The Journey East to Wedding Bonanza 2013

I’m going to post these photos and short stories in stages. That’ll make it more manageable for all of us!

Before we departed for our eastward journey, I put a reminder on our rear view mirror: This is a pilgrimage, not a vacation. There will be no complaining about anything. It’s a little saying that Father Matt from Boston likes to use when taking youth on trips/pilgrimages. But I thought it may be appropriate for our adventure as well.

However, even though I wrote down that ” this is a pilgrimage” in my heart I still felt it to be a vacation. I desired it to be a vacation. I had just spent a year in a job that wore me out emotionally, and I really thought that this trip was going to be relaxing and leisurely time spent with my husband before he deploys.

But it soon became evident that it really was a pilgrimage and that I did not want it to be a pilgrimage. I learned about my expectations and dealing with disappointment – mostly because I didn’t handle it very well. I had just began to process that Josh really would be leaving for half of a year (small in the grand scheme of things, but still painful) and I felt that every moment we spent apart because of wedding activities was robbery. Expensive, unnecessary, time-sucking robbery. I understand that assessment may not be entirely fair or gentle, but it’s how I was feeling in the moment.

And though tears were shed, feelings (mis)communicated, and arguments waged…we did experience many, many blessings alone and together. We got to see new parts of the country, reconnect with old friends, spend time with family and much more. This first gallery of photos is from the drive we made from Grand Forks to Alexandria Bay, New York. It took us about 4 days. We drove from GF to Baraboo, Wisconsin – Baraboo to Detroit – Detroit to Rochester – and Rochester to ABay. Although the drive was long, it was broken up nicely and good times were had!

The Official Itinerary.

The Home Depot that Josh and his eagle eyes spotted from the highway. I swore it didn’t exist as we turned around to go find it.

this is josh’s victory picture.

Stopped for a treat.

Little did we know a 400 Dilly Bar Debacle would play a large part in our near future…

Coffee Shop in Wisconsin

Feels like Oregon.

obviously had to get in this.

teapots.

We seem to encounter chess sets on our trips.

josh loves it.

our campsite in Baraboo, WI.

eyecover for the light sleeper.

fireside chats.

Chi-town.

In Indiana.

Bienvenidos a Detroit!

Our tour guide showing us the sites of detroit!

View from the largest island park.

Stayed at the Summer in the City house with Elise Kulik!

take 2.

It’s all about the background!

Michigan Brother.

bridge to canada

niagara.

handsome.

love.

the moose is still here!

fuzzy on the inside meets niagara.

this is the kind of stuff that my husband likes to take pictures of. engineers.

We don’t really like GPSs and didn’t use one during our trip. And although I did call my mom to locate a REd Robin in the Rochester area, we found out how to get there by knowing the address, asking locals for directions and our atlas.