PHOTOS!!

All the best pictures we took on the trip (more than 600 of them) are online! Just click on the slideshow ("Memories So Far") on the right of this page to see them up close!

The Glue That Held It Together

I know at the beginning of this trip I said something about hoping this journey would teach us a little something about being adventurous, taking risks, and not worrying about it so much. Well, we certainly did learn something about these things, but in the end I ended up learning the most about completely different stuff. And one of the most significant of these lessons was the importance of rest and of simply enjoying the present.

In school, rest and enjoyment of the present without anxiety for the future are two things that I have a lot of trouble doing. My life in school seems to be ruled by deadlines – projects, homework, tests, extracurricular activities – and my mind is always flitting from one thing on my to-do list to the next. Even when I finish several things, there always seems to be more to do – if not today, then certainly tomorrow or the next day. My mind seems most often preoccupied with the future, when I will get this and that done and what I will need to do after that. It’s a seemingly never-ending whirlwind which leaves little time for rest and enjoyment of what I have in the present, or time to just be. And it’s a whirlwind that I’m finding out I wasn’t made to deal with. As I’ve heard a few different people say, “We’re called human beings, not human doings.”

As humans, we were made to do things a lot of the time, and if someone doesn’t work at all ever, the result will not be good. But we weren’t made to work all the time, to have our minds constantly engaged and processing every moment of every day – that, I’ve found, just leads to self absorption, and any semblance of peace is drained from life. We have to rest, and for me this trip was rest. Some people might call me crazy to say that driving through the night and going on long hikes is rest, but for me physical exertion is an incredibly welcome reprieve from the unremitting mental exertion that characterizes my life at school. On this trip I didn’t have to think much more than a day ahead, and most of the time I didn’t even do that. I just enjoyed. I just lived. The residual effects of school lingered, and when my mind wandered thoughts would pop up: “What am I missing? I should be working on something. What do I need to be ready for when I get back? You have all this time, you should be reading and journaling a lot. You should do this! And that!” And so I had to step in and consciously remind myself, “Rest! Just enjoy! Just be here, now, in the present!”

We must have times of Sabbath, times of rest, times of simply enjoying what God has given us and being grateful to Him for it. It’s part of the character of God (see Genesis 2:2-3), and we were made in His image. We can rest, for Christ has done the work, and God is in control – our salvation is secure, and we are wonderfully unnecessary when it comes to keeping this world going. We can, and should, rest in Christ without worry – this is a truth that many American Christians have forgotten, and that some are rediscovering.

Besides this, there were of course a few other big lessons to be learned from this trip. First, I think my first reaction going into any of these places was that GOD is BIG. Massive beyond any comprehension I will ever have while I inhabit this mortal perspective. You look down a canyon, and it’s ridiculously huge. But honestly, it’s a tiny part of the earth. Just the world we live in is enormous beyond imagination, and we won’t even talk about anything in outer space. God made it all, and He is everywhere in it. Ridiculous. And then there are people living all over it. Billions – and that number itself is incomprehensible. Yet most of the time I forget that much of anything exists besides me and the people I see every day. I’m selfish – and that’s another truth that was quite apparent to me on this trip. When you’re in close quarters with people it means there are others right there to serve, and so it’s really obvious when you choose to serve yourself over them.

And yet even the selfishness and pride of each of us on this trip did little to overcome the strong bond of brotherhood that we have developed over our time together at school and on this trip. Considering that we really had no major fights during 19 days at constantly close quarters, I’d say that bond is pretty strong. I count myself exceptionally blessed when I consider the kind of people God has placed in my path as friends, these men chief among them. We are very different people, and nothing but the Grace of God and His Love could have brought us together as we are. We were dead in sin apart from God, but have been redeemed by the Life, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Friend, Jesus Christ – and therein lies our unity and our bond. Our brotherhood is strong because we do not love with what little affection we can muster up, but God who is Love flows into our lives and relationships. We are all broken, but we can forgive each other our faults and help each other out of them because God has forgiven us and offered to heal our brokenness completely. Because of the love of Christ we respond to each other in love. This is the Gospel – the good news that defines us and is making us into who we are and who we were meant to be. This is the glue that holds our brotherhood together.

This was an awesome trip, a truly once-in-a-lifetime journey. It was filled with laughter, adventure, majestic views, small friendly animals, food (very important), rain, snow, sun, fellowship, rest, wonder, a little bit of hardship, and so much else. This is at least a bit of what it feels like to suck the marrow out of life. And looking at this list, I am struck by the number of these things that are available to me right here, things which may be found without driving across the country. Who’s to say that we can’t live this fully most every day of our lives?

Be God's,
Dan

The Rush to Rushmore (and Beyond)

OK, OK. I know this is late. Like really incredibly, exquisitely late. But it just didn’t feel right to me to fail to document the last three days of our trip, especially when some quite interesting things happened during said days – things we might want to remember and you might, for some odd reason, want to know. So now, a two weeks after the fact, I’m finally recording the final legs of our epic journey. Fortunately, I think at least the major details are still pretty fresh in my mind.

The second to last segment of our journey began bright and early on the morning of Tuesday, May 31^st, 2011, and it would take us from the Grand Tetons all the way across Wyoming and into South Dakota, to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. I really can say “bright and early” without hesitation because we got up at 6:00AM and despite the clouds and snow the night before the sun was out – FINALLY! It was the first clear morning (or clear span of time at all) that we had seen in the Grand Tetons, and man, was it beautiful. That early in the morning the sun was coming through a thin veil of mist which, along with the new layer of snow, seemed to diffuse the morning sunlight, making every corner of our campsite seem brilliantly bright, especially after days of overcast skies.

We could also finally look up to where the great Teton mountain range towered above us, abruptly rising more than 7,000 feet from where we were in the span of a few miles. Most prominent from our campground at Jenny Lake was Mt. Teewinot, the sixth highest peak in the range at 12,325 feet. I wasn’t about to let our one really good look at the Tetons get away without being photographed, so once we were almost packed up I took a short walk to the shore of Jenny Lake to take some pictures. Once there, I was met with what I think was the best (or at least one of the best) views of the trip. The lake was nearly still, reflecting the rocky and snowy peaks above with only slight ripples of distortion. It was wonderfully peaceful and, as I said, stunningly beautiful. As much as we were about ready to get home, I still think I would have liked one more day in Tetons with that kind of weather.

Soon after this we made our way out of our final national park of the trip (with a few turnoffs to take pictures of the finally visible mountains). As it turned out, though, leaving the national park did not mean that we were leaving the great scenery and mountains behind us. In fact, we actually went higher into the mountains the farther we went, and the snow got higher and higher around us. Fortunately, we were on a well plowed road, and the previous night’s snow was little more than slush as we drove through. On either side, however, the snow banks on the side of the road reached heights of five, then eight or more feet, and the landscape was completely white except for some high craggy peaks. We took it a bit slower than we might have on a perfectly clear road, but soon we were across the mountains, descending again into drier, warmer climes.

As with many of the other states we traveled through, the large variation in climate and terrain over a relatively short distance was amazing again in Wyoming. We left the very snowy, craggy peaks and entered a valley surrounded by high plateaus and colorful water-shaped canyons – reminiscent of Utah far to the Southwest. From there we traveled into wide grasslands and finally into a high desert, before eventually reaching grassland again near South Dakota. Interestingly, despite some stretches of almost nothing, Wyoming didn’t seem to be a sparsely populated as one might suspect, at least along our route (unlike eastern Oregon).

Eventually we reached Casper, the largest city we would drive through in Wyoming. It was around lunch time, and being quite tired of turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch every day, we stopped at an Arby’s for some wonderfully unhealthy fast food. Then we got some gas and continued on our way, and about an hour later the day’s real adventure began.

Rastro the Astro had been a stellar vehicle up to this point, providing us with ample legroom and luggage space, and no bigger problem than a blown fuse or two. This near perfect record of car health for the trip was not to last, however. About an hour after leaving Casper, we pulled into a parking area off of the interstate to switch drivers and the trouble began. As we slowed down nearly to a stop the engine began to sputter and cough and generally sound very unhealthy. This was accompanied by the illumination of the check engine light, and an attempt to accelerate again revealed notably decreased performance. As none of us really know much of anything practical about the inner workings of a car, we opened the hood and scratched our heads trying to figure out what was wrong and what we could do about it. Of course I called my dad, who does know a thing or two about cars, but it’s a little hard to diagnose and fix a car problem from 2500 miles away. We theorized that the gas we had bought could have had too much water in it, or there could have been an electrical issue – but of course we couldn’t really do anything about either of these issues where we were and with our lack of expertise. So we decided to backtrack about ten miles to the fortunately placed (for us) large-ish town of Douglas, which has several Auto Repair shops. On the way, we found out that once the van gained some speed it was almost like normal, so we didn’t worry too much about being completely stranded and soon made it the One Stop Autoplex, where fortunately they were not too busy to give Rastro a checking out.

After two and a half hours of waiting, we had learned that the problem had been mainly with the van’s distributor cap, which fortunately was a part they were able to get from across town and replace in pretty good time. After signing over what remained of our budgeted “Emergency Fund,” we were back on the road in an almost back to normal Rastro, with just enough time to make it to Mt. Rushmore before the lighting ceremony.

Looking back, we were unbelievably fortunate with everything about this car trouble. First, it didn’t happen in the middle of nowhere, far from any help. Second, it happened in the middle of the day, when we could go and get the repairs we needed right then and there. Thankfully, it wasn’t so serious that we couldn’t drive the car to get it fixed, and the malfunctioning part just happened to be readily available. Also, we ended up having budgeted almost the exact right amount of money in case of emergencies. And on top of all of that, we still made it to Rushmore on time! If we had to have car trouble, I don’t think the situation could have been any better.

We arrived at Mt. Rushmore about 20 minutes before the start of the lighting ceremony. As such, we could still look up and see the huge presidential sculptures with natural lighting. My first reaction to the memorial was actually that it kind of small. In reality, it really isn’t at all – George Washington’s face is 60 feet high! But after a trip full of seeing gargantuan God-made sculptures and landscapes (Like the Tetons that same morning), I think anything manmade seems rather small and unremarkable, no matter how amazing an achievement it really was. The lighting ceremony consisted of a talk and film about the meaning and history behind the memorial as well as the singing of the national anthem, and, of course, the lighting.

We left Mt. Rushmore right at the end of the ceremony to beat any traffic and headed toward Rapid City to find food and lodging for the night. It was almost ten and we hadn’t really eaten since lunch, so of course we were all famished (especially Keegan) as we pulled into a Taco Bell (woohoo). After dinner we just had to cross the road to get to a Best Western – the only motel we stayed at for the whole trip. After camping so long, it was like a life of luxury – beds, showers, TV, continental breakfast…it was wonderful.

The next morning we began the very last leg of the trip – 24 hours driving plus stops. Fortunately, it was fairly uneventful except for stops at the famous Wall Drug store in Wall, SD, the westernmost Chick-Fil-A in the country near Kansas City, MO, and a Cracker Barrel near Nashville, TN. Somewhere in there the van’s air conditioning also went out, so it got a bit hot in Iowa in the afternoon and then in Tennessee the next morning. But we just assumed God made it happen to help us reacclimate to the heat of the South and put the windows down without complaint.

Then, finally, we arrived back in Waynesville around 2:30PM on June 2^nd. What a trip…it really was epic. But as awesome as it was, I think we were all ready to be home.

Epically late,

Daniel J.

Adventurers We Are

Today was our last day in the majestic Tetons, and as of yet we had not done much exploring and today was our last chance. After the usual wake up and eat and such, we went to check out hikes for the day at the visitor center. After talking with one of the rangers we scrapped our original hike and decided on one that wasn't supposed to take 12 hours. After eating lunch and preparing our equipment we set out to reach Inspiration Point, which only few had been able to reach recently because of snow. Inspiration Point was about 2.5 miles from our camp on the other side of the lake and was supposed to be a awesome view with a some what difficult trail.

Now let me tell you what the weather has been like: between 30-45 degrees, sleet, snow, and rain pretty much every hour. So starting off wasn't to bad. The path had some snow, but not much. The further and further we got, the more snow fell, but it was still decently easy to distinguish the trail.
We stopped about half way up to see Hidden Falls, a beautiful waterfall coming down the side of the mountain. Here is where we left nice trails behind. As we kept going up the mountain the trail disappeared and become more of just footprints in the snow and orange tags on trees to follow. After close to half a hour we got where the trail up to Inspiration Point split off, well where it was supposed to split off. So this is where the trail pretty much just started to fade, we were trekking through 2-4 foot deep snow after a while and laughing as people sank in. Not quite sure if what we were following was an actual trail or just a path up the mountain, but it was awesome!

Our feet were thoroughly soaked, we were getting a little winded, and the supposed trail was slowly disappearing but we soldiered on. David, our lead man, stopped at a pretty majestic view and because well the footprints just uh, stopped. In the middle of the side of a mountain they just stopped, no sign, no specific view, just snow. We were feeling quite adventurous and I had seen a hill that I wanted to get to because it looked like a killer view. So forging our way through the 3 foot snow we kept trekking, made our way over to a stream and found a fallen tree to climb across to get to the other side of the stream.

Seeing my destination at hand, I continued on by myself as everyone else didn't see the need to go any further. After climbing a steep hill and plunging through deep, deep snow I made my way to the top of the hill and was meet with… well a ridiculous view. Needless to say I called to the others and they came on up and we all just stood there taking in the sights. It was beautiful and amazing, and totally worth making a new path and climbing a mountain. We then realized that we were not actually at Inspiration Point (our intended destination) for it was about 400 yards to the left as the crow flies. So we had found a new and untouched (or at least rarely been to) place, and so we needed to name it (obviously). After some discussion, many names that were offered up, such as Sacrifice Point, Wolfpack Point, Innovation Point and Howling Point. We decided on Howling Point. So back down we walked, slid, fell, and climbed. About a half an hour down we came across… a MOOSE!!! it looked like a baby moose and he was thoroughly underwhelmed by our presence. We were about 10 feet away from him at some point and he didn't really care or even seem to really notice us.





After getting back to camp we made dinner (soup yummmm) and had peach cobbler for desert which was amazing. Once again the night was getting cold and wet(ish) and we all retreated to our respective sleeping bags and popped out books. This was the end of our last night in a National Park on this trip and it had been a epic day. Thank you again for reading and pray for our safe trip home :)

"O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the Earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens."
-Psalm 8:1












Thoroughly happy, fed, and awed,
Keegan

A Sunday Mission in the Tetons

Today is Sunday. We awoke, wrapped in our sleeping bags, the incessant rain, sleet and snow mix off of the Grand Tetons pounding down from the heavens. But we did not mind. We arose, emerging from our heavily laden tent like cocooned creatures breaking into a new and brighter life. We had a mission. Danger rating: orange. Tired operatives, unknown threats.
While the heavens spent their fury, our minds were on something higher. Beneath our flimsy tent, we began our ministrations. The pitcher was filled with water, and set upon a flame, till it reached a boil. Measured into servings, packets of a dusty white substance were added, and carefully stirred until a rich aroma filled the air around us. The oatmeal was ready.
The ritual washing completed, we boarded our vehicle, and started the engine. Pulling out into road, we faced down the storm. Time: 9:30 AM. We had 30 minutes. The snow whipped at our windshield, white blocking any view beyond one hundred yards. Danger rating: red. No visibility.
As we hurtled along the snow slick roads, features became less and less distinct. Road signs were plastered with snow and ice, making navigation difficult. Then, a rumbling from the roof, a flash of red and blue color. A yell.
"The chairs!"
Our Cargo! Bestowed upon us by the Alabamanians in the realm of Yellowstone, their moorings had come loose, and they had flown from the top of our vehicle. They must be retrieved. Time: 9:35. 25 minutes. It was my time to fly.
Like a majestic bird our steed swung around, like the trace of a compass doing a three point turn we followed our own tracks back to where the cargo had come off. I swung open the door and stepped out into the withering wind, filled with freezing ice and stinging rain. Danger level: Bear. They might be anywhere. I was exposed, with low visibility. They might eat my arm without my even noticing. I grabbed the first chair and slung it to operative "Keegan" inside the vehicle. With equal measures of speed and dexterity I reached the second, and returned it in similar fashion. I jumped back into the already moving extraction vehicle. Time 9:38. 22 minutes.
Things were starting to get dicey. Stuck behind a slower civilian vehicle, we started making poor time. They were distracted. They were slow. They were dead meat if there were any bears nearby. Finally, giving in to the subtle whispers of the roadside, they pulled over, and we whisked by. time: 9:46. 14 minutes.
There! In sight was our goal. The lodge loomed out of the mist, and we made our final approach. The debris of a vehicle blocked our path, its elderly driver waved us on. I knew immediately he would not last. Bears. time: 9:51. 9 minutes.
Into the lodge. We located the marker, joined with a fellow operative, who was seeking the same goal, and made it before our time was up. Mission accomplished. We made it to church.
Anyways. It was an excellent service. Fellow representative from state Julia Monroe was one of the leaders, and we spent a time in the presence of our God. We sang praise, and gave praise through teaching. A young man named Caleb gave the sermon, on the differences between the new and old covenants. It was a good lesson, and we all came out with a seed of the word glistening with new thought. We went away with new friends and full hearts. Ready to face the day. (Though we almost lost agent "Dan". He can give you the full briefing if he wants someday. It may or may not involve Bears.)
A new mission awaited us that day. We hadn't informed Home Base of our movements in quite some time, and it was our duty to update them on the status of our greater objective.
So we spent our time writing up mission reports and debriefings, and gathering intelligence for future endeavors. It occupied the rest of our time at the lodge, and we departed after a potentially deadly encounter involving a semi-poisonous substance and agent "David". We made the journey to base camp without further danger.
The day complete, we tired operatives spent our last remaining hours in the time honored war-time tradition of card playing. It was infuriating, and fun. A good way to relax, even under the ever present gaze of the Bears.

Some people say I am Unbearable.

Today I bear my soul to you, not all of it mind you but a bearable amount. Before I go any further bear in mind that though I look completely sane I can assure you that I hold onto my sanity by the bearest of margins. As my mind bearrels through all of the information that it holds I am reminded that a lot of my mind is a bearen wasteland and can bearly hold a thought. Though I do not want to be the bearer of bad news I wish to tell you that bearied deep inside my head is a part of me that is quite loony. As I try and catch my bearings A thought crosses my mind that ball bearings do look like life savers. Although I would love to continue bearating you with horrible puns I find that my mind has reached its limit of unbearable puns.

Toodles,
Keegan

I'm a bear! Put your head in my mouth!!!

Hello People of the warm east coast.

10 Minutes Later. Snowing!

Sunny!

It seems that the closer to the end of this trip we get, the harder the elements hit us. Yellowstone had the most indecisive weather I've ever seen. At one point in the morning there was sleet coming down on the top of our tent. Ten minutes later, there was bright sunshine heating our tent up like a microwave. It got to the point where I actually had to vacate the tent and brave the great outdoors. It was about 11, so I think it was about that time anyways. Yeah, that was the best morning ever. You never start to appreciate sleeping in like you should until you find yourself up at 7 or 8 every morning. I can safely say that due to the effort I had to put forth to actually keep myself asleep, that my sleep schedule has improved significantly from the past school year.
Back to the elements though. As soon as we woke up completely, the snow began to fall again. Time for breakfast and a bit of coffee to warm up the soul. We had pancakes... again. :) I like pancakes though, so it's not such a drag for me. I discovered that syrup and honey go quite well together. Whoever said too much of a good thing is bad obviously never had pancakes with syrup and honey.
After a bountiful banquet of baked batter, we set out on a drive to find all of God's creatures located in Yellowstone.

Our first destination was Lookout point, which offered a view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Dan made the comment that this was the only place in Yellowstone where the stone was actually yellow. The water was too, which made me wary of any spigots located nearby. Years of hearing "don't eat the yellow snow" resounded in my mind. Snow... that's just cold water. So yellow snow melts... into yellow water. Urgh! Thankfully, my CamelBack seems to replenish it's water by itself as I've been drinking from it for about a week now, and have yet needed to refill it myself. And it's always COLD!
After Lookout we drove up farther to Inspiration Point, to be inspired. The point used to reach out 100 more feet than what we witnessed, but in the past a tremor had caused that extra length to tumble into the gorge. That brings to mind an interesting factoid that I learned from the sign posted there. The canyon is going to continue to grow larger because when the water from the waterfall hits the river below, it causes a cyclic motion in the water which pounds the base of the falls. As that rock base erodes, the upper part of the falls begins to fall down as well.
Then we headed up to Mammoth Hotsprings, but the boardwalk was out about halfway through so we didn't get to see the whole area. so that leads me to my favorite part of the day, and this post: ANIMALS!!!!

Our hunt led us all the way to the visitor's center about 3000 miles away. That's an exaggeration, but I don't remember the actual mileage. Traffic was terrible, but for a decent reason. There were bears on either side of the road. First we saw a small grizzly plodding along the hill on the left. It's amazing how much people freak out seeing something in it's natural habitat, and being calm and collected when they see it behind glass at the Asheboro Zoo. Perhaps it's the adrenaline rushing through your body when in the back of your mind you realize, "My gosh, that bear could just fire out and hit him right now... He would never expect it." Moving right along up the road another half mile, and we hit another traffic jam. This time, everyone was looking over to the right. Our natural inclination was to look to the right, just so we could remain inconspicuous. If there's bears around, I don't want to stick out. Thankfully, the traffic didn't completely stop moving, so we got
to catch the black bear lumbering through the trees in motion. Everyone disembarked the vehicle in motion to capture him on the camera. That camera is a five person job. One of us has to frame the picture. One of us has to click the picture. One of us has to review the picture. One of us has to deride the efforts of the previous three. And one of us had to remain in the vehicle to steer. You didn't really think we'd leave the vehicle unattended when it was rolling down the road. :)

We arrived at the visitor center, but I was feeling rebellious, so we took a detour behind it into a residential reserved for "Employees Only." I consider myself an employee, just not of the park. They never specified, so I see nothing wrong with my actions. Back on subject, however, we saw four female elk grazing and lounging in the yards of the houses. For us North Carolinians, that's an odd occurrence. So we took pictures.

After entering the visitor's center, and wondering around looking at the stuffed animals on display, we found out that Lamar Valley was closed due to a rock slide. It had happened that morning. This is why I said it was the best morning ever. Had we gotten up at our usual time and made way down into the valley, we might have been stranded behind the rock-slide. Thankfully, we got our fill of wildlife without going down into the valley. On the way back to camp, we filled up our quota with some coyotes, and a random bison walking down the road... amidst about 20 cars. That bison was so chill. When the ranger got there with his flashing lights and guided the bison off the road, traffic began to proceed again as usual, until he decided he liked the feel of asphalt on his hooves. He was all like "Whatever... I'm a bison. I do what I want."
Then we trudged back to the camp site to freeze for another night. But alas! Weather wasn't on our side it seemed, because there was supposed to be a large amount of snowfall that night. So we decided to head out last night for Grand Tetons, instead of waiting until morning. This turned out to be Providence, however. Seeing as yesterday was Saturday, that meant that today was Sunday. The Sabbath. And coincidentally, our good friend, the lovely Julia Monroe, was spending her summer working at the Jackson Lake lodge, which happened to operate the campground we were staying at. Something about seeing a friend from back home on the other side of the country just makes it more special. Her and some of her new friends had a Sunday service this morning, but I've just been informed by Stephen that I'm not allowed to write about it, because it happened today. Oh well. I guess that leaves me with the final event of the day: Setting up camp in the dark. It was our fastest construction of a campsite yet. But that's about all. Until next time, at which we will be on our way back to the Sunny side of the country, I wish you all a Happy Sunday!

-David

"Let everything that has breath Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."
-Psalm 150:6