Farther 2019. Hard but worth it.

Road tripping is hard.

But so worth it.

It’s easy for me to talk about all the great things, but somehow the trials are what makes them great. These past few days have been more trial than anything else, but I have been held up and helped just when I needed it. I’ve probably pushed myself to the limit on these first few days. Doing 3 back to back 14 hour driving days is probably a bit much. I’ve been tired, exhausted, even wanting to just stop driving at various points. In a way I’ve succeeded, as I’m where I’m supposed to be after 3 days of driving…but really I’ve been held up along the way and strengthened by God just when I needed it.

Lake Superior…is Superior. It never ceases to surprise me. I love how the weather systems work around it. Somehow the best shots I get from the Lake always involve weather. I was just rounding the corner at Old Woman Bay and I was ready to stop. I still had 200km to go but I was so tired, I felt like it was getting dangerous. But then, there was the bay, dressed in a spectacular white fog, with sunlight shining through it. I stopped, grabbed my camera and started shooting. I moved a few times up the road for different views. The best part, that moment energized me and gave me what I needed to keep going and get to my destination. God knew what I needed and he got the fog there just in time.

The second day was so very tiring again, although it helped that I cut it in half by attending church in Dryden. I got to thinking later just how crazy it was that I had a 7 hour drive to church that morning and still ended up arriving on time for a refreshing service. That couldn’t have just been me…what a gift!

I knew that I might have trouble finding a campsite on the long weekend, but Sunday night was crazy. I was headed for Riding Mountain in Manitoba, but again because I was tired, I stopped at a few places along the way and kept getting turned down because they were full. Then Riding Mountain was full…and didn’t have any overflow room. Then the next place was full, and the next. By the last one I didn’t know what I was going to do. But he was a super nice guy. He said they don’t do tent camping, just RVs. I said all I needed was a spot on the grass to setup. He did me one better: he set me up between two greenhouses to shield from the wind(it’s been super windy). I was so thankful. God had a plan, even when I was running out of ideas for how it could happen.

The third day was generally just a nice driving day. I had a bit more sleep(although I did wake up at 4am), and the Yellowhead highway through the Prairies is really a magical road. Especially the part from the Trans-Canada to Saskatoon. It’s just a two lane road. Not the best scenery, but not bad either. And so little traffic. I’ve driven it twice now, and both times it energized me and made me want to just keep driving. So very thankful for that, and for all the little helps and motivations that God gives to keep me going.