From the Tundra to the Desert!

Our journey to Guatemala took us north before we headed south. We went up to Mom’s house in SD on Saturday morning just ahead of a winter storm.  The drive there wasn’t bad but the storm continued cancelling church the next morning.  Based on the weather reports, we changed our route to Salina, KS which was our first stop on the journey.  We decided we needed to get west before heading south.  Looking back, we know that this was the best route; however, in the midst of travel, we were questioning our decision.  The roads were snow packed and icy.  The wind was blowing terribly and causing snow to drift across the road. The temperatures were frigid. We had several issues of the camper sliding and pulling the truck with it.  We had to go through a red light because we couldn’t stop.  We had to go straight instead of making a turn.  The worst was when we hit some black ice and started fishtailing out of control.  However, through it all, we knew the Lord was with us and had peace to continue.  We are very thankful for His hand upon us. After a very long day of traveling about 350 miles in 9.5 hours with only small, brief stops, we were exhausted when we finally pulled in to Salina, KS.

 

A couple photos that we took along the way!  Always a little disconcerting when you see a hummer on the side of the road!

 

 

We are started early the next morning because it was to be our longest traveling day for the entire journey. We planned to drive 650 miles from Salina, KS to Albuquerque, NM.  We hit the road at 7 am. The ‘dry’ road!  We were out of the snow and ice and so excited to see the dry pavement ahead of us!

This 2^nd day on the road was very much the opposite of the day before.  Even though we traveled 300 more miles and were on the road almost 5 hours longer, we enjoyed the journey. Here are some pictures from the day.

 We traveled across Kansas, across the handle of Oklahoma and then into New Mexico.

 

 

New Mexico was by far our favorite part.  It is beautiful!

 

 

 

The animals are doing great!  They get out when we do for a little break! Or at least Shadow does.  The cats are locked in the bathroom with their own private 'potty'!!



Don's favorite snack while driving is Twizzlers.  This bag was given to us as 'travel treats' was much needed on this long day!!  So thankful for our friends, their prayers, encouragement and support!

 

This morning we started the day with an awesome breakfast at Denny’s (Samuel’s new favorite place!).  We have a little over 300 miles to go today but we plan to camp in the same place for a couple nights.  We are all ready for a pause in the journey.  We hope to do a little sightseeing.  Caleb needs to do some school that requires wifi.  We have some errands to run. Don would like mirror extensions for the Suburban so he can see beyond the camper. Thank you for your prayers!!  We have been able to feel them sustaining us!

 

Many of you may have heard about our flat tire today!  We have so much to be thankful for in the midst of resolving that issue. The Lord didn't promise us that this journey would be easy but He did promise that He would be with us.  We saw that in so many ways today!  More on that later!  Blessings from the Allisons!