This trip was planned over a three year window (and funded the same!) Most of the plans worked and some were complex involving tight schedules and potential capricious weather. Lots of days were tiring. This was not a sit and relax trip - most of ours are not. We were up early, drove a lot, did a lot and went to bed tired. We met a lot of interesting and generous people and saw not just the usual tourist sights, though we did include them and they are well known and often visited for a reason, they are amazing. But we also spent time in small towns like Palmer seeing old farms, in some small parks with few if any other people. We were in some neat homes, old mines, small churches and hikes where the best views were the flowers at your feet or the White-Crowned Sparrow like you had seen scores of times in Raleigh. We spent more than we ever have, drove more, flew more, were gone longer and might have worn out a truck and the trip was worth every moment. The magnificent scenery is not just a park here and there but every mile you travel opens up yet another vista and every hike you take leads to another intimate scene with a small waterfall, a fisherman alone in a stream or a baby duck just learning to swim. We were blessed to be able to take this journey and are enriched by a thousand memories.

“Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.” Psalm 145:3 NLT