Leaving one state for another

Today was the first day of our road trip back to Redding. While it has been really exciting and I'm really glad to be on a great trip with my amazing wife, I did not expect leaving to be so difficult. It turns out I really love the people that have come into my life. To be honest it's going to be a real bummer to not be able to call up family and friends to see if they want to hang out and see them 5 minutes later. It has been the most difficult part of this moving process and many tears have shed. :(

The road trip itself is a blast. We spent 8 hours getting to Roswell, NM, and it is as cheesy as you have probably imagined. It is the same as any other small town in America, with the exception of alien paraphernalia being plastered all over, which includes everything from alien faces on the lamppost, to UFOs "crashing" into buildings, and even the UFO-shaped McDonalds. All in all, Roswell has so far lived up to this nerds expectations.

As for the driving itself, I think road trips are some of the best times for Rachel and I to connect. We got to spend the morning drive observing beautiful scenery and discussing our last few hours with siblings. I think the most exciting thing that happened was when we ran out of gas in between Tatum, NM and Roswell, NM. We were about 23 miles from Tatum and about 30 miles from Roswell. We called three police stations and two trucking services. No one seemed to be able to help or they wanted $120 dollars to drive out and give us 5 gallons of gas. No, thank you. So Rachel said "I almost just want to keep driving", which I knew meant, "I bet you if we go, God will provide a miracle for us." AND HE DID! We drove 35 miles on an empty tank of gas. It was really amazing.

Anyway, it's late and it has definitely been an emotional few weeks, so I am going to catch some shut eye and maybe write more another night :)

Joshua J. Dobler