Last November, myself and 3 friends from Frontier Ranch started planning a road trip of epic proportions. Aleks, Cory, Snow, and I planned to take the west by storm. We quickly penciled in stops to Grand Junction, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Honestly that's all we really planned - the rest would be by ear (whatever that's supposed to mean). This gave us 5 long months of anticipation and growing stokedness - the state of being stoked.
Grand Junction was the launch pad. We stayed with Aleks and Snow's old Young Life boss from Kansas. They were incredibly generous to allow 4 guys to surf their couch for a night. Good thing we caught them on the first night. Riding in the car for 9 days with minimal showers does not set us up for success as desirable house guests.
Stop two took us to Zion National Park. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. My good friend Matt O'Steen drove over from Vegas to partake in the adventure. We camped for a night, ate steak with our bare hands, and talked about why we were manlier than Bear Grills. It was really windy, so I spent 7 restless hours in the tent convincing myself that each noise wasn't a grizzly coming to introduce me to my maker. Bear Grills does that too, right? Below is a picture of our hike to Angel's Landing. Incredible.
Stop three took us over to O'Steen's condo in Vegas. I'm pretty certain our Vegas experience looked absolutely nothing like any other in the history of Las Vegas. Not one dollar was gambled, we ate in every night, and woke up feeling like champions. It was almost as if we went to a Vegas exhibit and watched all the animals act like idiots. By far the most relaxing three days of the trip. My most stressful decision was whether to read the USA Today or Wall Street journal by the pool. Decision below...
Last and final leg was Los Angeles, specifically Malibu. Malibu has been one of my favorite places to visit over the last few years. My good friends Lockwood and Aubree Holmes are there, and so is perfect surf. Great combination. There's also a church there called Malibu Gathering. It's an incredible example of church the way Christ envisioned, with very healthy community. You will not go to Malibu Gathering and not hear the Gospel. Awesomeness. Over my past several visits I've made good friends with folks from the church, so it was great seeing them too. Picture of my view during Good Friday service...
Finally, I got to spend some time with my cousin James in West Hollywood. We went on an epic hike that overlooked the entire LA coast. It's always great to see him and we always have great conversation and many laughs. I always treasure my time with James.
So the purpose of this post is not to flaunt the most epic road trip/vacation known to man. I've learned two things from this trip.
1. Vacations. are. critical. Especially when you've been working a lot and start to feel burnt out. This vacation was so life giving and I feel so blessed that I got to experience these things.
2. You are exactly where you need to be. It's easy to start thinking the grass is greener when going to see incredible places. The truth is, wherever you are right now is an awesome place where great people live. Chances are, people from Indiana vacation in the city you live (just kidding Cory, Indiana has really green grass). We can't lose sight of that! I'm not saying that you should never move to a different city. What I am saying is that we should take a close survey when thinking about jumping ship, and look at the real reason why we want to move.
Just a thought... Or a bunch of thoughts rambled together... And on a serious note - visit Indiana if you ever have the chance. Culver is a beaut. Cheers
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