Road Trip 2011: Denver, Twin Falls, and Kennewick

Hey guys. Figured this would be a good way to keep you all up-to-date on my trip. I'm going to update this daily if at all possible. So far I've done a horrible job at that. Here are the past three days in one post. Sorry about that. Enjoy!

Denver - 6/2/2011

Arrived in Denver after my first day of driving. Things went really well. The GPS I bought, the Garmin nüvi 2360LMT, as been by far one the best purchases I've made in a long time. Highly recommended. Mostly boring drive through the farmlands of the panhandle of Oklahoma, Kansas, and eastern Colorado. Then... MOUNTAINS! So cool.

Twin Falls - 6.3.2011

Arrived in Twin Falls, ID. It's Western Weekend this weekend. I dislike this. They do have a Sonic. I like this. The drive in through Utah was beautiful. Loved driving through the mountains.

Kennewick - 6.4.2011

After almost 2000 miles, I made it to my first official destination - Kennewick, WA. Part of the tri-cities area, Kennewick is home to two of my college friends, Jairo and Chrissy Maldonado. Yes, they are married. They've been great and even are letting me crash at their place. Very cool. Seems like a neat area to live. The drive in was AMAZING. I drove the scariest/most fun stretch of mountain road I've ever driven. I learned later these were the Blue Mountains in Oregon.

I noticed something interesting on my way through Oklahoma into Denver. Throughout the rural areas, scenes of old, derelict homes, barns, cars, etc., are all too common. Some of the farms have hundreds of old cars half-burried in the land which made for a very interesting scene. Sadly, the opportunity to get out and photograph them did not present itself. But, I digress...

Seeing these buried cars got me thinking. At what point do things lose what once made them magical. We can all think back to when we got our first vehicle and the feeling that came with it. I can remember getting my truck and how much I loved it. Then, after years, it became just a vehicle, nothing special. Soon, it will end up in one of those farms, half-buried and thought nothing of again.

I think the same thing happens in our relationship with God. At first we are on fire for Him. We live and breathe Him 24/7. As time goes on, the relationship becomes dull (I think God feels the dullness, too) and just "Oh hey God, it's me. Thanks for the good things. Help me to win the lottery, I could use the money for a new TV." For some, the relationship fizzles out completely and God joins the junk yard, only to be visited when a part is needed. It's my hope that we can do a better job of holding onto the feeling we got when we first started our walk with God. Take a moment and look at your surroundings and just be in complete awe of what God created and how blessed we are to be apart of it. It is through our moments of childlike amazement that we can truly understand what a relationship with God should feel like, and how we should share it with others.