iowa

The journey has begun.


Monday morning I woke up groggy, and a bit surprised that I made it through the night without waking up once, which hadn’t happened in weeks. I spent the entire morning frantically packing and getting things ready, with only minutes to spare before Guy arrived. Over the last week, I had said my goodbyes to co-workers, friends, and family, with only one remaining this morning - my mother.

We loaded the van, and just like the blink of this past week, we were ready to go. As was “custom” with several other goodbyes I experienced, I was fine during the actual farewell, but preceded to lose it in my vehicle while driving away. Today was no exception. As we pulled away, my mom was waving by herself, and the reality sunk in. I would not see loved ones for quite awhile. I have only been away from home for very short times: I never left for college, moved away, missed holidays or studied abroad. This trip is a pretty big deal, you might say.

While I was teary, I also felt a huge sense of relief, and that was quite unexpected. With all of the planning we’ve done, all of the anticipation, the moment Guy and I had been waiting for had finally arrived. As we rolled down the freeway, I was finally able to let go of all of the anxiety I’d been carrying about what had to get done.

We both wanted to get out of the “city” before taking our first stop, so we waited until we got to St. Peter, MN for lunch. We spent about an hour there just poking around. After getting turned around on the streets of Iowa a few times, we found ourselves at “The Grotto of the Redemption,” a place that Guy really wanted to show me in West Bend, IA, about 20 miles from our final destination. I had no idea what to expect, but it was actually quite impressive! Apparently a priest created this grotto out of tons of small rocks, stones and crystals, and it depicts the life of Jesus. Pretty random to have this big display in the middle of small town Iowa. Its kind of like the spiritual equivalent of the largest ball of twine. From there we went to meet up with Guy’s “grandma” Betty and husband Alvin. We went to the local diner, the “Family Table” for dinner and spent some time chatting before heading to bed.

Tuesday morning we took our time getting going for the day, and then had lunch at the local Pizza Ranch. I had never heard of a Pizza Ranch, but apparently they are pretty popular in small towns. Next, Betty took us to the nursing home where Guy’s great-grandmother lives (and is the oldest person there at 96). She was an adorable, smiley old lady, and it was so cute watching Guy interact with her. After visiting a few hours, we went to meet up with Guy’s aunt, uncle and two cousins for dinner in Sac City, where the family lives and farms. They are a great family, and it was a very fun time. Before heading out the next morning, we had a final breakfast at the “Family Table” before heading east to Ankeny, IA. It was wonderful staying with Betty and Alvin, they were very generous and welcoming to us.

Before heading to Ankeny, we met up with Guy’s friend Becca at the Art Museum in Des Moines. Not only was the museum great, but Becca was fantastic as well. She was so excited about our trip and gave a lot of helpful advice and info to us which will be invaluable for both our U.S. and South America portions of the trip. Thanks Becca!

Which brings me to the present moment…where we are residing with Guy’s uncle Jeff, wife, and two daughters. Like everyone else we’ve encountered on this trip, these people have been so hospitable, and such a nice family. We went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and are now just hanging out before heading to bed. Tomorrow we will attempt our first “solo” part of the journey - maybe camping or van “dwelling.” More to follow…