27 hours + 1,524 miles + 1 new tire = Arizona Roadtrip

Hello all! WE MADE IT TO ARIZONA!

I know this blog is coming a week after arriving... but better late than never, right?

Three of the four girls on the trip! Stacy, Audra, and I

We started out our trip at 4 am on Saturday morning (yes, 4 am). After time in prayer for safety on  the roads, we packed up the little Chevy Lumina and headed towards Nebraska. It was a day full of anticipation: for the cross-country road trip we were taking, for my new life in Arizona, and also the constant "hub-ub" about the "end of the world." We heard quite a few talk radio segments on the last topic (:

Speeding on through endless Nebraska (Home of the Good Life), we occupied ourselves with lots of sleeping and singing along to the Backstreet Boys/Rascal Flatts. I'm sorry that I don't have anything more to report on Nebraska...but that is honestly all that I remember! In "colorful" Colorado, we were instantly greeted by hurricane-like conditions and an overflow of tumbleweed! Continuing on through the storm, we used our creative dining skills to make sandwiches in the car, while admiring the beautiful mountains of Colorado! We literally were awestruck by the beauty of the snow-capped mountains while driving through Denver.

Making our way to Colorado Springs....tragedy struck....

Imagine with me, four college girls playing "catch phrase" while driving along the interstate and all of the sudden we hear this popping noise. We pull to the side of the road and much to our dismay we have a flat tire. 

Let me recap. 4 college girls. Flat tire. 700 miles from home. This is going to be good. 

Let me also say that along with 4 college girls comes 4 college girls' luggage. Our trunk was packed SO tight, there was no possible way we could fit anything else into it. This obviously made getting to our spare donut tire even more interesting. Therefore we spilled our entire contents of the trunk onto the side of the interstate and began trying our hand at changing a tire. Obviously when we were all unpacking the truck, we turned to each other saying "Do you know how to change a tire?" "Not really...do you?" "Well, I've never had to.." Great, just great.

Luckily for us, our knight in shining armor came racing down the road about 10 minutes after we pulled to the side. A police officer stopped and actually changed the tire FOR us (: phew. Even though this was a horrifying experience for us, it really happened at the best possible place. We had a lot of room at the side of the interstate, a police officer stopped, and there was a tire shop less than a mile away! Believe it or not, we were back on the road in less than an hour. 

We continued on through Colorado (stopping at Garden of the Gods), and rested for the night near Albuquerque, New Mexico for the night. My friend Stacy had relatives in the area, and they graciously opened up their home to us after 19 hours on the road. After receiving some southwestern hospitality, we hit the road the next day and ventured on to Phoenix!

Along the way, we stopped by the Grand Canyon! We were able to walk around and catch a beautiful sunset, admiring the work of our great God, the maker of the heavens and the earth, the creator and sustainer of everything that we see here on this Earth.  Psalm 19:1-4 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."  

After admiring such beauty, we finished the last 3 hours of our trip and were warmly welcomed into Phoenix! We've been resting and relaxing,  unpacking, and exploring the town! I have also been staying busy with orientation at the Mayo Clinic (my new home for the summer)! Sorry the picture is horrible, it's the best that my little camera phone can do! 

I think I've caught you up on most of the excitement of our trip...watch for my next blog about my first day and our adventures in Phoenix/Scottsdale! I don't have a mailing address yet, but will update you when I do. Feel free to email me at jennifer.vanderveen@trnty.edu! 

Until next time, cheers!