1:17 pm: I left Phoenix, AZ this morning shortly before 11 and am now on Highway 93 heading to Las Vegas. The roads wind through canyons, up hills, down hills, grades, curves, everything and as I look around, it almost brings me to tears. Oh heck, it IS bringing me to tears!
I mean, when I look at the scenery around me–the terrain, the mountains, the canyons, the growth, the plant life–it’s all just awesome, and it’s almost too…well, it is too beautiful for words, and I can’t capture it! I just wish you could see what I see! I would encourage everyone to make this drive at some point in your life, especially if you’re feeling stuck, if you can’t see, if you’re feeling hopeless.
I’m out here witnessing the miraculous works of God…and all I can do is say thank You; thank You for the opportunity to see Your magnificence. I wish I could bundle it all up and share it with everyone!! As I’m riding along here, it makes me realize just how much bigger, how much grander life is than those few miles we travel everyday…how we get stuck in that little box when there’s so much more to see…so much more to live, to experience! And all we need to do is give ourselves permission to break out of that box, to open ourselves up to the new experience, to open ourselves up to a different perspective on life, a different perspective of God. Then all the small stuff that trips us up becomes nothing and you wonder why you spent so much time and energy dealing with minutia when there’s so much beauty in the world; when there’s so much here that can make you happy; when there’s so much that brings you closer to God.
And I can’t capture any of this in a picture! There’s no way to share it! This is something you have to see for yourself…a journey you have to experience for yourself. It’s just incredible and the beauty of it all, the absolute wonder of it all, is overwhelming! There really are no words to describe it! The terrain is so different–the plant life, the ground, the dirt–it’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. The wonder, the beauty… just opens you up. Amazing, amazing, amazing!!
I’m out here in the middle of nowhere now with no cell reception but they have emergency call boxes every several miles. I think I’ve crossed over into the Pacific Time Zone now, too, and it looks like I have about three hours to drive.
What you just read was a partial transcript of a recording I made during the drive from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. I did make it to Las Vegas that day probably because I couldn’t stop to take pictures for the majority of the drive and because there wasn’t lodging along the route where I would’ve been comfortable.
With this post, I’m including pictures of Hoover Dam, Lake Meade, a portion of Lake Mohave in Black Canyon, and highway scenery that I took later in the afternoon. None of the pictures compare to actually seeing the sights in person but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless. I pray, too, that you’re inspired to break out of your box and expand your border, if only by a few miles; it’ll make a world of difference.
My Cross-Country Road Trip & Beyond 
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