It’s one of those road trips you never forget.
My family, especially me, still talks about our “great out west adventure” that covered more than 5,000 miles. We took the trip nearly a decade ago, but I fondly remember it like it happened earlier this summer — especially the part of the trip on Route 66, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
Before our wheels ever touched the famous route, we rafted the Snake River in Wyoming, and made stops at the World’s Only Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Crazy Horse monument, Custer State Park, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Teton, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and much more.
All of that, and still, driving Route 66 was my favorite part of the trip.
At times, I really felt like a kid in a candy store with all of the fun things to see and eat — and we returned with plenty of souvenirs.
We have several Route 66 Christmas ornaments, and I have framed pictures of the trip on my office wall.
Among them is a picture displaying the front grill of a blue, rusted-out, two-door Ford Sedan that I took during a stop at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona. It just screams Route 66 to me.
Oh yeah, there’s a picture of my wife and daughter spray painting an old car at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. We also have a photo book we compiled called “Hendricks Family Road Trip 2017.”
In addition to old cars, we saw a stuffed white bison, a lollipop with a scorpion inside, some type of rattle constructed from a turtle shell and a statue of a rock star standing at the corner of Winslow, Arizona.
And yes, as the Eagles song “Take it Easy” goes, I can confirm it is “such a fine sight to see.”
Obstacles along life’s trail
So, what exactly is so special about this trip?
My family has been on many vacations since then — we’ve been to Disney, hiked scenic trails in Colorado, traveled to California and taken numerous trips to various beaches. But there’s something about that 2017 trip that has held a special place in my heart.
Looking back, it was the year before life seemed to unload a series of challenges for our family.
In the years to follow, I’d suffer a near-crippling back break from a fall, a stressful job transition, another unexpected health scare and of course all of the struggles that came along with — and since — the COVID-19 crisis.
Most of us would probably say the last few years have been challenging and full of both figurative and literal obstacles, detours and some costly repairs.
Blessings
There also have been many blessings along the route.
Today, I’m all good from my injury with no back pain to speak of, we didn’t need to move, both my wife and I earned our master’s degrees along the way, our daughter is headed off to college this fall, and I continue to do what I believe the Lord has called me to do — help tell the Baptist story.
Reflecting on it all, I can see how God has protected my family through the bumps. We were never abandoned.
The last few years have kind of been a “great out west adventure” of their own — and we’ve come away stronger for it.
