But before that happens completely, I want to remember what made this trip special.
First, some statistics.
We traveled over 5,150 miles. Our van gave us 23.3 miles per gallon, which cost us $801 dollars for the 221 gallons of gasoline we bought. The southernmost point we reached was Sedona (Bethany and I made it as far as Cottonwood during a WalMart run). The farthest west was the Hermit's Rest snack bar on the Grand Canyon shuttle loop.
We visited six national parks: Rocky Mountain (2 days), Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde (2 days), Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon (3 days), and Arches.
One night at the Grand Canyon, I pulled out our GPS and asked it to route us home. It said we were over 2000 miles away and that it would take 32 hours of driving to get there. That made me feel very far away.
Funniest moment: driving back to Longmont from Estes Park while the kids were slap-happy. (Katie insisted there was something wrong with her ears and kept saying, "What? What?" Bethany pretended there was a goat named Nancy on our van roof.)
Scariest moment: watching the girls jump into the creek in Sedona from the high rocks.
Worst part of the drive: Tie between late-night Indiana and the storm in the Rockies.
Highest price of gas: Mesa Verde National Park (never buy gas in a national park if you can avoid it!), $4.079/gallon.
Most "remote" part of the trip: southeastern Utah around Monument Valley. I was checking the odometer between passing cars, and one time it was over 2.5 miles between vehicles, which meant we started 5 miles apart.
Most difficult hike (long): Climbing up between the Flatirons in Boulder.
Most difficult hike (short): Going to see Zapata Falls at Great Sand Dunes. It was treacherous walking barefoot over those rocks in ice-cold water!
Nicest surprise: Seeing a desert rainbow.
Most educational moment: Tie between Mesa Verde tours and Grand Canyon geological exhibits. (Honorable mention: Meteor Crater factoids.)
Second, some personal reflections.
I've been asked if this vacation was better than our Yellowstone trip. I think they are very comparable, with some important differences. Yellowstone had a lot more variety to it: there was lots of life (I remember seeing buffalo and elk and greenery), there was water (I remember the geysers and waterfalls), and there was more of a feeling of wilderness, but it wasn't barren.
During our Grand Canyon trip, rocks were the star of the show. Whether that was petrified wood at the Painted Desert, or the impact of a meteorite at the crater, or the exposed walls of the Grand Canyon, geology was front and center on this trip. Water was mostly noticeable for its absence, or the trace it had left upon the land from erosion. Desert, rather than wilderness, seemed to be the environment.
For that reason, I'm glad we did Yellowstone when the kids were younger and waited to do the Grand Canyon for when they were more mature.
On our Yellowstone trip, the spiritual lesson that I most gleaned was diversity. God made so many kinds of incredible things in the natural world! While there was a surprising amount of diversity on our Grand Canyon journey, the primary spiritual lesson seemed, to me, to be vastness. Whether it was stealing a peek at the incredible night sky where the Milky Way was so apparent, or driving through miles and miles of uninhabited terrain, or trying in vain to absorb the scope and scale of the Grand Canyon, it is clear that God's almighty power is deserving of awe.
As our trip comes to a close, I am painfully aware that a chapter in our family's life is ending, too. In less than a month, Daniel will be heading to Case Western Reserve University to begin life in Cleveland as a college freshman. While Debbie and I rejoice at this accomplishment, we also know that change is inevitable and irreversible. Life is always uncertain, and it is unknown how many family vacations, especially of this magnitude, may remain. While I don't have an official "bucket list," the urge to see the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Meteor Crater, etc, have been a part of me for as long as I can remember. I feel content and satisfied that that itch has been scratched.
So what remains? Our family's plans for a vacation next year are decidedly more urban: we want to go to New York City. My parents took me during my childhood for a visit, and I would like to explore some of the sights like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building again. There is also interest in our family in seeing a Broadway show. Debbie and I have contemplated going several times over the course of our marriage, but the timing just never seemed right. We almost went two summers ago, but the Statue of Liberty was closed for remodeling. We also want to visit Virginia Beach (Debbie's been trying to get us there for years!) and we have tickets that are still good for Disney World, so that is also on our list.
In addition to that, I have another long-term "itch" that I have put off throughout life: Visiting the Holy Land. I recently attended a pastors' conference at Moody in Chicago, and met with several representative from Israel touring companies. I can't help but think that, at some point, it will be time to get serious about a true spiritual pilgrimage and see some of the things that I have always read about in the Bible. I believe that it will greatly enhance my ministry, as well as my own spiritual journey.
So, until next time, I am once again signing off from this blog and thank you for reading it. I enjoy sharing our adventures with our family and friends, and I also feel that blogging (journaling) while my memories are fresh helps me to crystallize the experiences and remember them better later.
Thank you for going on the journey with me!
In Christ,
Jon
P.S. For anyone interested in planning a trip to the areas I've visited, I would be happy to talk with you in greater depth about these locations. Several people helped me in organizing our trips, and I would be willing to pass on the favor.
First, some statistics.
Somewhere in Utah.
We traveled over 5,150 miles. Our van gave us 23.3 miles per gallon, which cost us $801 dollars for the 221 gallons of gasoline we bought. The southernmost point we reached was Sedona (Bethany and I made it as far as Cottonwood during a WalMart run). The farthest west was the Hermit's Rest snack bar on the Grand Canyon shuttle loop.
We visited six national parks: Rocky Mountain (2 days), Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde (2 days), Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon (3 days), and Arches.
One night at the Grand Canyon, I pulled out our GPS and asked it to route us home. It said we were over 2000 miles away and that it would take 32 hours of driving to get there. That made me feel very far away.
Funniest moment: driving back to Longmont from Estes Park while the kids were slap-happy. (Katie insisted there was something wrong with her ears and kept saying, "What? What?" Bethany pretended there was a goat named Nancy on our van roof.)
Scariest moment: watching the girls jump into the creek in Sedona from the high rocks.
Worst part of the drive: Tie between late-night Indiana and the storm in the Rockies.
Highest price of gas: Mesa Verde National Park (never buy gas in a national park if you can avoid it!), $4.079/gallon.
Most "remote" part of the trip: southeastern Utah around Monument Valley. I was checking the odometer between passing cars, and one time it was over 2.5 miles between vehicles, which meant we started 5 miles apart.
Most difficult hike (long): Climbing up between the Flatirons in Boulder.
Most difficult hike (short): Going to see Zapata Falls at Great Sand Dunes. It was treacherous walking barefoot over those rocks in ice-cold water!
Nicest surprise: Seeing a desert rainbow.
Most educational moment: Tie between Mesa Verde tours and Grand Canyon geological exhibits. (Honorable mention: Meteor Crater factoids.)
Second, some personal reflections.
I've been asked if this vacation was better than our Yellowstone trip. I think they are very comparable, with some important differences. Yellowstone had a lot more variety to it: there was lots of life (I remember seeing buffalo and elk and greenery), there was water (I remember the geysers and waterfalls), and there was more of a feeling of wilderness, but it wasn't barren.
During our Grand Canyon trip, rocks were the star of the show. Whether that was petrified wood at the Painted Desert, or the impact of a meteorite at the crater, or the exposed walls of the Grand Canyon, geology was front and center on this trip. Water was mostly noticeable for its absence, or the trace it had left upon the land from erosion. Desert, rather than wilderness, seemed to be the environment.
For that reason, I'm glad we did Yellowstone when the kids were younger and waited to do the Grand Canyon for when they were more mature.
On our Yellowstone trip, the spiritual lesson that I most gleaned was diversity. God made so many kinds of incredible things in the natural world! While there was a surprising amount of diversity on our Grand Canyon journey, the primary spiritual lesson seemed, to me, to be vastness. Whether it was stealing a peek at the incredible night sky where the Milky Way was so apparent, or driving through miles and miles of uninhabited terrain, or trying in vain to absorb the scope and scale of the Grand Canyon, it is clear that God's almighty power is deserving of awe.
As our trip comes to a close, I am painfully aware that a chapter in our family's life is ending, too. In less than a month, Daniel will be heading to Case Western Reserve University to begin life in Cleveland as a college freshman. While Debbie and I rejoice at this accomplishment, we also know that change is inevitable and irreversible. Life is always uncertain, and it is unknown how many family vacations, especially of this magnitude, may remain. While I don't have an official "bucket list," the urge to see the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Meteor Crater, etc, have been a part of me for as long as I can remember. I feel content and satisfied that that itch has been scratched.
So what remains? Our family's plans for a vacation next year are decidedly more urban: we want to go to New York City. My parents took me during my childhood for a visit, and I would like to explore some of the sights like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building again. There is also interest in our family in seeing a Broadway show. Debbie and I have contemplated going several times over the course of our marriage, but the timing just never seemed right. We almost went two summers ago, but the Statue of Liberty was closed for remodeling. We also want to visit Virginia Beach (Debbie's been trying to get us there for years!) and we have tickets that are still good for Disney World, so that is also on our list.
In addition to that, I have another long-term "itch" that I have put off throughout life: Visiting the Holy Land. I recently attended a pastors' conference at Moody in Chicago, and met with several representative from Israel touring companies. I can't help but think that, at some point, it will be time to get serious about a true spiritual pilgrimage and see some of the things that I have always read about in the Bible. I believe that it will greatly enhance my ministry, as well as my own spiritual journey.
So, until next time, I am once again signing off from this blog and thank you for reading it. I enjoy sharing our adventures with our family and friends, and I also feel that blogging (journaling) while my memories are fresh helps me to crystallize the experiences and remember them better later.
Thank you for going on the journey with me!
In Christ,
Jon
P.S. For anyone interested in planning a trip to the areas I've visited, I would be happy to talk with you in greater depth about these locations. Several people helped me in organizing our trips, and I would be willing to pass on the favor.
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