The goodbyes started early in the week and everyone of them I dread and cried. For those of you who know me (unless you're my bible study ladies), you know I don't often cry, especially publicly... but this last week I couldn't contain it. Every hug and every goodbye pulled the heart strings. I remember vividly walking into my goodbye party and saw hundreds of pictures of memories of my recent years in Eugene adorning the walls and I just stood there and cried. But the best part each tear came from knowing it was because of the lifelong marks that have been left on my heart by these memories. But still, saying goodbye sucks.
I had my car packed and fueled and ready to go as I gave my last hug, becoming the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. I drove down the road, picked up my mother and she took the wheel for the first leg of a new beginning. I sat in the passenger seat as Eugene rolled by and tears streamed down my face. I couldn't pull it together. I was leaving home - leaving my friends, family, everything I knew and just trusting God. Taking a leap of faith and hoping to grow wings along the way.
Thus begins the two week journey in McKenzie (my car) with my mom by my side as we drove across this beautiful country full of memories I don't want to forget (hence this blog).
There were two goals of this trip:
1) We do what we want when we want how we want.
2) I run at least a mile in every state we drive through.
Pretty straight forward.
Day 1 - Oregon - Washington - Idaho (6 running miles)
Oregon was rough to drive through. Pretty much cried the whole time. But then once we hit Washington I started getting really excited about the trip ahead and the time spent with my mom. We drove just through Coeur d'Alene and landed in Kellogg, ID. Land of beautifulness and also huckleberries. It was a tiny little winter ski town with well over 50 miles of bike roads and trees every where. It was pretty spectacular and fun to walk around the little town.
Day 2 - Idaho -Montana (8 running miles)
Montana. My favorite place of the whole trip. The sky, the mountains, the desolate serenity. As we were driving to our next destination, I was just in awe of our surroundings. So much so, I wanted to pull over and have our lunch just there in the middle of nowhere side of the road. I got my mom on board with that, but as soon as I suggested we go sit on the railroad tracks, she was out. But determined me got her over there and as soon as we sat down I wanted to freeze time. I will forever cherish that moment sitting with my mom on the most epic road trip in the middle of Montana on the railroad tracks eating butterfingers and dried fruit with nothing but time and mountains.
Then we arrived at our destination and this place was the one I was looking forward to the most. And it lived up to it's expectations. I made the reservation a month in advance and heard about the place through a magazine maybe. It was located in the middle of nowhere - literally, every way you looked there wasn't a building to be seen except for the little place we were staying in. There were no tv's in the room, outside our room door looked like a fake backdropped, and there was a natural hot spring pool we got to enjoy. We pulled up with lots of day light to spare so, we went on a hike with no one around, I went for my Montana run, we went to the pub and got a local beer and true, local, grass fed beef and then took a looong dip in the hot springs. It was a beautiful day - and only day two!!!
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| The view on my run. |
Day 3 - Montana - Wyoming - South Dakota (1.25 running miles)
After passing through the mountains, it was flat land time. South Dakota was beautiful but humid and flat! We stayed the night with my grandmother's sister Aunt Norm. She lives in an assisted living home and I sure hope I can live somewhere like that someday. She missed our phone call on the way in because she was out fishing!
Now let me paint a picture. Packing my car was feat, I think I, with the help of my friends, filled every last inch of my back seat with stuff, leaving the only space of comfort in the two front seats. Not thinking this through, my mother said we would pick up Aunt Norm and take her to my mom's cousins for dinner. So here we are, driving down the road with me at the wheel, my mother squashed on the middle console and my great aunt in there somewhere. Why not. We then had a delicious home cooked meal with family, followed by a joy ride in a four wheeler along the streets of Sioux City, South Dakota at sunset. The next morning we woke up, I went for my run, took a stroll around the town admiring the art walk in the city, had lunch and hit the road for a short jaunt up the highway.
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| Wyoming |
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| When mountains go away... |
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| Fast Eddie |
Cleghorn, Iowa. I've heard so many stories through the years about this "town". It's where my mother and her two sisters spend most of their summers growing up. Grandma would pack the car with her three girls from Pasadena, CA and hit the road to meet the family. I had very fond memories of a place I had never been. But it's now no longer an imagination. And if you've ever heard any stories about the corn field towns of Iowa, that exactly what they are. It was all connected by train tracks and you would know which town was which by their water tower and each town had about the total area of 0.35 square miles. Needless to say, life gets a litttttllle crazy in Cleghorn :) But what's great about Cleghorn - family. We have lots of family from the surrounding areas, so we got have yet another amazing home cooked meal by all and sit around some tables and catch up. It was really lovely. There's not many things better than family.
Day 5 & 6 & 7- Iowa - Illinois (7 running miles)
From Iowa we made our way to another family stop, this time my Aunt Lisa and family just outside Chicago. We spent three nights with them for a little break in the driving. The first night was perfect and low key with family that wasn't really my family but is still family at a restaurant. The next day, the company I use to work had a class in Indiana, so my mom, aunt and I made the trip and learned about all the proper ways to color and shade. We had some pretty good laughs at our coloring skills... or lack there off. But the class was also next to a casino, so we made reservations to have dinner over looking the Lake Michigan and just sat back, drank some good wine and had a wonderful dinner. And then of course, post dinner included some time at the slots machines where my mother came out the winner... so much that it covered all of our parking :) The next day was pretty low key some shopping and just hanging out with family. I also must note, that when I arrived, I received my first birthday gift from my Aunt which was the perfect Kate Spade purse. Something I had been wanting for quite sometime and I was truly grateful for her thoughtfulness.
Day 8 - Illinois - Indiana - Kentucky - Tennessee (4 running miles)
This day was committed to driving but also produced one of my favorite runs. It started just outside of Louisville along a beautiful river bike path that lead to bridge over the Indiana Kentucky river line. I was able to knock out two states in one run!
Day 9 - Nashville, TN and my 27th birthday (5 running miles)
Chalk this up to one of the best birthdays ever. First, to wake up and know I have the whole day ahead of me in a city I'm fascinated by and second, and most importantly, to know I'm spending the whole day with my incredibly beautiful mother. Win win.
I woke up and did my Tennessee run. Humid and got momentarily lost but ran on the outskirts of town so had a view that made it worth it. We then hopped in the car and drove the streets of music row where it's actually not super exciting, but a really neat experience to see where all the super stars of country go to record their music. After that, we drove down the country music hall of fame. Side note: this also happened to be the day before the CMT music awards and festival, so all around us there are people and venues getting ready for the big dance. Back to the hall of fame... Now, I know a lot about today's country music but not the history, so it was an awesome experience to walk around and take in the past. When we got done walking around the hall of fame, we put our feet up and had some drinks and lunch there. Perfect cap.
After we got done there, we drove over to THE Grand Ole Opry and got the back stage tour. I was just a little kid eating up every word our tour guide had to share. It's an incredible building with such a beautiful, rich history. My mom and I even got to stand in the "circle" from the original Opry before the flooding ruined most of the building and now has become an honor for those artists that get to sing there.
Then came the actual show. What. A. Line. Up. First, we got there early and got to sit outside on the grass and have a pre-show show with again, amazing live music! Then, we headed inside for the live show. And what a line up it was. Terri Clark - Jennifer Nettles - Charlie Worsham - Bill Anderson - Josh Turner - Oak Ridge Boys - Trace Adkins - Carrie Underwood. All sang a couple of songs and just blew us away. I was excited about the show, but turns out my mom just may have been more excited. We just loved it. And the surprising favorites from the line up was actually the Oak Ridge Boys, they set the stage on fire and the audience loved them.
When we finally finished up and made it out the awful parking lot, we had one last iconic stop to make - The Blue Bird Cafe. It was in the middle of show, so we just peeked from the outside. It's little!! But so cute. And thus concluded my birthday day. Couldn't have asked for anything better. It was a whirlwind, but so incredibly fun and lovely.
Day 10 & 11- Tennessee - North Carolina (4 running miles)
Another beautiful city. You see, I've always said I'm not a big city girl, but I keep visiting (and moving to) these big city places and loving it. There's something to be said about a city lit up at night and the different people from all different walks that make up it's character. Anyways, here in Charlotte, NC we got to visit and stay with a good friend who at the time was preparing for the upcoming season with the Carolina Panthers. The first night, we had big plans that turned into staying inside watching the Stanley Cup finals and then Kenjon playing video games while my mom cheered him on as if it were the Stanley Cup finals... The second day, Kenjon had practice, so my mom and I took to the roads and explored the city on foot. It was great for the first little bit, but then the heat over took all other emotions, so we b-lined to the panthers stadium to check it out, got some gear and then checked out of the sun and hung indoors until his practice was over. Then we went bowling.... the one sport I use to be able to beat him at... but now he's fancy and has his own balls (yes, plural) and shoes... so I didn't stand a chance and I didn't. I need a new sport. After that, my mom crashed for the night and Kenjon and I walked to the triple-A baseball game down the road and met some of his family friends there who were all wonderfully sweet people. I didn't end up watching any of the game, but I heard we won. And I'm not entirely sure who we was, but the stadium seemed happy.
Day 12 - North Carolina - Virginia - Washington DC (1.5 running miles)
This was another day dedicated mostly to driving. We found a cute little backroad for me to run on and then made our way into DC. Traffic got a little crazy coming into the city, but we made it and stayed at a hotel right near all the things. This venture turned into a speed walking tour trying to beat the daylight. We got our stuff into the room and then headed out on foot again. Luckily, my mom had been there multiple times before so she knew the places we needed to see. Something I haven't mentioned about this trip yet is a few states ago we had decided to listen to Unbroken on audio tape. Its a "World War II story of survival, resilience and redemption" and it is heart breaking and emotional and beautifully haunting. And so, to come to DC and visit all the different war memorials with this story fresh in the mind was an emotion I can't put into words. God told a story to me that day in DC that I never was able to understand before. It was a fast but utterly beautiful and fascinating. And thank you to my mother, the history teacher, for being my guide and knowledge on our race walk. Another neat thing happened as we were heading back to the hotel, Obama flew into the White House via helicopter! There were multiple helicopters coming in and security guards standing on top of the White House, on the streets, my mom was even certain there were guards dressed as civilians. It was a little nutty, but again, really neat to experience.
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| Virgina back roads. |
Day 13 - Washington DC - Maryland - Delaware - New Jersey - New York - Connecticut - Rhode Island - MASSACHUSETTS (8 running miles)
Early wake up call. Lots of states to get through which meant, lots of runs to be had. But totally worth it. I woke up, ran in DC and then we packed up the car and headed out. Half in daze being so early and sitting at a stop light still in the city we realize after some time that the car in front of us was a Hawaii license plate! We were skeptical - actually we had faith, it was my father who didn't think Hawaii would come through for us, but because of his doubt we powered through and found that rainbow! Good start to a long day.
There were two best moments of this days drive. 1) Hitting New York and seeing the city scape for the first time in my life. It is massive. But again, brings a certain beauty thats hard to express. And once we were driving through the city, we rolled the windows down and turned on "Empire State of Mind" and it was magical. 2) Driving into Massachusetts. I was so incredibly excited that within a minute of crossing the border, I turned on Boston by Augustana and went into my own little world... Which inevitably meant I speed up. I kid you not, I had been in the state for under two minutes and lights went flashing up behind me. I pulled over to the middle lane to see if he was just passing but he pulled his car up right next to mine as were driving and motioned at me to slow down, put on his brakes, turned off his lights and veered around me to exit off. PHEW. Sure dodge a bullet with that one. So needless to say, I kept to the speed limit the rest of the way (despite my mother pressuring me to go even slower).
And then, home sweet home. Ending with a total of 4153 driving miles, 48 running miles and 20 states.
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| Home. |
The next few days spent with my mother were fast and furious. She, like a champ, helped me paint my room, helped get all the things needed to live, went grocery shopping while I started work and kicked ass all along the way. One day we spent the morning at my brother and sister-in-law's church and just cried. Our time together was coming to an end, but in that moment, God, despite my fears and anxieties and not wanting my mom to leave, put peace in my heart.
This trip was everything. Everything that has lead to the unwritten pages of my next chapter.
