This week, among other things, we’re trying to put together our trip out west (we leave early next week). We’ve made this trip more times than I can remember, but I never get tired of it. I love driving across the country. With the possible exception of Australia, just about every place we’ve lived has started to feel crowded after a while (which probably says more about me than the places). After a while I start missing the sheer vastness of America. Plains, mountains, wilderness…America has got it all. And the best way to see it, in my opinion, is still by car. (Not that we have one, but thanks to my folks for letting us borrow theirs…and it’s a little nicer than the one pictured above!)
This time around we’re trying to plan our trip a little better. Before Aidan was born we used to drive straight through, camp (the preferred option), or sleep for a few hours here or there. Now that Aidan is a very active almost-two-year-old, the driving straight through is probably not an option. We would camp, but all of our camping gear is in California, so we’ll save that for the return trip (if its not too cold). Hotels are sometimes fun, but they are usually sterile and outside of our budget.
So we’re going to try something new. It’s called Mennonite Your Way, which is a hospitality network through the Mennonite church (and others who volunteer to participate). You can stay with local families all over the world for a small donation, the idea being it’s a way of building relationships with new people and encouraging hospitality across cultures. Some Dutch friends recommended it to us; they raved about it so much that we decided to give it a try. If it turns out to be worthwhile, we’ll share our experiences in another post.
Once we’re in California we’ll be moving around. We would love to catch up with as many friends and family out that way as we can. So drop us a line!
