Let's Fast-Forward, Shall We?

Yes, there has been a large lapse in time, but let's just fast-forward shall we? I just recently finished the most massively long road-trip I've ever done across the country with my friend Hannah Carlson. Final destination: Redding, CA - my new place of residence for the next 9 months or more.

A few brief highlights (or points of relative interest) from our western adventure:

1. South Dakota is boring. Wall-Drug is...well, I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to stop there. :)
2. Without I-90 we wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
3. Mt. Rushmore was actually smaller than I thought it would be. I dragged Hannah on a walking tour (I'm such a teacher; why visit a national monument unless you're going to learn something?) which mostly occurred in the rain, hence our guide's reference to "the crying presidents." Nevertheless, I'm so glad we went. I now have a year-long pass in case I want to return. Haha.
4. I had my first Harley ride experience compliments of Hannah's Uncle Rich! I'm sold.
5. Montana isn't that pretty until you pass Butte, or "butt" as we had more fun calling it. And actually, the mountains passed Missoula are the ones really worth seeing.
6. I went whitewater rafting for the first time in Missoula and it was so much fun! All pictures make it seem much more scary than it is in real life, though we only went through rapids rated 1-3. It was a very enjoyable introductory run on a gorgeous day!
7. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene, ID so we could see the beautiful lake. I'm determined to vacation here one day.
8. We made another pit-stop in Spokane, WA to meet up with my (family-) friend Julie Wenger (originally from back home in Madison). We chatted over a brief lunch and then she took us over to the Healing Rooms. Julie gave us a brief tour and I got to be prayed for there which was phenomenal! Great encouraging words from God.
9. Southeast Washington looks like someone's neglected lawn, fried weeds and all.
10. By excellent recommendation from Oregon-native Allison Day, we ate at a restaurant outside Portland called  McMenamins and it was so yummy and a great Oregon experience.
11. On our last travel day we detoured to Crater Lake National Park which was one of the most gorgeous sites I've ever seen on earth!
12. At an Oregon rest-stop, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me about giving this woman $20 who needed money to get to Sacramento. I talked to her for a few minutes about her story and told her I had felt God say to give her some cash to help her out. She told me that she had just been praying that morning. I asked for her name (Mary) and I asked if I could pray for her too. She said yes, told me that she was Catholic and stood up to pray with me. It was a lot of fun just to bless her, tell her that God loves her and delights in her and release provision and safety for her travels! So cool! 13. I signed my first apartment lease and have found that I live in one of the best apartment complexes in all of Redding! Woohoo!
14. I bought a mattress in a matter of minutes from walking into the store. More amazingly, the woman that sold it to me was the SAME woman I had been corresponding with via email about a desk that I was going to buy from her; she is going to be a BSSM 3rd year student this year and gave me a great discount! It was such a God-thing! What a funny conversation we had realizing who each other was!
15. As if we hadn't driven enough yet, Hannah and I traveled down to San Francisco after a weekend of moving in only to be greeted by a some moody Frisco weather.
16. We got pictures by the Golden Gate Bridge even though it was swallowed by a cloud.
17. The Muir Forest is beautiful and the windy drive to it reminded us both of Hawaii.
18. Long story short...we ate dinner at 9:30PM at the Cheesecake Factory that night and it was about 50 degrees outside and foggy.
19. We stayed at the King George Hotel - a very intentional reservation on my part because it was British and truly a European hotel experience! Haha. It brought back a lot of England Term memories!
20. We bused across town the next morning to eat breakfast (more like lunch by the time we got there) at Louis' (as excellently recommended by Susan Pohorski!). We pigged out on diner food and soaked in the gorgeous ocean views.
21. We bused to the infamous Wharf and walked from one end to the other to "kill time" cheaply.
22. I mastered driving through Frisco traffic, dropped Hannah off at the airport and then drove home to Redding by myself!

Pictures to come on Facebook of all of the above! Plus, I'll soon update about my apartment and arrival in Redding too!