If Tacoma has taught us anything, it’s to value people over everything else. Washington was the catalyst in changing the way we think about so many things. It was where we truly experienced the love and provision of God and we became better people because of it. I didn’t realize the magnitude of friends we’d made until it was time to say goodbye. At the risk of sounding corny but 100% true, the friendships built were only -6 years deep but the depths of our hearts are filled forever.

Because of these things, and a desire not to have a foggy Crater Lake repeat, we decided to stay in Phoenix another night instead of driving to the Grand Canyon. We were able to surprise a friend at the airport by having Blayke stand at the bottom of an escalator holding a “Mandy” sign! Seeing our long lost friends’ face light up as we squeezed her with every ounce of our soul, we knew we had made the right choice to stay until she got home. We spent the evening reminiscing at an old barbershop converted into a modern pizza parlor underneath the warm glow of Edison bulbs.

The next morning we planned to leave early for the Grand Canyon but when our friends offered to drive 2 hours to Flagstaff with us to have lunch before we drove the final hour to the GC, we couldn’t refuse. A few more hours spent with friends, yes please! We ended up getting to the Grand Canyon around 6pm that evening. It was later than originally planned but it didn’t matter.

It was a lot colder than we anticipated and clouds were starting to roll in. Again, really? Can’t we catch a weather break?? We knew October was shoulder season but we were hoping by going the south route to KY we’d avoid storms and cold weather. The complete opposite happened.

We walked around until the darkness set in. Then began a difficult discussion. Do we camp and explore more of the canyon in the morning since we only got to experience surface level stuff, do we drive on to another campsite on the way to our final destination, or do we drive through the night. We looked at weather patterns and radars and our hearts sank. Storms. More and more storms. WHY?????!!!!! We were seeing more rain than we had in Tacoma in the past 6 months! And they call Washington the rainy state- psh.

Brice had received a call for an interview in KY Thursday morning so we needed to be in KY by Wednesday morning at the latest so we could find some interview appropriate clothing (Scarpas, Mountain Hardwear pants, and a Khul shirt might work in the Pacific Northwest, but not in KY). Considering it was Sunday evening and we still had a solid 1,800 miles to drive, we opted to buckle down and drive through the night, again.

The thought of sleeping in a freezing storm didn’t bother us. The thought of packing up wet gear while it continued to pour on us pushed us over the edge. Honestly, I’m glad we did. The entire evening was filled with torrential downpours. It got so bad in Texas that we were stopped ON THE HIGHWAY because there was a standing 1.5ft of water that everyone was delicately navigating through. Talk about white knuckle driving!

The only thing that would have made the drive even better would be if we turned on the radio and the old country song 🎶 “On the road again” 🎶 came on.

At least we got a few cool pics!