The Start of Summer 2009

So our road trip has started. I’m glad to be out of Arizona. Our first destination was Las Vegas. We made our way over the Hoover Dam, which was absolutely incredible. The engineering that went into that is astounding. I think we saw a Transformer too, not sure though. About an hour later we arrived in Vegas. A word that I would use to summarize the town would be “interesting.” We only ventured to the “strip” and not the outlying city. I’ll be talking about the strip, since that’s the only place we were.

The name “Sin City” is very fitting. Just driving in, I began to feel dirty and defiled. It is such a contrast to the “soccer mom” dominated Gilbert (Arizona). The inside of our hotel wasn’t nearly as bad as the rest of the strip. Outside, at every corner, there would be about 20 men handing out pamphlets of prostitutes and strip clubs. One would logically think that looking away would make them stop; but looking at the ground quickly made me realize that they dropped the pamphlets on the ground too. It made me think of how in Peter (I forgot if it’s 1st or 2nd), where he talks about satan being a lion waiting to devour people, but really it’s only the shadow of the lion because Jesus’ death defeated sin and death. So really it’s not anything to worry about. It was a victorious and comforting feeling walking past them, knowing that my Savior has rescued me from sin and has a better path for me to take.

The town seemed almost atheistic: a town where people either deny or “forget about” God while they indulge in every sinful passion and instinct. It reminded me of the movie Pinocchio, when the kids went to Pleasure Island. They were drawn in by the “adult” things to do, and by the convincing grown ups asking them to come in. eventually they got turned into circus animals and were sold. I think Vegas turns humans into animals. Not literally of course, but figuratively. I think the subdued animal in people comes out. Oh well. Pray for the town if you think about it.

On to better things, we’re now making our way through Utah. I had absolutely no idea how beautiful this state is. I think the fact that the whole day has been overcast, with frequent showers, makes it even better. In contrast to Vegas, this part of the country seems pure and unadulterated. The landscape stretches beyond what the eye can see, and what the mind can imagine, surrounded always by ranges of mountains and hills. We entered and toured Zion National Park for the majority of the day. The mixture of high peaks and low valleys, complimented by creeks and enormous rock formations, made me quite speechless.
I saw God (“beautiful” doesn’t describe it enough). We even traveled through a mile long tunnel, which had multiple openings that were blasted out of the side so we could observe the canyon while driving through the tunnel. Absolutely incredible. Now we’re driving by open grasslands, and a mountain with snow melting on the top. A mountain, at the end of May, with snow on top? Yes. It’s cool.

I’m on this trip with my cousin, Britton, and my grandpa, Eddie. For the first leg of the trip, he turned to me (I was driving), and asked if I would like to hear what his 20th year consisted of. I said “yes” hastily. He began to describe how he was attending the University of Kentucky, in his first semester there. He transferred from Murray State as a Junior I believe. That was the year he met my grandmother. They met and were engaged within a summer break, (listening, I was secretly crossing my fingers haha). When my cousin awoke in the back seat, he talked about his 21st year in detail. The story actually lasted us about 4 hours. It was great! Today, he talked about his rules on finances.

1) Always live within your means. Basically, don’t spend more than you make. Adjust your spending habits, and not your working habits.
2) Never borrow money to invest in a depreciating asset (i.e. cars, furniture, etc…). Houses and education were the 2 things that he supported in taking out loans for.
I’m glad he’s telling us these things. I need to hear these.

We’re already having a load of fun also. For some reason, I’m the only person in the car who notices when the blinker isn’t turned off, and it REALLY bothers me. Literally, more than 20 times I’ve had to say “blinker” before my grandpa realizes that it’s on. It’s become a laughing matter in the car now. Nothing ever get’s done right unless I do it. Ha. Not.

This trip looks very promising. We’re on our second day, and I’m already LOVING the way it’s progressing. I’m usually tired of road trips, but I realize that I’m only tired of road trips in Arizona. It’s not every day I get to drive through grasslands with snow-covered mountains surrounding me. And we’re in an almost new Cadillac too ☺ . We’re about 50 miles outside Salt Lake City as I finish this. Tomorrow we’re off to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, then Yellowstone National Park. This should be exciting! I can’t imagine how many pictures I’ll have when this trip is over.

I love you guys, come back for more updates. Pray for safety and a time of growth, both relationally and spiritually.

Peace love and prosperity