1/9-1/12: New Mexico

New Mexico was a different kind of trip because we brought along a friend! This breathed new life and excitement into this state. I had no idea what to expect (heh. Like a lot of the states!) because all I had seen of this state was while we were driving through on our way from Arizona to Colorado, which, I was to quickly find out, was not through the beautiful parts of the state.

Our first destination was Santa Fe. Our friend's mom had gifted us 2 nights at a hotel there with points that she had. It was snowy when we arrived, but the roads were clear. The gorgeous white accents on the southwestern architecture made it feel almost magical. The room was actually a suite! It had a kitchen, a beautiful fireplace, a king sized bed, and a living room. It was incredible! One of the mornings we even woke up to beautiful, huge icicles. I loved watching my two friends, who both grew up in areas without snow and ice, discover the sheer beauty of icicles!!

We explored downtown Santa Fe which was adorable and charming. It was cold out and ice covered the ground, so we didn't stay out too long. We enjoyed wandering through the shops and getting a feel for a city that we had never been to before. In one of the shops we dreamed of having the money to buy adorable $200 cowboy boots!

Whenever we are in a new area, I always looked for National Park locations because they were free and usually interesting. When looking into where to go in New Mexico, I found Bandalier National Monument. I didn't quite know what to expect, but really wanted to check it out. I am SO glad we made the drive out to see this national monument. It was as if we stepped into history. There were ruins of adobe dwellings with many rooms and up above there were cave dwellings. They were all located in a beautiful value. Each of the cave dwellings had a ladder that allowed us to climb up into them. It was incredible to try to imagine what it must have been like to live in these caves! So very very different from the lives we currently live. Hopefully these pictures can give you a glimpse into the beauty and intrigue of this stop.

After reading Healing Sands by Nancy Rue, I have wanted to visit White Sands National Monument. It was the one thing I knew I wanted to see in New Mexico! At first I was worried that it didn't actually exist because I couldn't see it anywhere near the hotel where we stayed. ;) When we arrived at the National Monument entrance, I knew it certainly did exist! It was close to magical. I've never seen anything like it. There was white sand as far as the eye could see!!! Gypsm blows into small particles that appear like sand and make huge dunes. One hike led you through the dunes and was guided only by posts in the ground. We ran out of time to do the whole thing, but it was incredible to stand amongst the dunes and see white everywhere. Pictures do not do it justice.

Our original plan was that White Sands would be our last New Mexico stop, but we all wanted to go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Since our friend had another day off, we made a spontaneous decision to extend our trip by one more night. Best. Decision. Ever. We were able to stay in Silver City, New Mexico. Sadly we weren't able to explore the city much, but greatly enjoyed our evening.

The next morning we drove to the Gila Cliff Dwellings which are waaaaaay into the mountains up a winding road. It was so cool to go to Bandalier where we saw cave dwellings and then see the cliff dwellings. The theory is that drought brought about war over resources which lead to a need for protection by building dwellings into the cliff face. They were a more permanent dwelling than the caves, but the people who lived in them likely dwelt in caves before settling down for a generation. They didn't stay longer than one generation before abandoning it. This may have been because the drought broke or the war ended or both. We had an incredible conversation with a volunteer. I've been bitten by the bug of seeing all the cave/cliff dwellings in the Southwest!!!

We made one more stop at a state park that was filled with huge rocks. It was an hour full of delight and exploration! :)

After a delightful time at the cliff dwellings our time in New Mexico was over. :( We returned to Arizona for a few more days before heading on the road again.

1/7-1/17: Arizona

Our first stop back on the road was to visit our dear friend in Arizona. It had been our first stop at the very beginning of the trip, so it felt fitting to be the first stop heading out again after the holiday celebrations. Our time was full of joy and grief.

I was grateful to be in a place that I could continue to process the loss of my grandpa. There were times of tears and many times of sharing stories. We even extended the trip two extra nights because I did not yet feel ready to leave the safety of a friend's house to stay with a stranger, just one month after the loss of someone so dear to me. I'll forever remember how wonderful it was to be able to be free to grieve how I needed to.

Alyssa and I both enjoyed being able to become a part of our friend's family for the time that we were there. It truly had become like another home to us. It was a time of joy. In the midst of playing games and enjoying delicious meals, we continued to plan out our trip. We knew that this was the final section of our travels...and that was bittersweet. Yet we knew that at the end of it, we would be ready to settle down into home, a term that became so fluid while traveling.

Four of these nights we were actually traveling with our friend and checking off another state! But that will be a separate post. :)

12/18-1/7: Grief, Celebrations, and Rest

As I mentioned in my last post my December was not filled with all joy and rest. My grandpa was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) prior to departing on this trip, so I knew my time with him was limited. This is why we stopped in Colorado as many times as we could early on in the trip. Beginning in early December, my grandpa took a turn for the worse, and we began to realize that our time with him was perhaps shorter than we all thought. On the evening of December 15 while we were watching Shrek with our hosts, my mom called to inform me that the end was near. She was going to be flying to Colorado that Saturday (it was Tuesday) to be with her parents. Upon hearing more details, I had a strong suspicion that he would not last even that long. When I woke up the next morning, I knew my grandpa had entered Heaven...and my mom's texts from the middle of the night confirmed that he, indeed, had met God face to face. ALS may have taken his earthly life, but through faith in Jesus Christ, this disease became only the method that brought him Home at the age of 79. He was and is greatly missed by his entire family.

I flew to Colorado two days later to be there for the funeral and spend some much needed family time before I flew to Washington. God graciously timed this so that I could make a "triangle" of flights, and I was on a break from the trip/close enough to fly relatively easily. The funeral was a beautiful celebration of a the wonderful man who was always willing to help anyone, loved all without qualifications, told incredible stories, and knew more random facts than anyone else I know.

After a few days in Colorado, I flew to Washington, a few days later than originally planned. I spent almost all of my time with my family and cancelled most of my previous plans. I listened to worship music frequently. I did a puzzle with my mom. I talked with my dad. I pressed into the hope of Christmas, that my God came to this earth as a baby in order to die on a cross and pay my sins so I can enter Heaven, and one day see my Grandpa again. Christmas had never been so raw and real to me before. The fluff that sometimes Christmas was stripped away. Instead I was focused on the reason that Christmas is celebrated...Christ.

Dear friends rallied around my family during this time and provided us with food so that my mom could take time to grieve instead of having to figure out food. They loved us well.

Christmas itself was a bittersweet day. Our time opening presents together was wonderful. It felt normal and just the way it should be. The rest of the day had its ups and downs, but it was a day with family. We carried on our tradition of watching movies and eating snacks.

Alyssa traveled with her dad to see her family in Oregon. It was her first Christmas without her mom which was filled with a similar bittersweet yet real quality to the holiday. She enjoyed getting to meet family she hadn't before and sharing our trip with people were excited to hear about it. It was different, and the loss of her mom was obvious, but it was also filled with a new sense of hope that she hadn't experienced before.

After our times in different Northwest states for Christmas, we both returned to California for another couple weeks of rest. Again, it was a season of normalcy yet laced with grief and mixed with hope.

For New Year's Eve we were invited to celebrate with our hosts, Megan and Bryan, and their friends. We played different games and watched more of the New York NYE broadcast than I have before. ;) It was laid back and exactly what Alyssa and I needed!

In what seemed a blink of an eye, we were back on the road again.

12/11-12/18: Time at Home

After the time on the road, being "home" was a beautiful gift. We had no idea at the time that we would actually call the house we stayed at home on a more permanent basis upon returning, but that's another story. ;)

We wanted to do a similar update in California like we had done in Washington. Unfortunately with Christmas around the corner many people were occupied with other holiday activities. That being said, we are so grateful to the people who did come to hear us share about our trip. <3 One of our friends let us host it at her house which was also a huge blessing. It was an evening full of laughter and catching up. It was all too brief to share with everyone everything that we had seen, done, and experienced, let alone to find out all that had happened in their lives!

Other highlights included having authentic Asian food for the first time in months, drinking boba (bubble tea) at our favorite location, and soaking up time with friends. It was a brief time of near-normalcy.

However, just as with parts of this trip, it didn't end as planned. I'll discuss that more in the next post...

12/1-12/11: Hawaii

People think of Hawaii as paradise. Unfortunately our time there didn't quite reach those expectations! First off we landed near 1am and didn't settle in for bed until 3am local time. Then we had a lazy morning followed by a wonderful afternoon/evening at the beach followed by a lovely dinner. :)

The next morning our trip took a drastic turn for the worse when Alyssa began not feeling well. By the end of the day she was quite sick with a food poisoning/emotions/stomach bug combination. Our hosts were extremely gracious in providing her with ginger ale and saltine crackers. We rested inside while watching movies. It wasn't all bad to extend our time of relaxation, but it was a bummer that she was feeling miserable and to miss an opportunity to sing Christmas carols with a church group.

We were able to leave the house the next day to help our hostess pick out a Christmas tree and some decorations. While at Walmart we saw the cutest stuffed moose ever!! And almost bought him but didn't. Remember him. ;)

Prior to arriving on Oahu we had made plans with a friend who had done a 50 states trip before us and had settled in Hawaii. The bank where she worked was sponsoring the holiday parade in Honolulu, so the employees were walking in it and passing out candy. We were invited to join! Sure! I'll check that off my bucket list. :) Sadly Alyssa still wasn't feeling great that morning, but we didn't want to pass it up. It was fun to pass out candy to kids along the road! :D So many smiles.

To continue on with our day we picked up Hawaiian BBQ (delicious!) followed by a rest time then a hike. The hike was hot! Thankfully it was worth it when we saw the waterfall at the top. :) We were so grateful that we had this day to spend with someone who understood our adventure in a way that few people do!

We also went sunset chasing :)

The night ended with Alyssa getting sick again. Which meant that all the plans had to be rearranged again. Both of us were disappointed. :( This wasn't how we wanted to spend our 10 days in Hawaii!!!

As time went on, Alyssa gained strength so we were able to do some of the things we wanted to do. ;) The definite highlight of the whole trip was being able to hike to a waterfall that we could swim in!! I had always wanted to do that, but had no clue where. So when our hostess mentioned that this was a possibility we jumped on the opportunity. The water was cold, but it was entirely worth it. We also challenged ourselves to swim up to the rock near the waterfall so that we were basically under it...that was no easy task with the current! We did it though. :) The walk to the falls was through a gorgeous botanical garden. We loved this opportunity.

On our drive to the waterfall place (names are escaping me all these months later), we stopped at the Dole plantation. We saw pineapple fields, beautiful tropical flowers, and ate Dole Whip. I love that Dole Whip doesn't have any of my allergens. ;)

We, of course, also explored different beaches including Lanikai and the lagoon near Aulani resort. They were both relaxing and gorgeous in their own ways. We waited to see the sunset over the lagoon because who doesn't love a beach sunset experience!

One of our last days there we hiked to a point of gorgeous views. I'm completely spacing on what the hike was called, but it was really pretty. It felt good to return to being somewhat active again. Pictures often speak better than words when it comes to Hawaii. :)

Oh! And I cannot forget to mention the delicious grilled veggies that I (sadly Alyssa was too sick) devoured while there! Grilled zucchini is SO GOOD!

Thank you, John and Laura, for hosting us for 10 nights so graciously. <3

Now, remember that moose? Well, when we returned from Hawaii, Alyssa and I both had a lot of questions and discouragements, especially since she had been sick for so much of our trip. Honestly, we wondered where God was in this. Then we get into her dad's car and see the very moose we had wanted to buy sitting on the seat...for Alyssa. Her dad had gotten it at a gift exchange and thought she would like it, but had no idea how badly we had wanted it! God shows Himself in the smallest details <3

11/24-12/1: Thanksgiving Celebrations

Alyssa and I spent Thanksgiving with our individual families. My family spent time in Santa Barbara in a house that my parents rented for the long weekend. We could walk to the beach! Our time was full of laughter, delicious food, and most importantly time together. Here are some pictures from our time. :)

Alyssa's dad met her in Santa Barbara by train and then they drove down to our home area together. She enjoyed time with family at a restaurant near the beach for Thanksgiving! I can't tell you too much about it though since I wasn't there. ;)

We loved being able to go to our home church, Friends Church Orange, for the first time in months on the Sunday after Thanksgiving too. Nothing like home...