Let's Review

On our last blog post, we had a friend ask some questions, so here are our answers...

1) Where there any moments that you were fearful? What were they?

I would have to say that during the whole trip, there wasn't a moment that I was really that fearful. I did write a post here about the fear of the unknown and the difference of sleeping in the truck. 

Over this past year, I have seen the hand of God give me more peace than I ever thought possible. As most of you know, I got very sick in October. During my fight against H.U.S. I faced things that I seriously never thought that I could make it through. (I am a wimp when it comes to anything that has to do with hospitals. I should say WAS a wimp, I've learned how to face my own sickness better.) It was during this time that I learned about the importance of prayer. "Lord give me peace beyond understanding" was a prayer that I said continually while sick. Also, when I got my diagnosis, I was told that I would be getting treatments into the summer months. By the Lord's grace, and with the prayers of a lot of people, I only had treatments for two months! 

"... If God is for us, who can be against us." Romans 8:31

2) When and how did God provide for you in a way that made you say "wow"?

This is a big question... If we really think about it, everyday that we live is a day that God provides for us in a "wow" way. Just think about the human body for a second. WOW. 

Overall though, I would have to say that the fact that we made it across the country and back with no issues is a big wowsers. On our first day, and in the post here, we almost ran out of gas in Chicago on a highway with no shoulders. Ty was able to find a really cheap hotel in a tourist town when it seemed like all of the rooms were taken and I was not feeling well. Don't forget about our gas syphoning situation, which I wrote about here, which I still believe to be a miracle. Our truck which we thought would brake down any second in the Rockies never did. Our speedometer in the truck reads 5 mph slower than what it is actually going and we never got a speeding ticket (we only learned about this on our second to last day when we did get pulled over, he let us go though!). We drove over 8,000 miles and never got into an accident. I'm sure that the list is a lot longer, but that is just some of the ways that wowed us. 

3) Any parks that were just okay, and that you'd not really want to go back to?

4) Which parks would you put on the not-to-miss list?

I'm going to tackle the last two questions by listing our LEAST favorite park TO our MOST favorite park.

*Disclaimer: We loved all of the parks and were amazed by God's creation during our whole trip.*

Arches National Park

Don't get me wrong, Arches was a beautiful place, but it was small, hot/dry, and didn't offer as much as the other parks - granted we did not spend very much time at Arches. The trails were limited and we did not see any wildlife at all. If you want to feel like you are on a different planet, definitely check this park out. It is in a desert and the rocks are crazy looking. The park is mainly one main road that goes through the park and then comes back down (only one main entrance/exit in the park, but sometimes there's more if the sand roads are able to be driven on).

Double Arch

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone was our first stop. Our favorite part about Yellowstone is that their is a TON of wildlife and you don't even have to really leave your car. I fell in love with bison and their oafy-ness here. We saw the most wildlife in this park - bear, bighorn sheep, elk, bison, deer, pika just to name a few. The downside, the whole park could explode any second. Well, that and it smells bad. Although it was awesome to see geysers/hot-springs/etc they all look slightly similar. Also, and this is our fault, it is really easy to just drive the loop through the park, view the land/wildlife, and then continue on your way. We did not do any hiking here, which probably makes would enhance a visit here.

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Grand Canyon

If you have never been to the Grand Canyon, you need to. It puts you in your place and makes you realize that you are really quite small and fragile. The sunsets over the canyon were some of the most awe-filled ones I have ever witnessed. The accommodations at the park were wonderful - showers, camp sites, stores, etc. The reason it wasn't our favorite - the only thing to do is hike the rim or hike down into the  canyon. 

Desert View

Yosemite National Park

Maybe it's because we were traveling in our truck, but accommodations always made us feel better. Yosemite is like its own little town. It has a grocery store, a shuttle bus, campsites with primitive rooms you can us instead of tents, and really nice rangers that point you to a location where you have a better chance of not getting caught while sleeping illegally. Besides all of that, the park is beautiful and has a lot to offer. There are trails to accommodate every type of hiker and each hike offers its own beauty. The park also offered the most history behind the park and surrounding area, and we both love history. Ty really wants to go back to this park and hike Half Dome. 

Tunnel View

These last two parks were both our favorites. The only reason that Zion is our favorite is because 1) they have iced hibiscus tea and 2) the area outside of the park offered the best of both worlds - vacation resort and primitive camping.

Olympic National Park

This park still has my breath. It was beautiful and untouched and raw. We traveled at a great time of year - nice weather, full rivers, and very few people. However, in Washington the higher elevation roads were still snow covered so we really didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked to. The first day we went to the coastal part of the park, and the second day we went to the rainforest. Let's stop right there. The fact that the park has snow-covered mountains, beaches, and a rainforest proves its awesomeness. We saw a good amount of wildlife in Olympic - our most favorite, a flock (?) of bald eagles flying over the beach! It was also amazing to see the large trees and to think about what the world looked like when they were just little. The downside to the park - the community outside of the park is underdeveloped and is obsessed with Twilight. Forks, Washington, which is the setting of the book, is right between two parts of the park. We definitely want to go back to Olympic though! 

Shi Shi Beach

Hoh Rainforest

Zion National Park

Even though I got really sick, we had a terrible motel with no air conditioning, and we might have lost a tank of gas, Zion was our favorite park. The park is not very large, but has so much to offer. 1) It was founded by Mormons and there are so many Biblical references in the mountain names, 2) the history behind the park is full of hardworking and adventurous people (women from Utah University were the first visitors!), 3) The Narrows was not only fun, but it was a relatively easy hike. We want to go back and hike the whole thing. 4) Hibiscus tea, seriously the best. If you made me some I just might cry of happiness. Just throwin' that out there. 5) The community outside of the park is really cute and offers the best of the vacation world for those who prefer a comfy hotel, yummy restaurants, and cute touristy stores. (The town outside of the park does not take away at all from the remoteness of the park.) We will without a doubt go back to Zion, God willing of course!

Emerald Pools

The Narrows

If you made it through this whole post, congratulations! Sorry that it was so long! If you have any specific questions let us know!

Wait. What? Part II

Since the last time I wrote, we have driven from outside of Colorado to the Hebron, Nebraska. My Aunt Deb and Uncle Jim work in Hebron, but live right over the Kansas border. Let me tell you, her husband and herself provided us with the first home-cooked meal that we had eaten on our trip, and it was sooo good. I fell in love with the land. It is not only gorgeous, but has such a rich history that often does not get told. My aunt and her husband, Jim, live on a farm that originally belonged to Jim's great great grandfather! It was so fascinating to hear about the history of the farm and surrounding land. We are more than thankful for their hospitality to us, and can not wait to visit again! 

I'm not too much of a cow whisperer. 

We woke up Friday and headed out from Kansas towards good Ol' Lititz, PA. Friday was pretty uneventful. We slept for the last time in the back of the truck in Zanesville, OH. If you remember my first post, I was kind of nervous about sleeping on a twin mattress, but it has been quite comfy. We arrived in Lititz this afternoon (Saturday) and were welcomed by our Theo whom we missed so much, as well as my dad and sister! When we got to our home we had even more surprises awaiting us! Ty's father and grandfather not only painted the back part of our house, but also our staircase! Not only were we so surprised and thankful, but they both look so great! We were also welcomed by this...

(There is a sneak peak of the finished back of our house)

We have gotten so use to our little traveling house. It is weird to think that our days of exploring, hiking, Walmart hotels, and fast-food are finished (for now). Although, I will say I am so thankful to be back in my home and surrounded by family and our puppy (did I mention that I missed him?)! Tomorrow is sure to be filled with lots of laundry and catching up, and then Monday we get back to the grind of things, but not in the same way...

23 days ago we set out of a journey - really not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. In the first post I prayed that we wouldn't take anything for granted. If we are honest, I definitely did take some moments for granted. I have this problem with stopping, breathing, being still, and knowing that today is my only today; It is so easy to get  caught up in the routine. One of the reasons that we went on this trip is because it was on our bucket list. Another reason why we did the trip this summer is because you never know what life is going to throw at you. We all have our list of "someday I want to..."s and "one day I'll be..."s, but why don't we pursue that now? Before our trip, Ty and I were at a crossroads about life. We weren't sure what was ahead for us. Maybe that is why this trip was so good for us. It made us escape. It made us look at what we want the most out of life, and it let us just be without the worries that can be so hard to escape from. Thanks from the help of some great mentors and this trip, we realized that we all have goals, but our worrying holds them back. Our worrying holds us back from the great plans that the Lord has in store for us. You have to realize what you want from life and then pursue it with everything you have, even if it may not make sense to others. Don't let worries hold you back - the Lord always provides. There is something so freeing in knowing that we don't have any control over our lives. 

So our new goal... not to let ourselves slip into the routine of life, to always lean on the Lord to provide even if we don't understand, and to find beauty in the ordinary. 

Home is where the pooch is.

Our trip is over, but there will still be a few more posts such as... our review of the parks and the final movie of the whole trip.

Until then... love ty and kaddie

Utah to Colorado

So maybe it was a truck malfunction, maybe it was a miracle... we are leaning towards a miracle. When we got in our truck Monday, the gas tank was full. (If you didn't read our previous post, when we left Zion on Saturday a full tank of gas was gone and we were driving on the red, empty line.) So after we got over the shock of a full gas tank we started our trek towards Colorado. 

I have been to Colorado twice before and love it! Hank on the other hand (Hank is our truck if you didn't remember), did not love Colorado. Hank has never been a fan of hills, let alone mountains. There were a few times on our way through the Rockies when we were cruising along at a speedy 40 mph up the mountain. Don't worry though, Hank pulled through and the Rocky Mountains are now behind us. 

Okay, let's rewind a little bit... Monday we drove to Avon, CO. On our way there, we stopped by Arches National Park. It was pretty, but definitely not a must see on our list. We are glad we went though, because we have added another item to our bucket list - to visit every national park in America. We know, it's a little ambitious, but we already can cross 6 off of the list.

It was really crazy because out of the whole state of Colorado we drove right through the area where my family has vacationed two times. It was fun to see the area again. We slept in the local Walmart in Avon, which was full of "No Over Night Sleeping Signs." It said trucks and RVs, but we took "trucks" as being tractor trailers, so we went for it. 

Hank's Favorite

The next morning we woke up really early for some reason, so we took our time eating breakfast and calling family before heading to our last big adventure... whitewater rafting! The last time I was in Colorado I went rafting (with actually the exact same company, in the exact same place). Ty on the other hand, had never been before. Since winter has just ended the river was high, which provided for some great rapids! We even got to ride a class 5 rapid, which is one of the largest. (Six is the largest, but they say a 6 is impossible to ride.) We went with a really large group (around 30 people, 7 boats), six of which fell in. We had a great leader though and no one in our boat fell out. Ty took the GoPro, so we have some great videos of the ride, which we will show you after we get home to our internet. 

This is the only picture we have from the day, the rest are videos.

We did the full day tour, and by the end of the day we were both exhausted. We drove 2 hours to Wheatridge, CO, found a Walmart, and zonked out for the night. This morning when we woke up, we had the surprise of being surrounded by buses. We must have parked right in the middle of a transportation hub in the back of the Walmart parking lot...

Today we are headed to Red Rock Ampitheather, Boulder, and then Denver, Colorado. Hank will have another check up and oil change today, and we will be living the life of no plans. 

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post... we have been a little bit more video focused as of late. We will take more in the next few days. 

Until we can update again... love ty and kaddie

A Place of Refuge

...and that's exactly what it is. Zion National Park has been one of our favorite stops so far - even if the first day was not-so-good. It is just a tiny speck compared to other national parks, but it has so much to offer. We got to the park yesterday morning (Saturday June 8th). We were planning on taking it easy that day and just get a feel for the park. We started by taking the tram to the lodge, which is in the middle of the park, and headed on a short trail to The Emerald Pools. They were beautiful!

They aren't really pools - this was the first one out of three.

During this short hike I started to not feel the greatest, so we only hiked to the second pool and then headed back down. By the time we got back to the lodge I felt terrible, and had one of those "I just want to go home and hug my puppy" moments. Being the great husband that Ty is he drove us back into the nearby town and found us a cheap room. (He managed to find us a little room one block away from the rest of the hotel. It is tiny, but cheap and we like cheap.) However, as I was curled up in a ball in our room we realized that we were robbed! Yup, for the first time on this trip we were stolen from. While we were on our short hike someone syphoned a whole tank of gas from us. 1) We parked in the main parking lot, 2) The parking lot is full of people, 3) we had just filled up! Don't worry they left us about 20 miles of gas worth. 

Once we got over that, we realized that the AC in our room was broken. Utah is nice and cool in the morning, but mid-day and it is brutal. It still isn't fixed, but we are thankful to have a bed and shower.

While I laid in our room all day yesterday, Ty went back into the park (he took the town shuttle, sorry mean robbers) to do some more hiking. 

He took a lot of video, so I don't have many pictures to show you.

And cue the end of day 1. Don't worry it gets a lot better...

This morning, after eating a hardy breakfast of poptarts, I was feeling much better! (I swear after this trip poptarts and rolled up PB&J will never touch my lips again.) I was praying all day yesterday that I would be better today because I was really looking forward to today's hike. 

This morning was beautiful! We took the shuttle into Zion and then another shuttle took us as far as shuttles take you into the park. We then hiked 1ish miles to the Virgin River and began our hike through the river. Here are some pictures from today...

Lunch break

We rock jumped(?) off of this

All of the walls had this type of texture

Before going to a national park we like to google and see how many people have been injured or have died in that park over the past year (I know morbid). For the first 10 minutes of this hike I kept asking myself "I wonder how many people have lost their ankles in this water?" It was sooo cold, but after a while you become numb and it really feels quite nice. There is a video that Ty took of me rock jumping and it is shaking so much from him shivering.

Tomorrow we will be heading to one other park in Utah, Arches National Park, for just a few hours and then we will be on our way to Colorado. It is hard to believe that our trip is already winding down - we will be home Saturday (a day earlier than planned), tis bittersweet.

Until the next time we can update... love ty and kaddie

To The Depths: The Grand Canyon

Hello friends, family and followers! This is Tyler writing to you today. The past two days, Thursday and Friday, we spent at the Grand Canyon. I had the privilege of traveling here twice before in the past, but was very excited to share the experience with my wife. 

Wednesday night we found ourselves sleeping in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Flagstaff, AZ and then drove two hours Thursday morning to arrive at the park. We first hit up the Visitors Center to gain a little bit of a background and watch a short film about the Grand Canyon. We then hopped on a shuttle bus that took us to Bright Angel Trailhead, which is the hike we (I) decided to take. There are three main levels to the hike: 3 miles roundtrip, 6 miles roundtrip and 9 miles roundtrip. I initially had the desire to do the 6 miles hike, but the heat and exhaustion hit us quick. Thus, the 3 mile hike it was. Despite not going overly deep into the canyon, the views we incredible. The red rock dust on our shoes, socks and up our legs was not so pretty. 

Since we opted for the shorter route, we spent the rest of our day visiting some of the museums to gain a bit of a background on the park. Once we felt we had seen enough, we drove to the campground that we had made reservations at a few days prior. Registration was easy, we found our site, and were super excited to set up our tent for the first time on this trip! We got out the tarp for underneath the tent, found the polls that form the skeleton of the tent, but wait....where was the actual tent?! "You gotta be kidding me!" I exclaimed... a few times. Yes, after traveling 5,000+ miles, we only now realized that we must have left the tent at home. Wow. So, our truck it was.

Since most of the trails into the canyon are quite grueling and long, on Friday we agreed to take it easier and walk on a section of the Rim Trails, that simply walk along the rim of the canyon on both paved and dirt pathways. This ended up being a great way to spend our morning. We walked 4.5 miles from Mohave Point to Hermit's Rest. It was nice to walk and talk together as well as see some great views of the canyon.

HI MOM!!! :) 

Kaddie lookin' pretty and keeping it safe. 

After visiting a few more museums, along with a much needed shower, we decided that our time at the Grand Canyon was complete so we headed for Zion National Park in Utah. By 9:30pm, without stopping for dinner, we made it to Hurricane, UT, which is just outside the park.

Thursday evening, while still at the Grand Canyon, we were able to experience an incredible sunset over the canyon. I must quote my wife here because in talking about the next day, she said it beautifully  about the large crowd of people who were gathered to view the spectacle as we were: 

"They were all there to meet God and didn't even know it."

Until next time, love ty and kaddie

Day 9, Day 12, & Birthdays!

Hey all! 

As some of you know, Ty and I have been blessed with the opportunity to stay at an inn for the past two nights. This means that we are clean, getting a free breakfast, and can show you more videos! We told you that these would be up last night, but it took a little longer than expected 

(again). Hope you enjoy!

Some comments:

1) Ty always starts taping unexpectedly, therefore I am sorry that I am cleaning my teeth in the first video.

2) We have been discussing the differences between an inn, hotel, and motel. Anyone want to shed some light on that?

3) How does the shakiness look?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To my beautiful sister, Nadine! Whose birthday was yesterday.

I love you! 

And to our puppy, Theo! Whose birthday is today.

Happy 1st birthday Theodore Leo Lionel Hollinger! 

He thinks that he's human.

And happy birthday to everyone else whose birthday is today or tomorrow! 

(June 4th, 5th, & 6th are very popular birthday days!)

We are wrapping up our two days of R&R and are headed 8 hours to the Grand Canyon today.

Until we can write again... love ty and kaddie

Yosemite National Park

Hello from California! 

Today is Monday, and we are officially over half way through our trip! Crazy to believe! We were just able to Skype with some family and our puppy. I really miss my puppy (and family of course!)! 

Since the last time, we have visited Yosemite National Park. We were there Saturday and Sunday (a little shorter than originally planned). We got there early Saturday morning and did a little bit of sightseeing as we drove to the middle park of the park. We have been to a few different national parks so far and it is so funny (at least to me) how different they are all set up. Yosemite Valley is the main area of attraction and is a relatively small section that is definitely set up as a tourist location. There is a tram system, stores, restaurants, and even hotels. There are other parts of Yosemite Park, but this is the hub.

As we entered the park they gave us a newspaper with lots of information in it. We automatically started searching out the hikes. One of the main attractions is Yosemite Falls. There are three different hikes surrounding the falls - a hike to the bottom, a hike to the middle, and a hike to the top. They are marked easy, strenuous, and very strenuous respectively. We decided to hike to the middle of the falls. It was a 2-3 hour hike and thought that we would get a good workout. So hiking we went. Straight up a mountain. It was definitely strenuous, but we got to the middle location in great timing - about 1.5 hours. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed the view. 

Imagine this for 1.5 hours. 

Middle Yosemite Falls

I was exhausted by the time we got to this point. After eating a lunch and rehydrating ourselves, Ty got renewed energy and asked me what I wanted to do. (I should mention that if you continued on this hike it connected to the very strenuous hike to the top. Yes, the top of the falls that you see in this picture.) I looked at him and said with full confidence, "I most definitely do not want to hike to the top!" He, being the sneaky guy he is, convinced me to just go a little further and then we could turn around. However, after another 2 hours of this... 

We got to this...

and this...

I wish so badly that we could show you the end part of this hike. Let's just say we were literally walking on a one-foot wide trail on the side of the mountain (with a guide rail of course). We then went to the river to relax and cool off. 

We then departed on our 2 hour hike back down. Overall we hike 7.5ish miles for approximately 6 hours. We did have to stop quite a few times. Let's just say by the time we got to the bottom of the mountain my legs were shaking like a leaf. 

After our hike we (thank goodness) showered, ate, and got ready for what was suppose to be a good nights sleep. However, we were caught. For the first time this trip we were caught sleeping in our truck. Luckily, the lady was super nice and directed us to a spot where we had a better chance of not getting caught. :)

The next morning we slowly made our way out of the park and stopped at some beautiful lookouts. 

Tunnel View lookout

We visited historic Wawona, but we don't have many pictures from there.

We also visited Mariposa Grove and saw many giant Sequoias. 

We then drove to Marina, Ca. We have about a three hour drive today to Seal Beach where we are going to spend a few days of R&R at the beach. While we were on our hike to the top of the falls a fellow hiker suggested going to Seal Beach, so we are going to check it out. After that we are headed to the Grand Canyon.

Until we can update again... love ty and kaddie

From Eugene, OR to Modesto, CA

While Driving

Hey guys! We are going to do a quick update today since we are headed into Yosemite today and are not sure when we will be able to update again.

Yesterday we drove a lot. However, we did take a few quick pit stops in Napa Valley and at the Golden Gate Bridge. Ty and I really enjoy wine so we were really excited to stop in the wine valley of America! We didn't really know which winery we were going to visit, so we started driving in one direction and ended up at Domaineros Cabernoeros Winery. It was absolutely gorgeous! The Napa Valley is beautiful - acres and acres of vineyards. 

Domaineros Cabernoeros Winery

We then drove to the Gold Gate Bridge. I wasn't sure that it was worth our time (since it was out of our way a little and I hate city traffic), but it most definitely was. It was stunning! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

We went to a over look first

The harbor 

Sunset

It was really windy!

We now have a two hour drive to Yosemite National Park. We will be there until Monday. 

Until the next time we can update... love ty and kaddie