The plan (Lord willing) is to paddle board in every state we travel through, enjoying nature, water, trees and skies. We want to rest in each moment, taking a breather from a busy season of heart heavy work. We want to take God in, in His own environment, and let joy enter in. We want to enjoy each other. And with that in mind, this particular blog post will be unique.
After some friends asked to "come along" vicariously, I'll post real time snippets, videos and pictures from each vantage point. With no plan or idea what will be captured, but only wish to capture God, the Creator of the unvierse, the giver of all moments. We are never promised a single one. In addition, Rich was assigned a flamingo, by his school, to take along on his summer vacation, partaking in the journey. So, you’ll see his inflatable friend in some photos and A.L. Lotts school mentioned as we journey on. 🦩
Come along with us...let's explore and play!
Day 1: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 @ 5:10 am EST - leaving home in Knoxville, TN. All packed and ready to roll. It's been a wonky week of medical issues and extreme heat, but today we forge ahead! A little prayer this morning, a hot cup of coffee, and off we go.
8:30 am - A Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee in Nashville, TN. Yay!
https://landofathousandhills.com I love the mission this place is pursuing, and my iced coffee was pretty tasty. They love on people in far away places and promote well being for all. With a beautiful space to sit and work in, they even offer free skeeball when your eyes need a rest from the computer!
12:03 pm - entered Arkansas 👍🏻
3:30 pm - we arrived at our hotel in Heber Springs, Arkansas. A small, quaint little town in the beautiful Ozarks. Headed to Greers Ferry Lake and experienced the warmest, clearest water we’ve seen! Beautiful. https://www.visitgreersferrylake.com/
God painted a gorgeous sky, gave us a cool breeze, and designed an amazing 40,500 acre lake to frolic in. We are so grateful. And the 87 degree weather made it tolerable! 😊 And the flamingo joined us on the water!
🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩🦩
Heber Springs, Arkansas - Population: 7,201
End of day 1: 523 miles driven, 9 hours on the road
Day 2: Wednesday June 19, 2024 @ 7 am CST - Leaving Heber Springs, AR and heading west! We stopped at a sweet little coffee place and there was a stack of prayer cards on the counter...mine was "I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good."
Psalm 54:6.
10:09 am CST - entered Oklahoma!
9:40 pm CST- Well, today was a different type of day. So here is to transparency and realness: day 2 was disappointing. But after MANY unmet expectations, and even a small argument, we have landed in Borger, Texas. We just took a needed walk enjoying a lovely breeze, and agree upon one main thing: God brought us here safe today and provided manna we needed in every moment. We may not have had all we wanted, but we had enough.
Yes, healthy couples have unpleasant days even on vacation. 🙃
Yet somehow the wonderful breeze we just enjoyed, Gods creation, felt like a gentle reminder that He is still God. And THAT is always ENOUGH. 🙌🏼
But let’s get to the water for today - we arrived at Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma, at 11:50 am. From the car, I could see the water was very brown. And it was scorching hot. Rich was willing to brave the sludge but I did not. I walked to the shore and felt utterly grossed out by the water. So, he paddled alone. (Well, he had his flamingo friend lol)
Moving on, we crossed into Texas at 6:00 pm CST. Today was a long driving day. Tomorrow, we go again! Hoping to get some video too!
Borger, Texas - population: 12,669 elevation: 3,097'
End of day 2: 601 miles driven, 11 hours 10 minutes on the road.
Day 3: Thursday, June 20, 2024
7:00 am CST - paddled beautiful Lake Meredith in Texas this morning. We got to watch the sun rise, the water was still, air so cool….it was a perfect start to the day!! The lake is nestled down in a canyon surrounded by red clay. God met us here. 💙
Rich captured this great photo below where you can’t really see me (which is ok!) but you can at first glance, see something else over me. 🙌🏼
12:00 pm CST - stopped at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX. It's a quirky tourist stop where Cadillacs are buried halfway in the ground and one can freely graffiti them. Nothing like the smell of lots of spray paint on a hot day!
1:45 pm MST - crossed into New Mexico.
3:30 pm MST - arrived in Tucumcari, New Mexico at Motel Safari. This cool, retro motel is owned by a former Providence Church member. All in all, Tucumcari is our least favorite part of this whole trip. New Mexico in general is our least fave. 😔 This small, dusty, desert town is located miles from any real civilization. It is a poor area, most buildings vacant. It feels unsafe. Tonight we rest, watch a movie and refresh. When we consider Gods creation here, I can't help but feel a sadness for what appears to be the result of people poorly managing His gifts. This community needs Jesus. 🙏🏻
So, random TMI, on a road trip it is incredibly difficult to eat well. Though we try. Craving cooked vegetables, we landed at the only place to eat here- Dennys- and who knew they had steamed broccoli!? Praise the Lord for that. 🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦
Tomorrow we make our way to family in Arizona! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Tucumcari, NM - population: 5,149 Elevation: 4,091'
End of day 3: 219 miles driven, 5 hours 40 minutes on the road.
Day 4: Friday, June 21, 2024 @ 6:05 am MST - while leaving Tucumcari this morning, it became so apparent that this dry community of mostly Native Indian, is spiritually dry as well. Driving around, the most thriving businesses are the legal marijuana shops, these three below in sight from our Motel Safari. God has been replaced by weed. And the dryness is as if He has lifted His hands, left them in drought. New Mexico is a perfect Judea for us to pray for.
“…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Our route from Oklahoma City to Gallup.
7:00 am - out to Ute Lake, New Mexico for some morning paddle boarding. Weather cool and very windy. Rich took the first fall of the trip. 😆 For those who know how often he hits his head on things, it won’t be a surprise he hit a rock he didn’t see. 🤷🏻♀️ Thankfully he did not hit his head on the rock. I even caught it on video! He falls toward the end of the second video. The water however was beautiful! Clear, teal, warm. 💙💙 Now off to Arizona!
4:40 pm - arrived in Show Low, Arizona. So happy to be here. My brother and his family, and Nerissa and Gabe are here now too. Tomorrow we celebrate my dad.
Went through some beautiful storms on the drive today, which in the desert are always majestic. You can see for miles and miles...often an entire storm cell in its entirety. I see a glimpse of Gods power in them.
End of day 4: 1848 total miles driven, 35:35 on the road.
Day 5: Saturday June 22, 2024 - Today we are with family, loving on each other in memory of my dad.
Show Low, AZ - population: 12,056 elevation: 6349’
End of day 5: no miles on the road today! 😅
Day 6: Sunday, June 23, 2024 - today is Nerissas birthday, so we sang her the birthday song early this morning before hitting the road. We paddled Show Low, Arizona as soon as we left family. Lake Show Low, small lake near my dads house, where we went fishing with him years ago. So that was sweet. 💙
12:42 pm PST - entered California. Yeah…instant stress. Hot, expensive and long desert roads. What is God teaching us in this moment? To stop grumbling about temporary discomforts. 🙈🥵🌵🔥
And finally, this. 🥰🍔🍟♥️ After 7 grueling hours across the desert, all is made right in our world.
Arrived in Oakdale, California around 11:00 pm. A very hot day of long driving, but safe! Able to enjoy a beautiful sun setting sky on the way in. A reminder that God is so big. Big enough for this trip…and paints every moment just right. 🙌🏼
End of day 6: total miles driven 2,812 and total time on the road 53 hours, 46 minutes. 😬
Day 7: Monday, June 24, 2024 @ 10:00 am PST - we met Rich & Nicole and the girls for breakfast, but the littles didn’t know. Such a sweet surprise! 🤭🤭🤭
End of day 7: thankfully no road time today!! 😅 Had a great visit with some long time friends and Rich’s brother. 🩷
Day 8: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - spent the day with family. The littles had a sleepover with us in the hotel last night. Today, we visited old places where we got some favorite treats.
Two whole days of precious, free time with Rich & Nicole and Brooklyn and Ava. Lunch, karate, swimming, donuts, and hanging out.
Day 9: Wednesday June 26, 2024 - breakfast with the family before heading out this morning. Brooklyn prayed safety over our trip. She’s a gifted child and a light for her family. 🙌🏼 When I think of Gods creation here, I think of her.
…and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11.6
In addition, He has given this area of California such blessed abundance pf fresh produce. I’d say that’s one of 4 things we miss most! 🍒🍑🍓🥑🍇🍉🥝🍅
Now, we head to Lake Tahoe! 👏🏼
Enjoyed our drive through Truckee and North Lake Tahoe today…truly our favorite location in California. The tall pines, blue sky, crisp air and crystal clear blue Lake Tahoe are extravagant displays of Gods beauty. This area is one of the 4 things I miss about California. If you’ve never been, go!
🌲🌲🌲🌲💙💙💙💙
We arrived at Kings Beach and the water was ROUGH. So blue, clear, warm and lovely…but rough. The winds roughed things a bit too. But we got in and enjoyed some time there. We could see some leftover snow up in the mountain tops. Lake Tahoe lies across the California / Nevada border, so we were in both states water today! 💪🏼
Kings Beach, CA - Population: 2,489 Elevation: 6,444
Arrived in Elko, Nevada at 8:30 pm. End of day 9: 3,443.8 total miles driven, 67 hours and 12 minutes in the road.
Day 10: Thursday June 27, 2024 - Enjoyed breakfast with the locals in Elko. What a clean, quaint town. We liked it here…lol…no, we’re not thinking of moving here. But we liked it a lot and our boards were still on top of the car this morning. 😳😅 We entered Utah around 9:20 am.
We stopped and paddled the Great Salt Lake. It is VAST! A gorgeous but hot day here...lots of hydration happening. But had to get in the Great Salt Lake. 👏🏼🧂Here are some cool facts about this lake. https://www.utah.com/destinations/state-parks/great-salt-lake-state-park/great-salt-lake-facts/
On our way to stay the night in Green River, Utah. Went through canyon and while in a low point got an emergency alert of flash flooding coming…to seek high ground. 😳 But as we kept driving, I’m in awe of the storm causing the threat as well as the thought that we were in fact in a canyon once full of water, how many years ago. As we drove down this long road, the image of it once being under water fascinated me. Gods creation invoking yet another reverent moment. 💙
“And the waters covered the earth for one hundred and fifty days.”
Genesis 7:24
End of day 10: total miles driven 3,863 total time on the road 74 hours and 39 minutes. 😅
Day 11: Friday, June 28, 2024 - spent the night in Green River, Utah. Tiny little town, in the canyon surrounded by amazing stone cliffs. Had a torrential storm roll through all night. On the road this morning toward Colorado, with a lovely sunrise. 🙌🏼 (Not sure what that white dot on Rich’s lip is)
Around 7:30 am, we made it into Colorado. Our drive through the Rocky Mountains was just incredibly beautiful and majestic. It is truly a gorgeous area. Tall, thick forests, snow capped peaks (12,000 feet and above!), pretty red stone cliffs and the Colorado River flowing along the highway. Gods fingerprints are all over this land.
We arrived at our Colorado paddle spot, Dillon Lake, situated in the crevice of several mountain peaks. Soooo pretty!! Water was clear, cold, and there was the most quaint little village, Frisco, which seemed to be a perfect weekend getaway for vacationers. We could see ourselves visiting here. There is a lot to do and explore! We can see ourselves flying here for a getaway. If you need a new destination check it out. 😍🤩https://www.townoffrisco.com/
Frisco, Colorado - population 2,804 elevation 9,026
After leaving this lake, there was a terrible accident in the mountains which sent us on a wild, winding, dirt road detour for two hours. This was the third such delay on this trip. We found ourselves frustrated for a few moments until Rich asked the “question”. Well, we’re not sure what God is teaching us but just reflecting on Him brought us to a patient place of gratitude we had been safe so far. Thank you Jesus. 🙌🏼🙏🏻
Our last In & Out burger in Denver, now on to Kansas! 👠👠
Got to Goodland, Kansas for the night. End of day 11: total miles driven 4,409. Total time on the road 84 hours, 50 minutes.
Day 12: Saturday, June 29, 2024 - leaving Goodland, Kansas and making our way east. As we pass miles and miles of Midwest wheat fields, I can’t help but think of Jesus.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12.
Paddled Lake Wilson near Colby, Kansas. It was so windy we had trouble launching. The water was warm, the sun hot! ☀️🌊 No pictures of this water excursion. Somehow the wind had us sidetracked! 🤷🏻♀️
Arrived in Columbia, Missouri around 6 pm. Walked to a nearby Mexican eatery and enjoyed a full meal. Both of us feeling a slight bit bittersweet about heading home tomorrow. Maybe we are truly Gypsies at heart. 💛☺️
End of day 12: total miles driven 4,967 and 93 hours 53 minutes on the road. 🚙
Day 13: Sunday, June 30, 1024 - got an early morning Missouri launch in at Lake Creve Coeur. The warmest water we’ve ever paddled! Cloudy, breezy morning, but easy paddling. I love how the flamingo gets to ride up front. 🦩🤣
Crossed into Illinois around 11:00 am. Making our way home! 🏠 Looking for water here in Illinois which makes 12 states we will have launched in!! 💪🏼👏🏼
3:00 pm - Rend Lake in Benton, Illinois! Even warmer water than the last, huge breathtaking lake with pretty rough water. Also not very clear. But for our last time out today, we enjoyed Gods creation! ☺️
Benton, Illinois- population 6,709 elevation 471’
Crossed into Tennessee at 6:07 pm. Today we have been in four states, paddled in two. 😅
I highly recommend a road trip if you’ve never been in one. There is something so awe inspiring to experience Gods creation across various lands. And we have so many different lands right here in the United States. Our mission field is vast, our gifts plentiful. 🙌🏼
End of day 13: we’re HOME! Safely home at 11:20 pm. Praise God. 🙌🏼🩷👏🏼
Total miles driven: 5,590
Total drive time: 104 hours, 34 minutes
Total states: 12
Total days: 13
2 chips in windshield
1 flash flood warning
1 tornado watch
1 argument
3 major highway delays
So grateful the Lord allowed us this adventure. 💙
WOW!!!! What an incredible trip! Praise God you were able to do this together. A blessing! Love, Jennifer Cowan
So glad you guys are able to do this trip. I don’t think we’ll see each other on this round!!! Love you guys!!! Be safe. Our God reigns!!!
What a cool adventure thank you for sharing!-kathryn