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*

Day 3 – Hotlanta

This morning we got up bright and early for sunrise at the beach. It was gorgeous and we got some lovely early morning pictures. Eww. Those will not be posted. We said goodbye to our new biker friends at another pancake breakfast this morning and headed off for the 300 mile stretch on the straightest, longest road of life. There goes a full tank of gas. When we got to Atlanta we finally took showers. Amen to finally getting rid of all the sand that was everywhere. Today we discovered that not only does Elizabeth not fit in the tent but she also doesn’t fit in the front seat of Lo’s car. Therefore she is either driving or in the back seat cuddling with Elphy. Denise did a lovely rendition of Lo’s old gymnastics routines in the front of the empty movie theater. It was fabulous. Lo is successfully fasting from Starbucks. Her only saving grace is amazing gas station coffee… Seattle can’t come soon enough. Tonight we are going to suffer from separation anxiety because we are being treated like Princesses at Lali’s house. We each have our own room complete with King size beds.

Night Charlie!

-Lo, D, Eliz

“And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7

*dawn in myrtle beach*

*someone’s sleeping*

Day 2 – Beach Bums

Today was an incredible lazy day at the beach. But also terribly windy, which made us wish we could have a shower before bed but ehhhhh, that’s part of camping. We are going to be SO close by the end of this trip haha. We had trouble getting all of the sand of, let’s just say by the time we shower tomorrow in Atlanta we should be sand-free.

Turns out the free breakfast was put on compliments of the Christian Motorcycle Association. Go figure. It was de-lish and we met some really cool people. Then we headed to the beach to catch some amazing rays. PB&J for lunch once again, and we flipped a coin to determine our afternoon. Tails – so we went to Broadway on the Beach and fed the super disgusting catfish things. There is still sand in my hair, by the way. Just found some as we are writing this, yum.

Lo cannot stop sneezing and was attacked by a family of mosquitoes last night. Grandparents, cousins….. basically a family reunion of them. Dinner provided by Lo. Enough said. Denise ruined our picture of handstands on the beach, but we didnt want to keep trying because Fabio seemed pretty busy attending to his two women. (Fabio = at LEAST 70 yrs old) Elizabeth almost failed her Spanish quiz today. But she did invent a new way to make s’mores…. without the marshmallows, which were devoured by raccoons last night. Nothing like toasted graham crackers and melted chocolate. All with a hint of smoke.

Getting up to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic, and grab some more pancakes before we head out to the HOTTlanta! W00tW00t

We wil be checking in via satellite. Peace

‘Night Charlie,

Lo, D, Eliz

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

Day 1- Myrtle Beach!!

Yo

Nothing like pasta cooked over a campfire without any sauce or seasoning…hmm needless to say, as unprepared as we now realize, this day has been amaaaaaazing!!! The drive was gorgeous, the weather here is perfect and lets just say, our tent is so small Elizabeth cannot completely stretch out in it, unless we all spoon. She is the middle spoon and if you know Elizabeth, you know she is loving every second of it. Denise, as we found out today, is very good at navigating as well as leaving the most awkward phone messages of life, to Joe-….siah. Haha, ask her about that one later. Lo took care of our gourmet lunch today; some banging PB and J, made in the backseat. We look forward to enjoying this same exact lunch for the next 20 days of our lives. If you feel sorry for us, donate money, haha. I dont know how we’d get it, but call us and we can negotiate the situation. OMG, the highlight of our night, the park rangers told us there is a free pancake breakfast for the whole campsite every morning, amazing right??! We are off to bed soon, as it gets pretty dark at night, wink. Tomorrow we are planning a supermodel documentary hour on the beach to add to our already overflowing collection of pics of the three of us, you know you love it. Please keep us in your prayers, as we are praying for you guys too! OO also, we are teaching Elizabeth 2 spanish words a day and one sentence containing the words, she’s off to a strong start, wooooo!

-LO, D, Eliz

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” -Ecclesiastes 4:12

*saying goodbye to virginia with handstands*

CALIFORNIAAAAAAAA… here we come!!!

Hey peeps,

As many of you know we are taking a road trip to California! Whenever we find a place with internet access we will be writing in this blog to be able to share this trip with everyone! So feel free to leave us comments, places to visit, words of advice, or whatever. We love all of you!

Love,

Lo, Denise, and Elizabeth

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9