Welcome to my blog titled ‘Five Things’ where you can expect just that - five random musings or reflections from the previous week or so. I’ll also share a quote I find meaningful as a point of focus for the week. For a photo gallery of our life on the road, our pets, and miscellaneous things I find interesting, you can follow me on Instagram @tabithalord.
So here are this week’s five things, starting with the quote of the week…
"We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." - Nelson Mandela
When we started this adventure two years and nine months ago, we wanted to visit all of the lower forty-eight states. Well, today, we woke up in state number forty-eight! Putting the final sticker on our map felt like quite the accomplishment. As I reflect back on all the things we’ve seen and done in the last almost-three-years, I’m overwhelmed, and I actually have to look through our photos to remember it all. When people ask about our favorite place, we don’t have just one, but a whole list of them, and the highlight reel includes a bunch of National Parks.
Speaking of National Parks, we just spent the last few days at Glacier National Park in Montana. It’s listed as one of the ‘crown jewels’ in the NP system, and it really is stunning. The lakes, the forests, and the mountain terrain were all absolutely magical. Ray and I also had an adrenaline-fueled, close encounter with a bear while we were hiking, a first for us! He was literally sauntering down the trail like a boss. We stepped aside as far as we could, which wasn’t very far, and Ray got out our bear spray. We didn’t make eye contact with him as he strolled by, but I managed to get him on video. You can check it out on my Instagram page. I promise there’s no zooming in or editing. He really was that close!
I recently hit a personal single-day driving distance record. Last week, we traveled from Mareno, North Dakota to West Glacier, Montana, a distance of over six hundred miles. Although we gave ourselves two days to make the trip, I really wanted the extra time in Montana, so we headed out early and made it by dinner time. Not something I’d like to do again anytime soon, but I finished a great audiobook on the way!
As we spend time in the northwestern part of the country, it feels like fall here, and I really like that. Fall has always been my most productive writing time. There’s just something about the crisp air and the smell of apples and pumpkin spice that seems to motivate me. Flipping the calendar to September also flips a switch in me. I go from summer vacation mode to get-to-work mode, and since I’m drafting my thesis as we speak, it’s good to be in the zone!