Weekend Wanderings - Vacation Edition!
Yes! Our vacation is finally here. Tonight we finish up packing, and drop Sonora off at the Choplin's (Thank you!) for the trip, and then head out tomorrow morning.
As I've mentioned before, I'm really looking forward and needing this vacation right now to clear my head and do some exploring. So in the morning, we lock up and secure the house in away mode (there is nothing there to break in and steal anyway unless you like decade-old furniture, appliances, and technology), and then we hit the road to Las Vegas.
We'll be meeting up with two friends from our time when we both lived in Colorado Springs. Andrew Kennedy was one of my friends for years participating in the Kairos college ministry with Wade & Dara Gardner. A little about Andrew that will be fun for this trip is he is a fellow science fiction reader, hiker, blogger, movie goer, learner (that's my polite way of saying we both can be a bit of a nerd on certain topics!), and is always up for a good discussion on faith, theology, or any other topic. He's a smart guy, currently in school working on becoming a pharmacist. Yup, I'm sure he can blow me away with some chemistry stuff he knows. That will be cool.
Our other companion for the road trip is Barry Friesen. Barry was doing an internship at Sunnyside Christian Church, where I attended, back in the 2004-5 time frame. We had some awesome conversations and basically hit it off quickly. Barry currently works at Capernwray Harbour Bible School & Conference Center and if you are curious, is our Canadian friend! Barry, Amanda, and I have done vacation together several times already, with a few trips in California and a road trip all they way back in 2005. Barry loves photography, knows a ton about plants, is a musician, and has an infectious laugh! A great thing about Barry, as well, is he is flexible and spontaneous when it comes to trips. Who knows what is in store for us on the upcoming trip...but it will be fun!
I know one "rule" that we'll have on this trip is if you see something interesting nearby, let us know and we'll stop and check it out! This will of course apply in the National Parks, but even on the trips up. I know Sunday we'll drive by with views of Mt. Whitney, and later in the trip we will go near where Area 51 is located in Nevada...do we stop or take a detour? That's up to us once we're in the moment. Its adventure, and its awesome!
Anyway, I will likely have lots of reflective posts coming up after the vacation, but for now, what is important, is that we are getting out of our normal routine, in a rhythm of retreat, rest, and exploration. For our minds to clear, conversation to be good, and the amazing landscapes of this world to be admired is the goal. From starry skies to colored sunsets, in forested mountains and desert valleys, canyons filled with color to stark vistas stretching for miles, much exists that we can take in. Clarity of thought, and friendships rekindled are what I look forward to.
We all need to break out of our normal, busy, work routines. We NEED to. While we may not all be able to afford African safaris or luxuries resorts, we still have to get away from our lives, in order to reset. There are studies that show the benefits of vacation...and honestly I just wish we could be gone for 2 weeks, not 1!
So, over the next week the blog will be fairly silent of new and exciting information. I am going to work on a couple of posts tonight that will be published next week, so go and check the blog to see when something new hits but I won't likely be available to post to Facebook, for instance. I'm going to unplug from that during vacation. Catch you on the flip side!
As I've mentioned before, I'm really looking forward and needing this vacation right now to clear my head and do some exploring. So in the morning, we lock up and secure the house in away mode (there is nothing there to break in and steal anyway unless you like decade-old furniture, appliances, and technology), and then we hit the road to Las Vegas.
We'll be meeting up with two friends from our time when we both lived in Colorado Springs. Andrew Kennedy was one of my friends for years participating in the Kairos college ministry with Wade & Dara Gardner. A little about Andrew that will be fun for this trip is he is a fellow science fiction reader, hiker, blogger, movie goer, learner (that's my polite way of saying we both can be a bit of a nerd on certain topics!), and is always up for a good discussion on faith, theology, or any other topic. He's a smart guy, currently in school working on becoming a pharmacist. Yup, I'm sure he can blow me away with some chemistry stuff he knows. That will be cool.
Our other companion for the road trip is Barry Friesen. Barry was doing an internship at Sunnyside Christian Church, where I attended, back in the 2004-5 time frame. We had some awesome conversations and basically hit it off quickly. Barry currently works at Capernwray Harbour Bible School & Conference Center and if you are curious, is our Canadian friend! Barry, Amanda, and I have done vacation together several times already, with a few trips in California and a road trip all they way back in 2005. Barry loves photography, knows a ton about plants, is a musician, and has an infectious laugh! A great thing about Barry, as well, is he is flexible and spontaneous when it comes to trips. Who knows what is in store for us on the upcoming trip...but it will be fun!
I know one "rule" that we'll have on this trip is if you see something interesting nearby, let us know and we'll stop and check it out! This will of course apply in the National Parks, but even on the trips up. I know Sunday we'll drive by with views of Mt. Whitney, and later in the trip we will go near where Area 51 is located in Nevada...do we stop or take a detour? That's up to us once we're in the moment. Its adventure, and its awesome!
We all need to break out of our normal, busy, work routines. We NEED to. While we may not all be able to afford African safaris or luxuries resorts, we still have to get away from our lives, in order to reset. There are studies that show the benefits of vacation...and honestly I just wish we could be gone for 2 weeks, not 1!
So, over the next week the blog will be fairly silent of new and exciting information. I am going to work on a couple of posts tonight that will be published next week, so go and check the blog to see when something new hits but I won't likely be available to post to Facebook, for instance. I'm going to unplug from that during vacation. Catch you on the flip side!
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