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Road Trip through Midwest Series: Part 1

Ah, sorry! I am so late in posting this. This past week since we arrived home has been quite an adjustment period. I had to finish up my finals for school, we had to do some cleaning and unpacking, and then I came down with a cold/virus that has kept me feeling “blue” for a few days and I had to rest in bed sometimes. But thank the Lord, I’m feeling better now!

So this is hopefully the first post from a series of posts that I’ll put up with photos from our road trip. Well, I decided to put the photos in a slideshow, because that way it won’t take up so much space as I upload “zillions” of photos up here. And in a way, the pictures will be more organized.

We traveled through seven states on our journey: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois. We took quite a lot of pictures, so I’m giving you a sample of the nicest. Just to let you know, I was too lazy to do any photo editing on the few photos that needed it, so just ignore that if you can. If not- try to enjoy anyway. 🙂

First is a slideshow of some interesting road names I saw on the freeway. Whenever I’d spot a sign, I’d take out the camera and try to snap a picture of it. My sister Jessica wrote down the rest that she thought were interesting.


Some other names were:

Crookton Rd.
Welch Rd.
Garland Prairie Rd.
Deer Farm Rd.
Twin Arrows
Wagon Wheel
Sugar Creek
Methodist Rd.
Sparkle Brook Rd.
Sugar Tree Rd.

The next slideshow is a collection of scenery- a bit from almost every state we passed through. It was a dream come true to see a part of this wonderful country that God created- the United States of America! Each state that we passed through had its own uniqueness and beauty.

California was a vast expanse. A lot of desert but also mountains, and little speckles of towns here and there. Quite bare, but a really warm, dry desert climate.

Arizona was also desert…but we didn’t see the wind-blown sand dunes and prickly cactuses you get to see around Phoenix. We had passed through Phoenix Arizona many years ago, and it was truly the sandy type of desert. But this part of Arizona was more of a desert with little bushes and rocky mountains. Yet it was not all desert to my surprise! Flagstaff Arizona seemed like a Colorado experience! Pine trees and mountains with snow on them!

New Mexico had places with wide open prairie/desert, while other areas were very rocky. The soil in some areas was orange-reddish. There were some beautiful rock formations there too. We would see a lot of Native American advertising signs for stores that sold jewelry and Indian souvenirs. There were replicas of Native American houses and tepees sometimes along the side of the freeway.
We didn’t stop for any of them, but continued on.

Texas. We couldn’t wait to see Texas. The Lone Star State. That state that so many people talk about! By the time we reached Texas you could tell you were in the Great Plains! There was an endless expanse of rolling yellow prairie as far as the eye could see- farther still!
The sky looked so blue- so immense! The cloud formations were breathtaking. New Mexico also had intimidating massive cloud formations. Out in that wide open prairie you felt so small….and it was so easy to realize how vast the world is- but how greater still is our God! How small and insignificant we as humans can be- yet God cares about the very hairs on our head!

Oklahoma too was pleasantly surprising. I expected it to be desert-y and quite ugly. By the way, it’s the state where my book was published! So it was fun knowing I’d pass through there. So, the prairies of Oklahoma suddenly turned a bit greener than in Texas. There were green bushes around, and a few trees here and there. It also had gentle rolling hills- not very big- but just enough to add an interesting aspect to it. The evening and sunset was just lovely…the day just lingered on and on as if it didn’t want to leave.

Missouri was another lovely surprise. I had no concrete idea how this state would look generally speaking, but once I saw it, I liked it.
There were many trees- not pine trees, but just meadow type of trees and bushes. There were verdant green hilly meadows everywhere. It was quite a contrast to the Great Plains look of Texas and Oklahoma. I liked both.

Illinois was a lot more flat. The green was a little less vibrant, but there were plenty of tall trees. Wide fields, and yellow flowers. Farms and straight roads. Some small lakes here and there. I liked Illinois too. 

So that was a summary of the general look of each state. I’ll tell you more later.

8 thoughts on “Road Trip through Midwest Series: Part 1

  1. Thanks for sharing this post, Becky, as I enjoyed reading it. I especially found enjoyable the little descriptions that you gave of each state. My favorite one to read was the paragraph about Missouri since that’s where I live =), and also Arizona because we lived there until I was five (and we’ve been back quite a number of times to visit relatives as well). It was just neat to hear someone else’s perception of the states…you know, you kind of just grow accustomed to them if that’s where you’re from.

    Sometime it would be neat to hear more about California. I’ve been there once, but that was many years ago. I know we visited the ocean, and I certainly enjoyed that. I thought it was so beautiful how the ocean almost just extended into the skyline and everything was so blue and pretty! But that’s about the only thing I remember about California.

    Blessings,
    Amy

    1. Hi Amy,

      I’m really glad you enjoyed the pics and all! I thought maybe the post I made on our trip was a tad too long. But I look forward to sharing even more exciting pictures of places. How interesting that you used to live in Arizona- quite a difference from Missouri I’m sure!

      1. No! The post wasn’t too long…I enjoyed it and have been meaning to comment ever since I read it, but just didn’t get around to it ’till now. It would be fun to visit CA again; though, you all should come to MO again and we could meet each other! =)

  2. What a beautiful trip!!! It looks like so much fun…. I hope I can go one day and visit all those wonderful states. I miss you and all your sisters and can’t wait to see you guys soon!

    Love,
    Kimmy Dan

  3. Thanks for sharing this Becky! Although I thoroghly enjoyed the trip along with you, it was nice to look through the slideshow of pictures again and remember the great travel we had and the wonderful memories we made along the way. I want to do it again soon. 🙂

    Your sis,
    Jessica

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