Furlough 2014-15: The Great Road Trip (Detroit to Nashville to Seattle)

From Nashville, we had planned to travel south to Florida to visit a church there that sponsors a youth camp each summer at Camp Bellevue, and then take the southern route west across the United States, through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and then north through California and Oregon before ending up back in Seattle. We planned to visit churches, friends, and family along the way, and also the Grand Canyon (which the kids and I have never seen). Everyone getting so sick changed all that, though, and in the end, we decided to cancel most of our remaining appointments and just head back to Seattle by the most direct route.

Like the first segment of The Great Road Trip (Seattle to Detroit), I will document this portion of our trip day by day below, with pictures and commentary interspersed.

Day 10 (Dec. 27, 2014) -- Livonia, MI to Nashville, TN -- We then stayed about 10 days in Nashville (see previous post).

Day 11 (Jan. 8, 2015) -- Nashville to Memphis, TN -- Thank you to our friends at the Park Avenue Church of Christ for the gift of a hotel room on this night. By this time, I was feeling much worse, while everyone else in the family was finally doing some better.

Day 12 (Jan. 9, 2015) -- Memphis, TN to Oklahoma City, OK -- We stayed three nights at the missionary house here, right next door to our friends, the Lj's, and just across the street from Oklahoma Christian University. We got to see so many dear friends from our Japan days, spend some time with Rusty's nephew Robbie, then a student at OC, and his then-girlfriend (now-wife) Cat, attend church at The Springs, do laundry, and rest. By the time we left, we were all finally on the mend! Read my post here about how much this unexpected and serendipitous time meant to me.

Elizabeth meets her cousin Robbie

Cousins

Chai and Dominion with Cat and Robbie

Day 13 (Jan. 12, 2015) -- Oklahoma City, OK to Limon, CO -- We drove all day and got a hotel in Limon for the night.

Day 14 (Jan. 13, 2015) -- Limon, CO to Ogden, UT -- After another long day of driving, we got a hotel in Ogden. The boys were well enough at this point to go swimming in the hotel pool, which they were super excited about.

Amazing how sitting all day in a car can wear you out!

Day 15 (Jan. 14, 2015) -- Ogden, UT to Portland, OR -- After our third long day in the car, we finally made it back to the Pacific Northwest! We stayed two nights with Rusty's sister before driving the final leg back to Seattle.

At the former Cascade College in Portland, our alma mater

Day 16 (Jan. 16, 2015) -- Portland, OR to Seattle, WA -- We completed our crazy circle around the United States, arriving back in Seattle with a few days to get ourselves packed up before our return to Ecuador the following week.

Coming up: fun furlough stats!