May 31st – Crescent City to Fort Bragg = Tired

Today’s adventure began with a very lovely McDonald’s oatmeal and parfait breakfast. The Econo Lodge looked very sketchy last night so I wasn’t going to go back into the lobby and sit in there if I didn’t have too. We made our way to the lighthouse at Crescent city. It was so beautiful. They were tiny pink flowers lining the rocky cliffs up to the lighthouse. I took a few too many pictures of them and of all the seagulls that were surrounding us. Kelly seemed to have made friends with one of them.

After the photo taking we made our way down to the ocean so that I could do the tire dipping “ceremony”. I was going to wheel my whole bike down to the water like normal people do before they take off on these coast to coast tours, however, the beach was fairly long and wide so I didn’t want to get sand all in everything before my trip. So I just took the front tire and dipped it in. We can pretend that it was on my back tire because at the start of a bike trip the back tire goes into the ocean you are leaving and then the front tire goes into the ocean at which you finish. So everybody pretend with me it’s my back tire and that I’m dipping my whole bike too, thanks, LOL.

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May 30th – Crater Lake, Gold Beach, & Crescent City

Yesterday my mom and dad sent me a gorgeous picture of the Oregon coastline that they saw on one of their calendars. They knew I had missed my turn in ID and ended up in OR instead of UT, so they thought if we were close to Gold Beach we should go check it out. I was so excited because we would be driving right past where the picture was taken. We were on Hwy 130 chitchatting when I saw a sign to Crater Lake National Park. I was so excited I couldn’t contain myself. I said, “Oh MY GOD, KELLY! You have to turn now. We are takin a detour. We must go see Crater Lake!” Since taking up photography this park has been at the top of my list of places to go to one day, and here I was literally a few miles from it. There is no way we were going to drive right past it.

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May 29th – Bend OR

We started out our morning with a good old hearty breakfast from Cracker Barrel. Thanks Mom and Dad! I was a little depressed getting up knowing we were suppose to be in San Fransisco today picking Donita up from the airport around noonish. After that it would have been off to the Golden Gate Bridge for our C2C launch this afternoon. Instead here I was in the Boise, ID, and Donita was in the hospital facing the hardest journey of her life.

Bend, Oregon… the name of this town was very fitting for me, that I had to laugh. It was a town where I finally bent and let go of the year and a half of planning I had done for this bike trip. It took me 5 days of constant mind chatter, but I did it. I finally made a plan:

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May 28th -Wait! What, we’re still in ID?

Oh my goodness, I annoy myself sometimes!! Our day plan was to drive to Salt Lake City, UT then spend the night and head to Yosemite National Park, CA the next day. We would then spend the day enjoying its beauty and then head on to San Francisco where I would start my “revised” journey heading East. Good plan right? We checked out of The Hostel, grabbed a McDonald’s Breakfast (thanks Kokomo McDonald’s for the gift cards) and hit the road. In Idaho Falls I got onto I-15 and was going to take that all the way to Salt Lake. I didn’t realize I had gotten onto I-86 until about 2 hours later when Kelly said “Shouldn’t we be in Salt Lake by now?” I pulled up my google map and sure enough I missed my turn a long time ago. We were on the west side of Twin Falls, ID. What the World, Kristy! I was so deep in thought of how this trip was going to work out, that I never even looked at my GPS screaming at me to reroute back to Salt Lake City. The volume was turned off. Ugh! It became quickly apparent that we weren’t going to Salt Lake City anymore since there was no easy way to get there. We were heading to Boise, then OR. I was so bummed because I wanted to enjoy taking photos in Yosemite. But like Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man’s heart plans his ways, but the Lord determines his steps.” We are in for a new adventure seeing a new state that I have wanted to visit for some time now.

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May 26-27th – Grand Tetons

I’m still in shock and in complete disbelief over Donita’s accident. We have talked to Donita and her family about how she is doing and I am so thankful she is alive, alert, and healing. Her strength and determination are absolutely incredible. She has come through one of many surgeries. Thanks for your prayers.
Like Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons was a fantastic place to continue to process things. Kelly and I had been to the Tetons in 1983 with our family. It was nice to reminisce and talk about what we remembered instead of “oh my God, what the world just happened!” We both wanted to hike a trail and take pictures. We decided to take a few days to decompress in this beautiful place and to regroup and come up with a new “plan”. 

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May 25-26th -Yellowstone National Park

Here are some of our photos from May 25th and 26th of our time in Yellowstone. It was all a blur for us both as we pretty much road in silence avoiding the topic of Donita’s uncertainties and ‘what are we going to do now?’ I was thankful we were in Yellowstone so I could lose myself in the natural beauty surrounding us. Nature has a way of bringing one back to center and calming the soul. Wednesday morning we drove from Cody, WY through the park. It was snowing! The snow was a welcomed sight for my teary eyes. The cold matched my numb heart and mind. The peace that comes from the silence of a snow fall was what we both needed. I received several phone calls during the day, so we would have to pull over in a safe spot so I wouldn’t lose service. One call was from my dear friend, Petra, from Germany. She always knows what to say to help me clear my thoughts. I will forever remember the lake I sat by as she offered her love and support no matter what decision I made. I also talked to my family, all individually, and listened to their thoughts and concerns about me continuing on my trip.

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Changing Gears

I apologize for my silence on what my plans are, but after receiving the terrible news about Donita’s accident I went numb and have been in a state of shock and disbelief.  I have had a myriad of thoughts running through my head ever since… Do I continue to do what Donita and I set out to do but do it alone? Do I go home and be with my family now, so I can see my youngest son, Aidan, play his last summer of travel baseball? Is there a way to still fulfill both the mission I was setting out to do and still be able to enjoy some of my son’s last summer playing ball?  How can I bear the financial responsibility of the whole 8 week trip on my own without hurting my family financially? I’ve had to remind myself of all that is important to not just me but to my family and those who are supporting me on my journey. I’ve taken a few days to get clear about what matters and why I was doing this journey in the first place. I wanted to push myself to do something bigger than myself and also raise awareness for a cause for which I believed. How can I reinvent myself and change gears when something tragic like this occurs and still fulfill both purposes?

When I named this “The Wandering Project!” little did I know at the time the true depth that name would come to have for me. Originally I named it that in an attempt to explain that we were wandering from place to place across the US for a project called Homes for Our Troops. Now it has such a deeper meaning. As we are wandering through this journey called life there are many twists and turns. It’s not flat roads like we would experience in Kansas and some of the Midwest states. In life you don’t get to see for miles and miles knowing what’s up ahead easily able to spot potential danger and make necessary adjustments to keep the ride safe and smooth. No, life is full of the unexpected, the twists, the turns, the adventure. As my mother-in-law used to say, “you’ve gotta be flexible in every situation.” It’s time for me to let go of the “maps” and the “plan” and go coast to coast in a revised fashion.

As of today we have collectively raised $4,041 of our original $3,800 goal. Thank you all for that amazing support and helping us already achieve that goal! Even though I will be doing a revised coast to coast trip we will still be raising awareness as well as funds for HFOT while we are traveling. The average cost to build one room is approximately $5,000. It would be awesome for us to say that we raised enough money to build 1 room for someone’s home through The Wandering Project.

The plan…Sorry I threw it out. I can give you an overview and you’ll just have to follow my adventure on the website and Facebook to see how the day unfolds. How’s that for living life on the edge? 😉

Donita and I were traveling through 10 states. California-Nevada-Utah-Colorado-Kansas-Missouri-Illinois-Kentucky-Virginia-North Carolina. As motivation for Donita’s quick and full recovery we are going to save the original coast to coast trip plan for a few years out when Donita has made her full recovery. Postponing it for a season will allow us to fulfill a very challenging dream together. As for this coast to coast trip, I will be wandering with my sister from state to state as we visit various places by bike and by car. In order for me to feel a personal sense of accomplishment, each day I ride I will be setting challenging goals for myself such as: tackling a ride through the Rockies and maybe even ride across a whole state. My goal is to be home to watch my son, Aidan, play ball the month of July. Kelly and I are excited about visiting places our parents took us to when we were younger as well as seeing new places across the US.  We will be taking lots of pictures along the way.  I hope you will still follow me and my sister’s journey from CA to NC even though I will no long be doing the original full coast to coast riding.

I thank you from the bottom of my heat for your love, concern, text and Facebook messages, phone calls, emails, support and prayers. Wow, I truly am overwhelmed with your love and concern for both Donita and me and belief in us. Please keep my travels in your prayers but mainly pray for my sweet friend, Donita’s road to recovery.  I am so thankful she is alive!

Due to taking a few days to clear my head I will now start the revised 2016 Wandering Project June 1st.

Update on Donita

We talked to Donita today and though she is healing she is dealing with quite a bit of pain. One can all only imagine. She has been able to sit up 4 times which has been a good accomplishment though it causes her much pain. They decided neck surgery wasn’t needed. She has a few more accomplishments to do before they move her to the rehab hospital where she is expected to be for a month. Please continue to keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Update on Donita

Keep Donita in your prayers today please. She had surgery on her pelvis yesterday and had two pins put in. Today they will sit her up for the first time and determine if she will need neck surgery. She is in good spirits and even though she is fighting this uphill climb of recovery she is thinking of those around her. She is an incredible woman! Thanks for your prayers and support. She told me yesterday she will fight hard and get back on her bike and ride across the country as soon as she is able. I like her style! Keep fighting Donita! Here is a news article from WTHR.