Road to Cali: Jax -> Texas

Good Morning from Abilene Texas State Park!

We have officially traveled about 1,263 miles so far.

To give you some context, we started this leg of the journey back in Tallahassee—my second home as a Florida State student. Here is how the last couple of days have looked:

Travel Day #1: Louisiana

It’s 6:27 AM, and today we are driving to Louisiana.

Stop 1: Café Du Monde. Harper said he wanted to go to New Orleans, and the only time I was in the area everyone said I had to go to this place.

But I, like everybody else in Nola this morning, knew that "you must get beignets from Café Du Monde."

After a stroll around the French Quarter and enjoying some live music from the street performers, we packed back into the car and moved on towards Baton Rouge.

By coincidence we made it to Baton Rouge right at lunchtime, the home of the original Raising Cane's... (Hot Take: Zaxby's better)

After eating, we did a quick drive-by of Tiger Stadium and the LSU baseball field.

Next stop: our campsite for the night in Kisatchie National Forest.

Travel Day #2: Choosin Texas

Today we woke up, tore down camp, and hit the road. In my mind I knew Texas was big, but its actually quite large. We’ve been driving toward Abilene for about 9 hours now. To pass the time, we’ve been playing the license plate game. The craziest one we’ve spotted so far? Hawaii.

I’m keeping it a bit short tonight because I am exhausted, but there is currently some mystery animal ruffling through the leaves near my hammock. I think one of my top 10 fears OAT is all the strange sounds you hear while trying to fall asleep in a hammock. This is a bit niche of a fear to have, but when sleeping in a tent you feel a little more safe (for literally no reason - it's the same amount of protection in both.)

Anyways, I probably shouldn’t have thrown my leftover hot dog into the woods. Then I wouldn't have random animals coming to the campsite. Not very "Leave No Trace" of me. Lesson learned.

A Side Note & Some Food for Thought

Sitting out here, I've been reading through Exodus, and I can't stop thinking about how gnarly those 40 years in the desert must have been. Honestly, if I had to walk across Texas by foot in the summer heat, I think I’d be struggling on day one.

For a little context, in Exodus chapters 16 and 17, the Israelites have just escaped generations of slavery in Egypt. God is leading them through the desert, but they quickly hit some major hardships they just weren't prepared for. It gets so bad that they actually state they would rather be back in Egypt as slaves than die of hunger and thirst in the desert.

Reading through it, my quick judgement was: Wow. God literally parted the Red Sea for you to escape, closed it on the Egyptian army, and now you’re complaining instead of just praying or asking Moses for help?

At least, that’s where my mind went first. But looking back at my own life, I realize I do the exact same thing. I am so quick to forget the miracles God has worked for me in the past & I get caught up in the hardships and inconveniences of the present.

As I head across the country, here are a couple of questions I'm forcing myself to answer in my journal tonight:

1. What are some blessings from God I haven’t thanked Him for in a while?

2. Next time I’m quick to complain about something, what is the actual root of it? (Maybe a lack of contentment?)

That’s all for now. See y’all in a couple of days!

— Peyton