Tuesday 6/23, Part 2: Muir Woods

Our next destination was San Francisco! Just outside of Monterey, we came across a beautiful fruit stand. So we stopped. ;)

We drove all the way through the city to the northern part and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Neither of us remember ever driving across it before (although we may have!), so it was an exhilarating experience!

We then continued up a very windy road to Muir Woods National Monument. It took us a little while to get organized with the National Parks pass and NP passports for stamps...so we got to walk one stretch of path multiple times! After finally getting everything in place correctly, we only had 30 minutes until we needed to leave. Thus, we chose to do the second shortest loop. It was beautiful with huge redwood trees! The air was fresh too. We even had the chance to take one family's picture so they could all be in it! They took ours too :) There was a stream running through the woods (that in other times of year would be full of salmon!) which added to the peaceful atmosphere of the woods. Here is a taste of the views:

After that we met up with some of Alyssa's friends who live there. They are an amazing couple who opened up their home to us for our 2 nights in San Francisco. On this particular night they treated us to really good Katsu curry rice :) We were exhausted by this point, so we returned to their house to relax for the rest of the evening. 

Wednesday 6/24: San Francisco

We had the unexpected (think this may be the theme word of this trip!) opportunity to serve at a church day camp on Wednesday in San Fracisco. One of the friends we were staying with was involved with this camp and asked if we wanted to go for a few hours the next morning. We said of course! 

The day began with a devotional by the pastor. He was extremely welcoming to us!

*The sanctuary where devotions were held

As the counselors were getting their kids, we prayed for the kids and the day. We weren't quite sure where we fit in, but we decided to wait and see what happened. 

Shortly after that, we began to help prepare lunch. This was the friend's job, so it was great to be able to help her out! We made sandwiches and set out juices and oranges. It was quite enjoyable actually. :) 

After the lunches were done, we headed to downtown San Francisco to take a free walking tour that we found online. They are called San Francisco City Guides. Their website is http://www.sfcityguides.org/current_schedule.html. I am in no way paid to tell you about them, but we had so much fun I wanted to share it with you! We took a tour about the Gold Rush, but they have many others. :) 

It was a bit stressful trying to find street parking in time to walk to the starting location of the tour. Ok, read very stressful. We tried multiple parking lots but they cost too much. So we kept driving around until we found a spot on the street! Unfortunately, we parked at the exact time the tour was starting...and had to walk a ways to the meeting location. Alyssa ended up calling the company to figure out which direction to go if we need to catch up! Thankfully we didn't have to! 

We learned about how the city grew suddenly because of the discovery of gold in the surrounding regions. They called this an 'instant city.' 

The San Francisco Bay used to come further up into the city, but over time they filled the bay with various things, including dumping full loads of cargo from ships into the bay. As the city built up, they began using boats as foundations for stores! This then led to the boats being built on top of! To this day there still remains over a dozen ships under the foundations of San Francisco. Each one that is discovered must be documented and recorded before the building can proceed. 

Another interesting fact is that when the bay was farther into the city, they built long docks into the bay for ships to come     They became so long that people didn't want to walk all the way back to the city before going to another dock, so they connected them with a walkway. This structure later became the grid pattern of the roads of the city. There are two exceptions to this: mission road and precidio road. These were both well-worn paths that existed before the docks did. 

*This picture was found online; I cannot remember where right now, but if desired I will find out to give proper credit. It is also the picture the tour guide showed us!

Mark Twain also spent time in this city. In one of his books there is a frog. I cannot remember which book or the story on the frog, but there is a statue of a frog to pay tribute to Twain. 

San Francisco was the last stop on the Pony Express. They have a plaque as a reminder of this! The riders would ride at a gallop, stopping briefly every 20 miles to change horses. After seeing all the terrain they had to ride, we have a new respect for what they did to carry letters across the country!

China Town is the largest community of Chinese people outside of China. They live in small apartments packed with people. If the density of San Francisco was the same as China Town, the population would be around 9 million people. That's a lot!! We didn't have a chance to spend much time in China Town on this trip :(

We also got to hear about the history of the California flag. It started with white muslin with a strip of a woman's red petticoat stitched on the bottom. They then put republic of California because Texas' flag said republic of Texas. Then they added the lone star from the Texas flag. To finish off the flag, they wanted to add a fierce animal. They thought of the great grizzly bear! And so with all of that combined, the California flag was born. :)

We learned even more history, but if I added it all this post would become much too long! Hope you enjoyed the highlights. 

After the tour we walked over to the Ferry Building (think that's what it's called). There we bought vegan donuts from Pebble's Donuts. We haven't had donuts in probably over a year because of our allergies. Oh my! They were so good! We sat on a bench looking at the harbor to enjoy them. I got Salted Caramel; Alyssa got Vanilla; we shared a cinnamon and sugar. 

As we sat on the bench, we saw a bunch of pigeons. Some of them were all fluffed up because it was cold! Haha. 

After our donuts, we drove a ways to buy dinner from a food truck we had seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a few months ago. They now have a restaurant and a food truck. We decided to go to the food truck! It is called KoJa (Korean/Japanese fusion cuisine) If you are ever in San Francisco, we definitely recommend looking up where this food truck would me. We got teriyaki steak on fried rice...patties? Buns? Cakes? It was delicious!!

On our way to and from the food truck, we got to drive on a double decker bridge! 

We were exhausted by this point in the day, so we went back to our friends' house to relax and watch TV. :)

Tuesday 6/23, Part 1: Monterey

After looking at brochures that we picked up in the hotel lobby, we decided that we would visit the Path of History in Monterey! We knew we were in the right place when we came across markers with many languages along the brick walkway. 

We arrived a little bit before the place to pick up a map opened. So we read some plaques leading up to the entrance that shared about the rich history of Monterey. Did you know that California constitution was written there? Or that a man raised an American flag above the customs house 2 years before they actually became a state because he thought they were at war with Mexico? Or that when California was part of Mexico, Monterey was the capital of the northern 'Alta California' portion? Or that Steinbeck lived there? Neither did I! Always learning!

After getting an overview of the history we would be seeing, we sat outside on a bench and enjoyed the view. 

Once the Colton House opened, we went in to get a map and figure out our plan! This was the room where they signed the California Constitution! The sign in sheet was on display. The handwriting was gorgeous--and most of them wrote out their ages in word form!

Next stop was the jail where they held prisoners until the 1950s! 

Then we walked around seeing various Adobe houses. We got to see one house where John Steinbeck lived for a time and wrote...a famous piece that I'm blanking on the name. We also got to see the customs house that looks similar to the way it did when Monterey was part of Mexico. There was so much more on the Path of History that we didn't get to see!! I highly recommend it if you are ever in the area. :)

*I believe this was where Steinbeck lived! 

*Cant remember the full history on this house but I loved the blue gate!

We walked onto one of the piers for lunch and enjoyed a beautiful viewing spot where we got to watch and listen to sea lions. Even paid a quarter to use the telescope! So gorgeous and peaceful!

We ended our time in Monterey by driving down to Cannery Row where the canning factories used to be. There was a small beach there. So we stopped to watch the waves for a few minutes before leaving for San Francisco! This stop was brief but completed the time in Monterey nicely. :)

*Alyssa holding her little jar of sand to add to her dirt collection. (We both have one!)

The California Coast

On Monday morning we left Southern California and drove up the California coast to Monterey. We opted to take the longer route in order to enjoy the view. We are so glad we did!  It was such a beautiful drive!! The pictures we have do not even do it justice. 

At one of the stops we made a cute little friend. :) I was mildly concerned he would try to join us for our trip!

We also stopped off at Elephant Seal Beach where a lot of huge elephant seals were laying on the beach. It was incredibly windy, so it was bit chilly. The chill was worth it to see the elephant seals throwing sand on themselves, hear their loud barking, and watch them clamber over each other. There is a video posted on The Road Trip's Facebook page of the elephant seals where you can hear their noises.

One of the other moments of excitement was after waiting in traffic right around Pepperdine University and seeing firefighters wrapping up a job(don't know what happened), this landed on the grass right next to the road as we were passing it! It was pretty cool. 

Finally we got to see a powerful sunset where we could watch the sun set from behind the clouds. I've never seen anything like it! The lighting was perfect. I tried to capture it but the phone camera doesn't quite do it justice (no camera would!). Here's a glimpse:

It was a gorgeous and worthwhile adventure that ended with falling asleep quickly at a hotel in Monterey!

On the Road Again

Today we set out again to continue this Road Trip journey in an area other than Orange County. Leaving this time was in many ways harder than the first time. We are marked by the tragedy we endured; we are no longer naive to the cost of following where God leads. And this time we are leaving Alyssa's dad without his constant companion.

 Yet at the same time, we have both discovered what a gift this year is that we could travel during this time of grief. This will be healing to both of us. We also received the blessing of both Alyssa's dad and brother to continue on. 

So we begin again. 

After talking it through we decided to take a different route than originally planned both because of shortened time frame as well as because it is easier emotionally to restart than to pick up our plans where we would have been before our world turned upside down. 

In faith, we continue on. 

Our hearts hurt. 

Our minds still struggle to understand. 

Our certainty of Gods call remains unshaken. 

Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to sharing updates :)

Back in California

Written June 7, 2015

As I sit here back in California after only a week of being gone, my mind races through thoughts. I reflect on what the past days have held...and I cannot help but wonder what plans God has from all of this. In the past 7 days, I have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The excitement of beginning a year of travel quickly turned into deep grief at the unexpected loss of Alyssa's mom. So we are here. Back to the area we called home. The area we didn't expect to return to until December. 

But God's plans often do not match our own. 

From the beginning of planning this trip, I knew the theme of the trip would be Faith, Trust, and Obedience. At the time I did not know the cost those words would take, but do we ever? God calls us to trust Him, no matter what comes our way. So here we are, broken yet trusting. 

The past two days were spent driving through the beautiful state of Utah. The views were breathtaking! Seeing the beauty around us was soothing to our grieving souls. We saw beautiful rocks and canyons and experienced the beauty of Zion National Park. It was a precious few days of traveling...and remembering the passion and vision behind the trip, even in the midst of our sadness. 

It was also a time to reflect. Music and stories that had seemed so critical on the drive only days before remained off for most of the time. We often sat driving in silence, lost in our own worlds. But we also remembered. Remembered who Alyssa's mom was and the miracles of healing and transformation God had done in her life. We remembered the dreams of the future that will not happen on this earth. And we remembered the love she had for both of us. 

Then we dreamed. Dreamed of Heaven and the life her mom is now living. We dreamed of the day when it will be our turn to join her there. 

Is this how I wanted her story to end? No. No I didn't want her to die suddenly in the ICU. But I am thankful to know that she now lives pain free in a Place of Glory in the presence of the Lord that we both loved. 

 I also trust that God knows the timing of everything. His plan for the next year has not yet been made clear to us, but my prayer continues to be that God will use us for His glory. We are broken vessels, but we are willing to listen and obey. And that is all that is asked for us. 

Do I know the plan for the next year? Nope. Do I know the plan for the next month? Nope. Do I know the plan for the next week? Not really. Do I know Who will reveal the plans for the next week, month, and year? YES. 

So even as I sit here, back in California, in a situation I never wanted, I know that the story is not over yet. Alyssa's mom loved my writing. She followed the blog closely. So I will continue to write. I will continue to share. I will continue to follow the Lord. It is certainly what she would've wanted.

In the end, our job is to trust God who is faithful and good. 

So we will.  

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Job 13:15

It has begun!

We have not been strangers to hard work or hurdles this past week.

Yet in the middle of it, the blessings of the Lord have been abudant. 

Before I share some of the amazing experiences that I have been in the front seat to in the past week, let me share an update on what's happening with the trip. :) After a day and a half delay caused by the car not being ready (after body shop repairs from an accident 2 months ago), we set off on the start of The Road Trip on Saturday afternoon!! The feeling of beginning something that has been worked towards and dreamed of for so long is absolutely surreal. I kept reminding myself that it was really happening...and in a lot of ways I still am reminding myself.

We crossed our first state line that night as we crossed from California into Arizona! We have spent the past few days with our dear friend Esther as well as her family. We have played some games, cried some tears, experienced laughter, and met many people. The time has been a delightful time of recharge after the stress of the past month. We have certainly been refreshed and blessed--and pray we were the same. 

Tomorrow we shall be off--and cross another few state lines!

During this time we are learning how to be intentional with loving people and how to embrace every moment. 

Let me share with you some of the highlights from this past week:

1. Before we left, we went to say good bye to a family who we have both babysat for. We are now deemed their 'friend babysitters.' Anyway, we went to say good bye and for a time of prayer. It was in the middle of a stressful day of moving, and our hearts were not really in the right spot when we arrived. That quickly changed as the two oldest boys prayed over us. Their prayers touched our hearts in a way few other prayers have. We were feeling refreshed and at peace. It was then that the real shock happened...the oldest heard us talking about money and trusting God to provide the rest of it as the trip progressed. He ran to his room and came back with a $20! This he gave to us without a second thought. His brother followed suit with a $10 bill. By the time we left, we had in hand the most precious $37.50 we have ever received. It was so humbling and incredible. That money is being saved for something special later in the trip. <3

2. As we left our final acupuncture appointment before the trip, our doctor prayed over us and gave us a generous donation towards our trip. We left with the blessing of 3 people from that office--and so much excitement from our journey! Words cannot express how we felt as we left from there. 

3. We had the opportunity to spend multiple times with Alyssa's family before we left. Each time was special and filled with blessing. Her mom and dad helped us by storing things and donating to us as well as being an incredible support. 

4. My friend Megan and her husband have graciously allowed us to store our things at their home. Without this generous gift, this trip would have been financially much more challenging. We had the opportunity to have lunch with her during that last week. It was a precious time of community. We cannot wait to hang out with her again when we get back!

The blessings continue, but I think this is enough for one post. 

We left feeling that God has truly provided an incredible support group behind us: sending us, loving us, praying for us, and blessing us. We are humbled and grateful.