North Carolina

Last Thursday, the 12th, I went out to leave to find that my car would not start. We were planning on leaving for North Carolina early the next morning, so instead of having someone pick me up then, I just stayed at Christina's the night before. We woke up bright and early the next morning and went to Papa's Diner for breakfast. We were at the Schroeder's by 6:45 and we were all rolling out by 7ish.
Let me just say right now that I LOVE traveling. New people, new places, new experiences, great memories, going somewhere....what could be better? On top of that, traveling with The Ezekiel Project is a breeze....for me at least. I eat. I sleep. I talk. I read. I laugh. All for several hours on end. And that pretty much sums it up for me.

(In the car on the way down)

We had to make a quick bathroom stop somewhere in Ohio. The nearest place was the Hampton Inn. When we got there, the were wrapping up their continental breakfast, so they told us we could have anything we wanted. Of course, we obliged them. I remember Chris saying, "Is this provision, or what?!?"

(Christina in front of a map at the Hampton Inn )

I have had some pretty ummm *interesting* experiences in Ohio. Everything that has gone wrong on my trips south and back seem to have gone wrong in Ohio and it is such a loooonnnnnggg state to drive through. But, I realized this time that in spite of all that, Ohio is actually really pretty and diverse. Signing like no one was listening with Barb, Murph, and Christina held the most special moments of the trip.

On our way down to the conference, we stopped at Mountain Top Youth Camp, near Winston-Salem, for the weekend. While there I hiked, rolled on scooter down a hill, went sledding for the first time (yes there was snow there, well, just the last day) rock climbing, and just some good hard playing...and resting. It was so relaxing and so nice just to step away from the reality of life for a few days.
...and you cannot beat the view! I don't think I would ever get used to it....or at least I would never want to.

At the Valentine's banquet, one of the girls I was staying with ran up to me, but something in my hand and said, "For when you leave." It was this sweetheart that said "Miss You" The big heart underneath it is soap, made by the girl's sister. So yes, because of them, not all the fun things or views, but doing it with them and others, that made it an amazing weekend.


And the conference? Well, I have a decade's worth of thinking to do to process it all, so I will write about it then. But seeing my grandfather was wonderful too.