Our Journey to Washington: Day 3

I'm sorry that I was not able to update everyone yesterday, but I was not able to get internet connection while we were driving. Since you all are probably wondering how I can even get internet connection while driving, let me explain. My dad's cellphone hooks up to the computer and acts as the modem, so we can use the internet. Anyway, yesterday it didn't work because the phone was in roaming mode.

So, we now have connection sitting in the parking lot of the Gillette, Wyoming Walmart Supercenter.

Well, I have quite a few pictures to share of our travels yesterday. We spent the majority of the day driving through South Dakota, stopping along the way to visit the Badlands, Wall Drug, and Mount Rushmore. Arriving in Gillette, Wyoming around 12 am Wyoming time, 2 am Michigan time, we stopped at the local Walmart and fell into our beds exhausted.

Our first stop yesterday: The Badlands

Wow, what an amazing and breathtaking place!

"For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land." (Psalm 95:3-5)
The pictures don't do justice.

#1: I took this picture standing on top of the Badlands. The view was just spectacular!

#2: I took this picture of Ari and my dad, while they were standing on one of the peaks. I thought it was cool how small they looked in comparison to the peaks all around us.

#3: I began to walk off the path when I saw this sign! Yikes! I never knew there were rattlesnakes in South Dakota! Thankfully, we didn't see any.

#4: Other than the possibility of seeing a rattlesnake, the other problem with walking off the path was the mud. It was very muddy there and as you can see in the picture, my shoe got stuck...very stuck. That was not a fun thing to clean up. :)

#5: I took a picture of the family on top of the Badlands.

#6: Dad "falling" off the peaks of the Badlands.

#7: After we stood on top of the Badlands, we drove through the Badlands scenic loop. As we were driving, Ari took a picture of this sign, "Watch for Falling Rock."

#8: As we were driving through the scenic loop, we saw a bunch of prairie dogs scurrying around. They were so cute! They all made these little chirping noises to alert the other prairie dogs that we were watching them.

Our second stop: Wall Drug Store

Wall Drug is located in the city of Wall, South Dakota. Back in the 1930's, Wall Drug was a small drugstore that has expanded to a famous store with a bunch of small shops inside. There were many fun things for sale, but I didn't buy anything. Ari bought a pocketknife...what else? ;)

#1: This is a picture of the main entrance to Wall Drug Store.

#2: Ari and I had some fun taking pictures at Wall Drug. :)

#3: Since we've been learning about the Civil War this year in History, Ari and I had a picture of us wearing Civil War hats.

Our third and last stop: Mount Rushmore

This was a beautiful place! As my dad said, "There are some places that every American should visit; Mount Rushmore is one of them."

Here are some pictures of it:Even Charity got her picture taken with Mount Rushmore. ;)

Well, that's about all! Here is a random picture of us three girls (Charity was sleeping) when we were at a rest stop.
Prayer Requests:

• Same as the past two days

Answers to Prayer:

• We had beautiful weather yesterday!
  
• The Lord has kept us safe this far!

Praise the Lord for His goodness! Thank you for your prayers!

Update on Washington

As I stated in my previous post, my parents returned home a couple weeks ago from Washington.

Well, they returned without having secured a house in Washington.

We are planning to leave for WA in one week. Thankfully though, my grandparents are letting us use their motor home to take to Washington and live in until we find a home.

This is such a blessing! First of all, we won't be cramped in a car during our 5 day move. Secondly, we will have somewhere to live if we don't find a house before we leave.

How these past two weeks have flown by!

The past week has been an emotional roller coaster, as we continue to pack everything up, try to sell things we don't need, and say our tearful goodbyes to dear friends and family here. I will speak for myself and probably my whole family when I say that we are in a state of shock and amazement, not believing we will be leaving in a week.

Those aren't the only emotions my family is feeling though. We are also very excited to move to Washington and see what God has in store for us there.

The Lord has already provided us with some dear friends from the church in WA! They have been such a help and encouragement to us over the past couple weeks! All we can say is "Thank you! You are such an answer to prayer!" We cannot wait to get to know you more!

Also, I want to say "thank you" to everyone in MI and in WA who have been praying for us over the past few days, weeks, months, and years! Your intercession has been felt in our lives! We cannot thank you enough!

With that said, I will try to update everyone during our trip to WA in a blog post series entitled "Our Journey to Washington."