You know, in theory, and without real knowledge of geography, the drive from Cairo, Illinois to Redding, CA seemed pretty tame. I think I always pictured Cairo being ever so slightly more west than I discovered, and much closer to the Pacific Ocean. I think it was about half way through day one, when I actually stopped to look at a map and realized how colossal this venture would be, thanks largely to the vast flatlands of Kansas and Nevada.
Day one was rather uneventful once we made it on the road. The drive to Kansas City was a familiar one with previous trips to IHOP, so it went fine.
Day two. I love you Kansas, but… Day two our van wouldn’t stop after we pulled over for gas first thing in the morning. We sat at the gas station, called our intercessors, called a tow truck, and waited. After about an hour or so, God told to Kristy to start the car again – and viola…it started…so we were on our way, at last. We made a stop at an auto place to have them check the car out, and after about an hour there, they found nothing wrong, and didn’t charge us a penny…so we were off again…but it wasn’t looking promising for making our next proposed stop – Denver. As we continued to drive across Kansas, the van got a flat tire…and that pretty much sealed the deal. We only made it halfway through Kansas on day two.
Day three was a marathon. We ended up driving 17 hours from wherever we were in Kansas to Salt Lake City, Utah. It felt good just to make it out of Kansas. The highlight of Day three was Wyoming, for sure. We hit that state around evening and saw some amazing cloud formations, all glowing with the sun – it really did look like a huge glory cloud just hovering over this town. Beautiful!
Day four. This was the day we were supposed to make it to Redding, but since we drove until 1 or 2am the following night and slept in a little, we only made it to Reno. Nevada was long, desolate, full of hills. I kept praying that God would made it blossom or something…it was kind of depressing.
Day five…(hallelujah chorus). It was a blessing, actually to make this last part of the drive during the daylight hours. We drove through Mt. Lassen state park on our way to Redding, and it was beautiful!!! When I saw the sign for Redding, I just about cried, and was very ready to get out of the car – though, admitedly I enjoyed the extended time to listen to sermons, sing really loud, and talk to God – or the other vehicles via our super cool walkie talkies.
And there you have it, 3 vehicles, 3 ladies, 2 dogs, and a herd of house plants all arrived safely to our new home, Redding, CA.
