Epic Road Trip

It's amazing to think it is already August. The summer has flown by. Most of my time has been spent at work, but I've also managed to squeeze in attending two weddings, getting braces on my teeth, and buying a bicycle. The latter two have been on my life to-do list/bucket list for several years now, so it's nice to be seeing progress made there.

This past weekend I returned from an epic road trip with two friends as well. One of my friends asked herself who would be willing to drive thousands of miles just to check off some states from her to-see list, and I was the person she thought of first! Such a great reputation to have :) So, she and my roommate and I all packed up our rental car and started out on a 9-day tour of the southeast United States to see some sights.

The itinerary included some outdoor and indoor attractions, National Parks and Monuments stops, capitol building tours, camping and staying with airbnb hosts, and visiting friends and family.

Highlights:
Ark Encounter (KY)

 

Smoky Mountains (TN), hiking and camping

 

 

Biltmore Mansion (Asheville, NC)

 

 

Rainbow Row (Charleston, SC)

 

 

Castillo de San Marcos (St. Augustine, FL)

 

Jacksonville (FL) beach, sunrise

 

 

World of Coca Cola (Atlanta, GA)

 

 

Rosa Parks Museum (Montgomery, AL)

 

Central High School National Historic Site and visitor center (AR)

Trip stats: total of 3,349 miles driven through 15 states in the span of 9 days.

 

Capitol buildings visited (#6) on this trip: Columbia, SC (closed on Sunday); Atlanta, GA; Montgomery, AL; Jackson, MS; Little Rock, AR; Jefferson City; MO.

 

This brings my capitols visited total to 16 plus Washington, D.C.

 

 

It's fun having friends who support each other with their goals :) 

 





One of my life goals is to visit all 50 states in the U.S. Thanks to Concert Choir in college and other trips to represent Evangel, and family vacations, and friends being adventurous, I have nearly reached that goal. There are only five states left (I probably have been through W. VA and Rhode Island, but I don't remember them, so it doesn't count). Here's to continued adventures in life!

Afrique

It's that time of the year where I usually do a recap of the last twelve months. But since I've already done that in pieces throughout this year and I have limited time right now, I figured I'd skip it this year and share something else instead.

This Christmas break has been a wonderful refreshing time at the midway point in my clinical year. I've been able to visit with dear friends and soak in the the love from my family while visiting home this week. I'm always struck with how I couldn't have imagined a year ago that my life would look like it does now, and in another year I'll feel the exact same way about this coming year.

As I reflect on the past, I also look forward to the future. More specifically: the next month when I'll head out to Tanzania, Africa for a month-long elective rotation in international medicine.

I got to thinking about my expectations, and this is where it led:

"So, it’s two days until I step into a month-long whirlwind of cultural experiences: Paris, Kenya, Tanzania. What to expect? I always think it’s amazing how much you can change after living life for a month, so I thought it would be great to do a before and after. Here’s the before.

I’m expecting to be stretched out of my comfort zone. Mishaps will happen, which will make the story that much more interesting. The patients mostly (or only) speak Swahili. Time is stretchable. Resources are limited. The hospitals will be open-air. I’m expecting to encounter poverty, diseases easily treatable if they only had the resources, death, starvation, HIV/AIDS. But I’m also expecting to find resiliency, resourcefulness, compassion, and strength of the human spirit.

My evenings will probably be filled with less electronic-based and more creative entertainment. I’m expecting to learn some Swahili, to come back with sun-darkened skin, pictures of exotic animals, having tried new foods, mosquito bites, stories. Possibly having taken bucket showers. I’m sure I’ll be craving veggies and meat, and maybe a coffee. I’m hopeful to remain well – bringing antibiotics, hand sanitizer, soap; drinking bottled water – but know it's a distinct possibility that I may get sick.

As with previous travels, when I come back, I probably will be jet lagged. I’ll think twice before drinking the water. I’ll be overwhelmed by the abundance and materialism of America. I’ll get back and have the shock of cold weather. It will be strange to drive again and I’ll question if I still remember how to. It may take a bit of time and effort for me to re-adjust to the good ol’ US of A.

But I’m sure at the end of a month, I’ll be even more thankful for the experience. I’ll not regret my decision. I’ll be glad I dared to do something so challenging and rewarding. My soul will sing praise to the God who places this desire of the nations into my life."

Guess we'll find out if I'm right ;) And with that thought, best wishes for the Happiest of New Years to you and yours.

Capitol. Capital.

I’m not sure why I have such a travel bug. But I do. Perhaps it’s from moving around to different states as a kid. Maybe it’s because of my love of learning and experiencing new things. Or it could be due to having such wonderful opportunities through Concert Choir to tour the country.

Regardless, it’s been on my life bucket list for quite some time to visit every state in the United States. And, more recently, I’ve added visiting every state capitol.

I’ve grown up in two different state capital cities – Topeka and Jefferson City. I was around 7 or 8 years old when I visited the Topeka state capitol. I thought it was the coolest thing because it had this awesome green dome. Once I moved to Oklahoma and we started homeschooling, we started visiting the state capitol to help lobby and influence public policy regarding our education. This opportunity allowed me to visit the Oklahoma City capitol building – at that time, there was no dome. Then when I was 11, we moved to Jefferson City. As a high schooler, I was highly involved with government and politics. I grew to love the beautiful building where I spent one week every year through TeenPact. It’s still the site of home as I drive into town, crossing the Missouri river, seeing it standing strong.

Topeka, KS

Oklahoma City, OK

Jefferson City, MO

I visited the Denver state capitol while at the National Fine Arts Festival in 2005. Then I was able to visit Indianapolis through college when I staffed the National Fine Arts Festival in 2007 as an Evangel rep.

Denver, CO

Indianapolis, IN

Before I went to school, I participated in an apologetics & worldview training seminar for 2 weeks called Summit. This program was held in a small town in Tennessee, and on our way through the state, my mom, sister, and I spent a day in Nashville taking in the sites – including the seat of government there.

Nashville, TN

During my years in Concert Choir with Evangel, we toured all over the country. Our west coast tour the summer of 2010 included a stop at the Boise capitol building where we sang in the rotunda. Absolutely amazing acoustics!

Boise, ID

Concert Choir, group photo in the Boise capitol rotunda

My sister and I took a road trip to Niagara Falls before she moved across country and I would be soon starting PA school. On our way back to Missouri, we stopped in Columbus, OH to view their beautiful capitol.

Columbus, OH

When my sister and brother-in-law moved to Raleigh, NC, I went out to visit them in 2013 before starting PA school. While there, we popped over to the old capitol building. 

Raleigh, NC

This past year I’ve had the opportunity to visit three other capitols. In May, Kurt and I traveled to South Dakota to take in Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. On our way back home, we made a slight detour to catch Pierre, SD. Then a week later in June, I headed out to Boston, MA for the AAPA conference with my fellow classmate, Emily. One of our tourist visits included a stop at the capitol there. And finally, last week I started my internal medicine rotation in Des Moines, IA. On my free afternoon, I was able to catch a few hours at the gorgeous Iowa capitol.

Pierre, SD

Boston, MA

Des Moines, IA

[Btw, I've also been to London (England), Nairobi (Kenya), and Washington, D.C. (USA). That's gotta count toward my global capital cities, huh?]

States visited as of November 2014. 

Capitols visited as of November 2014.

I don’t know if I’ll ever achieve my goal of visiting all the states and capitols, but I have a decent start. It’s always good to have dreams, right? In fact, recently my sister texted me saying she had a vision of us as old ladies trotting around the country glimpsing the last few states we just haven’t quite made it to yet. I’m game.

The World is a Book, and Life is a Highway

I’m not sure I’ve always loved to travel, but I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t. These last few weeks have afforded many opportunities to travel the highways and byways of the good ol’ US of A.

For years, I have wanted to visit Niagara Falls. Fortunately, my sister was game for a girl roadtrip this summer. Since we were already headed out to Bloomington, IL for a friend’s wedding, we decided to continue from there to visit one of North America’s most famous natural landmarks. After hours on the road and a stop in Ohio to spend the night, we arrived in Ontario, Canada around 8:30 pm Sunday evening...just in time for the fireworks over the Falls. It was awesome listening to the double echos of the explosions throughout the canyon. To conclude our first day in our neighbor country, we tried out a Canadian favorite: Boston Pizza. Ironic that a Canadian specialty restaurant is named after an American city, eh?

Oh, Canada. Yes, we cleared the border.
But no stamp in the passport.
Sadness.

Spending a lot of time in the car makes one special.

Yeah, that's right. Like a boss. Those milkshakes were so thick.
Pretty sure it took twice as long to "drink" as it should have.
Probably deserve a gold medal or something.
Yeah, gold sounds about right.

Beautiful night view of the American and Bridal Veil Falls from the Canadian side.
Just before the resounding fireworks.

Boston Pizza. The Clifton Hills area was so lit-up and brilliant at night.

We were only in Canada for a short time, but during the next day and a half, we explored much of what Niagara had to offer. First off, we boarded the Maid of the Mist for an up-close and personal view of the Falls. At times, the mist was literally raining down on us, and despite our ponchos, we debarked soaked. So fun!

On the Maid of the Mist. Before pic.

After pic. Soaked. Haha! So great.

Our next adventure was Journey Behind the Falls, where we passed behind Horseshoe Falls and viewed the cascading water. It was incredibly loud, and we could feel the vibrations like a bass amplifier.

Horseshoe Falls. Canada. The view from in front of the falls.

The view from on top of the falls.
Or, more appropriately, before the falls.

Tourist pic. Sisters behind the falls. Or is the falls behind us? Hmm.

To wrap up our afternoon, we trekked over to Hard Rock Café for amazing burgers, followed by fudge sampling at the Hershey Store and souvenir shopping among the stores in the Tourist District. 

Monster burger at Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls.

Yes, that sign does say Tourist Area.
Just in case you couldn't tell otherwise ;)

After all our fun, we decided to call it an “early” night and head back to watch the Olympics (both NBC and Canadian stations) in our hotel. Tuesday morning we headed out, crossed Rainbow Bridge and were officially admitted back to our Mother Country. Seventeen hours-an Olive Garden stop-tour of Columbus capitol-and finishing The Hobbit on audio-later, we were home sweet home. Such a fun sister trip!

Our ghetto television. At least we still received NBC. Yay!

Capitol. Columbus, Ohio. Beautiful area of the city.

Just a week later, I was back on the road again. This time to Louisville, KY for my college friends’ wedding. Sam and Allison made the perfect bride and groom, and the weekend was super fun. After meeting up with some friends from school and hanging out at the mall, we caught some pool time at the hotel and made a late-night Taco Bell run. The girls had a great time with the bride and her family/friends later in the evening before we headed to dreamland. Saturday rolled around, and Allison couldn’t have been more stunning. Everyone had an excellent day. The wedding party was beautiful, the couple playful and sweet, and the reception fun. I mean, how can root beer floats and blowing bubbles not be fun, right? Sunday afternoon we headed back to Springfield once again. But not to stay for long.

The future (and now current) Mrs. Allison Blevins and myself.
What a beautiful bride!

After one day of work, I was on my way up to Kansas City to catch a flight to Philadelphia for a PA (physician assistant) school interview. One of my friends has family in the area, so I stayed with them for the evening. Early the next morning I arrived on the Arcadia campus. After a brief and then detailed overview of the program, followed by a tour and a financial aid session, we had our one-on-one interviews. It seemed like everyone was nervous. However, I wasn’t. For me, I was concentrating not on getting in, but on discerning if this was the school I where I wanted to be. The associate program director performed my interview, and although it was lengthy, she didn’t ask many questions. In fact, I only had 3-4 questions in total and they were all personal, not technical, in nature. Once the interviews were conducted, the 18 student-hopefuls went to lunch before the day’s events were concluded. I caught a ride back to the airport with another hopeful, and after a layover in Atlanta, was back in Kansas City and central standard time. After a brief visit to Jefferson City the next day, I headed back to my home base once more.

I heard once that “the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page (St. Augustine).”

If that’s the case, I certainly have completed at least a chapter in the last month :)