gas, the town we stopped in had a population of 43, ya, 43…people….total. We checked out some of the arches before it got dark, and almost had to sleep in the car at the campsite, haha, because of the bipolar weather…it reminded us of Harrisonburg Annnnd, we cannot even begin to tell you all how close and bright the stars were that night over the desert sky!

*this picture doesn’t show the snow very well*

*moab utah*

Day 13- We got up early and had a lovely bfast at the BK Lounge, courtesy of santa claus and Denise before heading to the arches again to beat the crowd. We hiked around the park for awhile; the arches were breathtaking and we have never felt so small. We then drove to Salt Lake City and took a tour of Temple Square and even attempted to trace our genealogy at the Mormon family history center. Lo is black. Denise has no ancestors…hmmm, where did she come from?? And Elizabeth didn’t really find anything new, better luck next time. We then drove to Park City, where we stayed with the Holden Family in their cute mountain cabin! Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago they had snow up to the 2nd floor of their house! O and it stays light out until 9pm, soooo nice!

*pretty arch*

Day 14- We had a wonderful breakfast with the Holden’s two little girls, they were sooo cute, and we were sad we had to leave them so soon. But on we went to Home of the 2002 Winter Olympics; Olympic Park in Park City. We saw the summer ski flying slopes and the bobsled track, soooo coool. We then got on the road to Idaho and found the best little diner for dinner complete with waitresses on roller skates. Tomorrow we head for the Pacific!!!! And you know what that means…STARBUCKS!!!

The end,

LO, D, Eliz

“He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” -Psalm 62:6

“Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy.” -Psalm 65:8

Day 10 – Rocky Mountain High

Today we made the switch from central to mountain time on our way up to Denver, saying goodbye to Texas and traveling into New Mexico and Colorado. Denise who has never been to Colorado was not allowed to drive today because she spent the whole time ooh-ing over the landscape, which isn’t even the real mountains yet, and taking about 500 pictures of the same thing over and over again. But it was definitely a nice change from the super flatness of Texas. We were getting just a little tired of it.

Another peanut butter and jelly picnic was enjoyed on our drive today, followed by slurpees and slim jims at a 7-11 in Colorado Springs!! We also took our first detour this afternoon and made our way to the Garden of the Gods. Not too hard to find, either, with lots of signs pointing the way from the highway. It was absolutely gorgeous! We even made the circle around twice, because we couldn’t find the way out, haha.

We are staying the next two nights with Denise’s teammate Katie and are totally excited to hit the town tomorrow. Katie is going to show us all over the place, so long as she doesn’t get us all lost in the mountains. It’s gonna be an adventure, we can’t wait!

Peace out L-town

Lo, D, Eliz

“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. ” Psalm 121:1-2

*slurpees and slim jims*

*first view of the rockies*

Day 9 – Amarillo Dillas!

Today we drove what is probably going to be the most boring stretch of road on our whole trip. There is apparently not much between Fort Worth and Amarillo besides tiny towns of populations smaller than our high schools and a random camel farm. Haha. Texas super troopers are nice peeps, ummm ya. They wear cowboy hats as a part of their uniform and we think its funny. Amarillo is definitely a much smaller town than we imagined. We are going to miss Texas, but are super excited to see some mountains again, Rockies here we come!!!!! Tonight we went to a Texas minor league baseball opening game, the Amarillo Dillas, and small world, we met a guy who knows a guy who we know who plays baseball for JMU, wooooo! We were the most obnoxious fans, mainly for the fact that we knew we would never see any of these people again. We had our first supermodel documentary hour/ photo shoot at the baseball field, but you all cannot see the pics just yet because we are still not sure how exactly to post them, hmmmm. By the time we get to Cali, we will have pics, hehe. We miss and love you all!!

Good-bye Lonestar state!

-LO, D, Eliz

“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19

*amarillo dilla’s game*

Day 8 – Everything’s hotter in Texas

While we explored downtown Fort Worth this afternoon there were record breaking temperatures for May at 99 degrees. At least there is less humidity in Texas. All three of us agree that we do not ever want to live in Texas but it was fun to visit these past few days. After sleeping in we went to every single Cowboy store in downtown and then headed to the Stockyards. We saw a real live cattle drive down main street. After freaking out that they might come chase us on the side of the road they marched down the street at a 1 mile an hour pace and didn’t look too enthused about the whole thing. We enjoyed a mid-afternoon beverage in a cute little saloon and then headed to Billy Bob’s Texas, the biggest honky tonk in the nation. We busted a few dance moves below their sparkly saddle/disco ball remake. Josiah’s friends, who have been amazing and also gave us each our own room, took us out for some great TexMex food. Being in the heat all day has made us extra tired so we are headed to bed a little earlier than normal. Tomorrow we start the journey North.

From under the Texan full moon, Goodnight,

-Lo, D, Eliz

^“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29

*real cowgirls*

*leaving cass a voicemail*

*billy bob’s*

Days 6 & 7 – Cowgirl Chicks

There’s no turning back now! We crossed the Mississippi – we know we are headed in the right direction now. Gotta keep on til we reach the Pacific. Heck yes.

Sorry we didn’t get back to you last night but we were busy at the rodeo deciding which cute cowboy to take home. To tell you the truth, Joe DeZelle lives sooo far in the middle of nowhere texas there is no internet at his house and barely any phone service. But then you have a 1400 acre backyard I guess you don’t really need any technology besides a fishin’ pole.

So, the title of our blog comes from the fact that the DeZelles surprised us with rodeo tickets!! A once a year week-long extravaganza of bull ridin’ and cow ropin’ and we just happend to be there for the grand finale. We had an amazing time. 70 miles an hour speed limit on a two-lane road is incredible. The DeZelles are amazing people, they gave us so much food. We walk in to a note on the kitchen table next to a pan of brownies “Milk is in the fridge, make yourselves at home.” Now we understand how come Joe is incapable of eating any sweets without a glass of milk. And we had deer sausage for breakfast!!

Joe and Josiah are both going to hate us when they find out how much we know about them now, hahah, more than they EVER wanted us to know. Moms are great

Now we’re at Josiah’s best friends house in Fort Worth and we are going to conquer the city tomorrow! Then we will head up north for our round-about approach to sourthern California. Apparently its called the land of fruits and nuts. I dont know if that refers to food or people. After meeting Lo’s family I’d have to say, well, we will leave it at both.

Don’t mess with Texas.

Lo, D, Eliz

P.S.- We went to church with Joe’s Dad this morning, just a little bit of the message…pics eventually, be patient.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” -Galatians 5:25

*in joe’s bed haha*

*@ a rodeo*

Day 5 – Walkin in Memphis

We left the cloudy skies of Atlanta and arrived in Memphis! And now we are ahead of schedule for the first time because of the time change! haha The hotel is heavenly and is right in downtown. We had fried green tomatoes for dinner and enjoyed legit jazz/blues music at B.B. Kings Blues Club!!! Then we walked on Beale street just like Elvis. We ran into some pretty interesting rules here in Memphis. Beale street is always blocked off and no one under the age of 21 can even walk the street past 11pm. There were probably 100 police officers just on the three block radius to keep us safe. No pics because no free wifi in the hotel to use our laptops to upload pics. Sorry.

In the hotel is an orthopedic conference and Denise picked out some prosthetics for her Mom’s new knee. (You know you need it.)

Before heading out on the town we all got some endorphins at the heavenly hotel gym. Tomorrow we are becoming cowgirls and it will be amazing!

Cowboy take me away,

Lo, D, Eliz

“He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.” Psalm 40:3

*ready for dinner in memphis*

*beale street*

*our amazing hotel with valet service*

Day 4 – Have a Coke and a smile :)

Today, we took the metro into the city, it was pretty sweet. We started at the famous World of Coca-Cola, where we tasted every single Coke product ever made across the globe. Our stomachs are still bubbly, and Elizabeth has since conquered burping the entire Star-Spangled Banner. Then it started pouring rain so we hid in the Carvels Ice Cream shop and split a churro so that we could be paying customers and use the restroom, it was Elizabeth’s first churro everrrr, WTF mate? We cuffed our pants and tried to go to the mall, but admited defeat to the torential downpour and took the metro back to Lali’s early. We had another amazing free dinner tonight; we must figure out how to keep this trend going, haha.

Denise realized today she only has one pair of socks and one pair of jeans for the whole trip. Lo had an amazing night last night in her king-size bed, wow. Lo and Denise continue to quote Nacho Libre, leaving Elizabeth clueless, and wondering how we ever come up with amazing one-liners by ourselves. (Can’t we ever just have like a salad?)

‘night Charlie (is anyone getting this joke yet?),

Lo, D, Eliz

PS- Pics tomorrow if we get wi-fi in the hotel

“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11

*@ the coca-cola factory*