Connecting with Family

It is day 4 and we are about 1500 miles into our trip across the good ol' US of A. I think Teej and I both have to admit that this was one of the more special days we have had thus far. Let me start at the beginning of the day first and then get to that. 

So, our plan this morning was to wake up and se the sunshine. Well, we woke up and when we looked out the window we noticed that the sunshine we were desiring to see was NOT THERE.... It was POURING down rain. We were so disappointed because our first stop today was going to be Red Rocks Park/Amphitheater. Now, if this is not obvious enough by its name, Red Rocks is outdoors. We were so unbelievably bummed out by the sight of the awful weather outside, BUT we decided to still make our way over there to see the supposed gorgeous rock formations as well as the historic amphitheater.

We ended up leaving around 9am and we were praying that the rain would stop for just a little bit by the time we got there. As we were driving over, the rain was coming down pretty hard but wasn't unbearable to drive in. It was typical Oregon rain weather if you ask me. However, apparently Colorado doesn't get rain much because all the cars on the interstate were driving like snails. It felt like Oregon when we have snow. They seemed afraid and didn't know how to react. Teej and I found it pretty comical. :) 

Once we arrived there, the rain had calmed down quite a bit and we were actually able to walk around the area and look at the beautiful formations. It was so amazing to see how red the rock was as well as how LARGE the area was. Teej and I both admitted that we had never seen anything like this before. We were impressed that it even looked gorgeous in the rain. We couldn't imagine what it would look like when it was sunny out. Right as we pulled up, we saw an array of people heading down to the bottom of the amphitheater (which is amazing by the way). We were curious as to what was going on because they were all dressed in workout attire with hats and tennis shoes. As we looked over the amphitheater we saw probably around 100 people (maybe more) all doing a workout. It was awesome to see and to be honest, made me a little jealous. They all looked so hardcore working out in the rain and the wind at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. 

We also got the opportunity to tour the visitor center before we left. It was a cool experience because it showed sections on the topography of the land and how it was formed as well as the history of the amphitheater itself. What we really loved was this wall that had a list and dates and names of all the people who had performed at that amphitheater from the 1920's all the way to 2011. 

After Red Rocks the rain started coming down hard again so we decided that we should go on the Coors Brewery Tours. It was only about 10 minutes from Red Rocks so we figured, why not go. It was actually a really impressive facility that spread out for about 2 miles. We had to take a bus over to the building and then were given these audio guides that looked like those old chunky cell phones that everyone used back in the 90's. Anyway, you would hold it up to your ear and it would give you a personalized tour. I got bored half way through because as most of you know, I am not a big fan of beer so some of the information didn't really interest me. Overall, the factory was really cool and worth seeing. 

It was about noon when we finished the tour and we were meeting family in Fort Morgan around 2 so it was time to hit the road again. It only took us about an hour and a half to get there which was the shortest drive we've had thus far. The town is really cute and small. We learned that there is only about 11,000 people who live here and the majority of them are farmers. We got the opportunity to stay with Teej's great aunt and uncle, Arlene and Harry. Harry's brother was Jan's (tj's mom) dad's brother. Jan's father passed away a long time ago and so TJ never got the chance to meet his grandpa. Meeting Harry was a cool experience because I think it showed him a little of who his grandpa was. They are such sweet and gracious people. We arrived there around 2 and Arlene and Harry immediately came out to greet us with a hug. We chatted inside their house for a while before heading out to look at the area that Jan and his grandma Esther had grown up. They took us to see Tj's great great grandpa Fries' old house that he used to live in as well as the house Esther and grew up in as a child. It was all covered with trees so it was hard to see but I think we got some fun photos. 

We then headed over to Esther's brother Harold's house. He is 90 years old and is still living alone. Very cool and impressive if you ask me! He is such a sweet man who wished Teej and I a long and happy marriage. We also visited Esther's sister Else's house, which is only a block or two away from Harold's house. She is in her late 80's and also lives alone. Again, very impressive. I was thoroughly smittened with both of them and their acts of kindness to both Teej and I. We were blessed to get the opportunity to meet and talk with both Harold and Else. 

Then we headed back to the house for dinner. I had my first experience eating Bitoque (sorry for spelling). It is an old german tradition that the Weimer family has been making for years apparently. It is cabbage and hamburger meat inside this bun. You usually dip it in ketchup or mustard. The dough is made from scratch though, which I think is what makes it good. It was amazing and I am so glad I got to try it. 

Arlene had scheduled an open house from 6:30-8:30 for people to come over and meet us. Tj's mom's cousin Jane (Harold's daughter) came over as well as Else's daughter Shirley and her husband. They were all such wonderful people and it was really fun getting to know all of them. They were very welcoming to both Teej and I and we truly felt like we belonged there. We got the opportunity to show them some photos of the Weimer family and I think they really enjoyed that. The day was really special and Teej and I are both thankful to have gotten the chance to know some of Esther's relatives. 

Tomorrow? Off to Omaha, Nebraska. 450 miles. Here we come! Thanks for all the prayers and support! Oh, and thanks for reading this really long post today. I really appreciate it. :) Love to all. 

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinithians 15:58

Home on the Range

Hello Again! 

It's day 3 of our great adventure and I couldn't be more excited to share with you all about our day! If you have been following at all, you might know that we stayed with his aunt and uncle in Park City, Utah last night. Well, and if you didn't know.... now you do! Anyway, we loved staying with them. They are such wonderful people. They invited us to go to breakfast this morning before we headed out to our next destination and we thought it would be the perfect way to start the day before the 8.5 hour drive we ahead of us. The breakfast place was really cute and served amazing food. It was called "No Worries Cafe," which we thought was a fitting name for two people about to embark on round 2 of the road trip! 

We started our journey this morning at around 9am. We filled up the car with gas that we pumped ourselves ;) and said a prayer since we knew that the day was going to be long. The trip started out really beautiful. When we left, it looked like it was going to rain but it never did which made for some stunning scenery and great pictures. As we continued through Utah we were amazed at the gorgeous rock formations that filled the canyon that we were driving through. The formations changed as we went into Wyoming but were just as beautiful. Honestly, our first impression of Wyoming was always ugly, vast land that stunk. We were presently surprised by how stunning Wyoming was. That is, until we got further into the state and our impressions became very accurate. 

Let me tell you something though; Wyoming is a WEIRD state. As we were driving through we kept noticing these signs for fireworks. We saw the first couple and thought "oh, no big deal. They must be popular in this town." Oh no, they were popular in the ENTIRE state. I swear I saw more firework signs today then I have in my entire lifetime. We happened to pull off to a gas station and we saw a huge sign with an arrow pointing to a tiny fireworks stand to the left and then another one right next to it. RIDICULOUS. 

The second interesting thing about the state is this strange infatuation with this town called "Little America." We saw signs for this town 50 miles from the exit. Their big marketing tool was that they were selling ice cream cones for 50 cents. They probably had a billboard promoting their town every couple miles. It made for a fun 50 miles haha... I mean I can see how it would be a good way to reel travelers in because by the time the exit finally came up, I felt the urge to almost want to stop just to see what all the fuss was about but we decided it wasn't worth stopping for. 

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We did get to stop at the Wyoming sign at a rest stop that also had a statue of Abraham Lincoln's head mounted on this great brass wall. IT was definitely unexpected but fun to see. We also got to see the Rocky Mountains as we entered Colorado which was awesome. However, the weather was incredibly weird today and seemed like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be sunny or cloudy. Unfortunately, by the time we hit the Rocky Mountains the weather decided that it wanted to be cloudy and so our pictures didn't turn out as well as we had liked but it was still lovely. 

weird weather

We were so grateful when we finally saw the great city of Denver! Right as we were entering the city, we saw HUGE bolts of lighting going directly into the city. It was a hot evening so we realized that it was a thunderstorm but thankfully it never rained on us. Teej loved seeing the bolts of lightning flash. 

Anyway, there happened to be a baseball game tonight vs. the Mariners (which we didn't go to unfortunately) so by the time we did enter the city it was not only rush hour but the traffic for the game was horrific so it took us a while to get in and park but once we did we were so grateful. The city itself is beautiful. It's very flat and we felt it was very comparable to Portland in its cleanliness and even how it was set up. I think we determined however, that by the end of the day that we liked Portland better just due to the fact that it had water surrounding it and its beautiful bridges (shout out for you Dad). We walked in an area called the Lower Downtown (LoDo) District as well as Larimer street. They had really cool shops and places to eat. It also gave us the opportunity to see Coors Field up close as well as other great buildings in the area. We ended up eating at a fun little restaurant called "Celtic Cavern." We split (yes, split) an amazing burger. 

After that, we got back in the car and drove over to another area of the city where the United States Mint Building is located as well as the State Capitol, and a few other judicial buildings. That was really awesome because it was just starting to get dark and the city was becoming even more beautiful, which made those building's even more amazing. Teej was blown away at the size of the buildings and ultimately thought Oregon's state capital was pretty weak compared to this. By the end of that, we were pretty tired and ready to head out to our hotel. 

Our hotel was about 20 minutes away from downtown. We plugged the address into my phone GPS and it took us to the WRONG PLACE. It took us to someones house so we called the hotel and they gave us directions. Thankfully it was only a few minutes away from the place the GPS originally took us. BUT, as we were driving out to the main street, a coyote with something in its mouth ran across the road in front of us. It FREAKED me out! I was just glad we didn't hit it. 

Overall, today was great. We are very glad to be safely settled in our hotel. Our car is doing great by the way. It is such a trooper! Let's pray it continues to do so. Tomorrow we are headed to Red Rocks Park to see the beauty Colorado has to offer. Then we are headed out to Fort Morgan to visit relatives. 

Thanks for keeping up with us! We really appreciate and love you all. 

Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. Psalm 95:2 NLT

Exploring Park City

our view from their house 

Its day 2 of our trip and we were fortunate enough to not have to drive one single mile today! Instead, we were able to experience Park City and all its surroundings with his wonderful aunt and uncle. 

We started off the day at 7am (6am pacific time) because Teej wanted to get up and enjoy the morning. At first I was ok with that but when I realized that 7am really felt like 6am I knew I was going to be a tired turkey. Come to my surprise.... I was exhausted... BUT I got up anyway and did get to experience the beautiful morning that Teej raved about. After breakfast, his aunt and uncle wanted to take us on a walk around their neighborhood BUT we had to wait for the window washers to come and wash their windows. As silly as this sounds I was amazed by the crew washing the windows. The house that they live in is exceptionally large with REALLY high windows and what was incredible about it was that the crew looked so comfortable doing it. I mean they were having a conversation with his aunt and uncle and seemed like it was no big thing. Anyway, that was my little tangent for this post. 

So, once they had left, we went on a walk around their neighborhood and they showed us some breathtaking scenery. They live at what seems to be the top of this huge hill so when you look down you can see several multi million dollar houses below as well as a shopping center and freeways. It really is amazing. By the time we got back to their house we were all out of breath from the big hills we had to walk up as well as the high altitude (at least that's what I blamed it on!) 

His aunt and uncle are so sweet and wanted to take us on an actual tour of Park City for the afternoon. So, we all piled in their Outlander and headed down the steep hill to the main road. Our first stop was awesome and not anything I was expecting. Are you ready for it? We went to the OLYMPIC PARK/MUSEUM. It was  sweet!!! We drove up and the first thing I saw was the ski slopes and bobsled course that the olympians used back in the 2002 Olympics. There was also a cool museum with a lot of the surrounding areas ski history as well as memories and actual medals from that years Olympics. It was one of my favorite things I've seen thus far. 

We then headed down to Main St. in the town of Park City. It's a really cute little town with a strip of shops and restaurants. Teej said it reminded him of the town Sisters on crack. haha.. Anyway, we stopped there for lunch at a nice pizza place and shared a BBQ chicken pizza. FREAKING BOMB! I normally don't like it that much but this kind was BOMB! We proceeded to look at the shops after and take the free trolley car around to continue looking at the area. We finished up the tour with his uncle taking us around to the different ski resorts like Deer Valley and Park City Resort. It was sweet to see the amount of growth development that had occurred since the Olympics had happened. On the last bit of the tour I was struggling to stay awake so Teej had to keep nudging me. I felt bad but I must have been in a food coma or something. :) 

The rest of the day was pretty low key. We were both pretty tired from the long drive yesterday so we helped his aunt and uncle bring out their lawn furniture, (which actually was a process) had dinner and dessert and then talked with them until bed. It was a really great day! We are so blessed that we were able to get to know Lois and Bruce (that's their names by the way) and get the opportunity to stay with them on our road trip! They are such gracious and hospitable people and their marriage truly shows the meaning of Christ's love for us. We are hoping to be able to come back and visit again soon. 

So, what's next? Denver tomorrow. It's an 8 hour drive but first were having breakfast with Lois and Bruce. Should be a good start to the day before a long drive ahead. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading everyone! 

But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. Psalm 13:5 NLT

13 hours and 780 miles= SUCCESS

Hello, Hello! 

It's day 1! After driving 13 hours and 780 miles we successfully made it to our first destination spot; Park City, Utah.  Let me start from the beginning though. 

The first thing I hear this morning is Teej's alarm going off at a whopping 5:30am (oh, 5:28am according to Teej) and our goal was to leave at 6am. Therefore, it gave us a whole HALF HOUR to get ready, finish packing the car and eat breakfast. But guess what? WE MADE IT! Well, I think it was about 6:05am when we walked out the door but I think that's close enough. As some of you might have seen from the instagram photo I took this morning, I am a not a morning person. However, today was a special day! I woke up tired, as usual, but really excited for our adventure ahead. 

Our trip started and ended with really beautiful weather. We drove through the Columbia Gorge and saw the sunrise and then continued our way through the Dalles, Pendleton, La Grande, Ontario and finally stopped for lunch after the Idaho/Oregon border at a rest stop. No, I didn't get a chance to take a picture with the Idaho sign (Boo) but we did take one at the rest stop that said "Welcome to Idaho" so I thought that was acceptable.

After lunch, we continued on our way again and began to experience miles and miles of flat land. Can I tell you something? It really made me appreciate Oregon and all the beauty that it contains. I think the only interesting thing that happened between Boise and Salt Lake City was a bird hitting the car in front of us, bouncing off, and landing in front of our car. We drove around it but it was an interesting encounter, especially for the lady in the other car. 

Eventually we made it to the "Welcome to Utah" sign and we couldn't have been more thrilled. Again, didn't take a picture of the sign but I am planning to find one tomorrow and take one then. Once that happened, the road trip started to get more scenic and in my opinion, more enjoyable. Why? Because the terrain was FINALLY no longer flat but instead, mountains and hills began to appear in every direction. I immediately pulled out my camera and started shooting photos like a mad woman. I had my phone in one hand and the camera in the other.

Salt Lake City was a beautiful city with mountains surrounding its every corner. We didn't stop in the city but I think I got some pretty cool photos from the car. (...hopefully) Anyway, we then headed to our final destination for the night; Park City. 

Park City is another beautiful city. We drove up this windy road to the top of a large hill and finally arrived at his aunt and uncles house. The house is GORGEOUS! We couldn't be more blessed to be staying with such wonderful people. We got the opportunity to talk with them (and eat banana splits that they graciously prepared for us) and learn more about their lives. We are excited to spend the day with them tomorrow and get to see more of Park City and the area it surrounds. 

Overall, it was a beautiful ride today, even though it was 13 hours. It seemed to go by so quickly with all the new territory I was experiencing as well as being with good company ;) I also really enjoyed getting to acknowledge and appreciate all the different types of terrain that the Lord has created on this great vast world of ours. I am so excited to continue our adventure and see where the Lord takes next. 

"You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." (Nehemiah 9:6)

The Countdown Begins

Welcome to our blog! My name is Kate Banick and my husband TJ and I just recently got married. I guess you can tell from the above photo. Anyway, we are about to embark on an incredible adventure in only 3 DAYS! we are only a few days away from beginning our trip and I couldn't be more excited. It feels like it has been an eternity since I finished my personal trainer school but in reality it has been only a few months. Going from my wedding to another wedding (my sisters) to deciding to move to the east coast has made the time go by incredibly fast. I am thrilled to see what's in store for us next. 

To stay busy before leaving, I  decided to go visit my best friends in Eugene and say goodbye to them before we head out. It was a bitter sweet time because it was the moment where I was finally realizing that my husband and I were about to leave. We are officially heading out on May 16th and are hoping to arrive in the Boston area between May 26-27. 

However, before we leave we still have many things to get done. One of my responsibilities is going to have to be packing. Let me tell you something. If anyone knows me at all, they know that I DESPISE packing. So, what would take a normal person a few hours or less to do, I know for sure that it is going to take me much longer than that. With that said, it is going to take up most of my day tomorrow. Wish me luck. In regards to Teej, he will be finishing up working for his dad in Salem and getting the car checked to make sure we are ok for the trip ahead. 

I thought I would just get the ball rolling on this whole blog thing so I hope you all enjoy this and stick with us as we begin our new adventure. Our goal is to try and post pictures or stories daily so hopefully we can keep up with it! So, with that, I guess all I can say is...

HERE.WE.GO! 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Prov. 3:5-6