Road Trip ‘23 – Day 1

New Car for the Trip. Taking the wife. 4400+ miles. 8 Days. 7 states. 87 hours in the car. 4 National Parks. Plus so much more. It was worth it.

Wow. Has it been March since I posted. Well let me say, “I’m back!” Literally and physically.

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Last Friday, I picked my wife up from work at Liberty University and headed west. We’ve never taken a major vacay longer than a weekend. Oh we’ve gone to family, been on conferences and retreats, even taken a weekend vacation … but never a week long time off. So we packed early, made the reservations, timed it out, loaded the car and headed west. I’ll not try to give too many spoilers, hoping to get your reading every day’s entry.

Lessons in life will be shared along the way of this literary endeavor … as well as pics and insights and maybe some movie allusions as well.

Day 1 … Driving.

We drove through the night. Hit the Virginia and West Virginia roads right before sunset. The start of the trip was in the mountains. The Blue Ridge are magnificent. Old. And the trees covered the edifices like a full green carpet … plush and alive as limbs slowly waved in the wind. Another key point of WV was the tolls … and another toll. Friendly people taking our money. I smiled yet recognize that many probably looked at them without smiles … so I tried to be a blessing not a burden.

We hit St. Louis in the wee hours in the morning (2a). So we only saw the Archway but we did see it. Then long hours through Kansas. Corn. Wind turbines. More corn.

In then, we reached the state line of our first destination … Colorado … Welcome to Colorful Colorado. Decades ago, maybe even a century or so, stagecoach trails had passed the same way. Slower. More time to admire scenic landscape. Filled with greater danger, or at lest different danger. But still the same issues. We traveled 20 hours but still too slow (would’ve taken weeks back then.) We wanted to appreciate the scenery, admiring the same rolling hills, same waterways, and the trees that were probably descendants of the trees from a century ago.

We stopped at Smokey Hill Trails historic spot. It’s my imaginative brain that takes me back to old western days. Thinking of stagecoaches not Subarus. Chuck wagons not Chic-fil-A. Horseback not hotels. Cacti not cell towers. Muddy ruts not asphalt roads.

Since day 1 was in the car, not a lot to write about. But I did get a specific life lesson. As I was driving, I came across the a place that had two speed limit signs, one on each side of the road.

So I started to think about how we are to shine our light before others that they may see our light and glorify God. But is it we get dirty? Do we get tired as we age? Duller? Covered by mud and grime? Those that it’s can be overcome. Stay vigilant in pursuing a clean life (yeah, I know, we always need His help).

But a key thing that caught my attention wasn’t the film of filth. You see, the signs didn’t have the light shining from themselves. The signs were readable only because of the light from the passing vehicles. And the big issue wasn’t the dirtiness of one of the signs; for all I know, they were the same condition. Thea big issue was the right side sign was facing the wrong way, a bit skewed. The light from the car hit the sign and reflected the wrong way … making it difficult to read.

In life, we all get messy. I mean, this blog is called Muddy Shoes. But mud can be cleaned. However, we need to keep focused in the right direction. Keep our eyes FIXED on Jesus. Not just out of the side of our eyes, not casual glances … FIXED.

This road trip will be great to see God’s creation. This vacay will be a time to relax and refocus. This time together with my wife will be strengthening and superb. And in all of this, my main focus is always to be FIXED on Him. And so is yours. No matter what your situation, keep your eyes FIXED.

Tomorrow, Day 2 … more specifically day 1 1/2. We hit Gardens of the Gods, arrive at Glen Eyrie and I make my wife cry.