Ahhh… vacation. It’s summer and everybody’s doing it. Given my current love relationship with the airlines (see former blog), we decided this year to do the infamous road trip vacation. It was beautiful… Portland, Seattle, Tahoe, San Francisco… with brief stops in Weed and Drain. (yes, those are real places; no we didn’t stay). I would imagine you could get a good deal on real estate in those places if you didn’t mind the look you’d get when people ask where you are from.

But these places are all part of being on a road trip. (That and the squished bugs on your windshield.) You have the beautiful and the mundane all wrapped up in a single journey. In many ways, it’s a microcosm of life. From the spectacular view of Mount Shasta, to a drive through Weed. From the beauty of Portland, down to the lesser visited Drain. But you almost need one to fully appreciate the other. Had Mount Shasta been nestled with a hundred other beautiful mountains, we might not have noticed it. However, in the midst of Redding, Yreka and Weed, we gasped as it came into view.

Another thing I’ve noticed is some of the surprises you find in places you weren’t expecting it. Who knew that Eugene, Oregon could double for Tuscany? Here’s the proof:

It just goes to show you that you never know what you’re gonna get. I think that thought originally came from Forrest Gump, when he said life was like a box of chocolates. But there is truth to that phrase- in road trips, as well as life. Because when you are in a stark place in your journey, you may stumble across a beautiful lake you’ve never seen, in a place you never would have gone, had you planned it.

There are always the things that don’t surprise you too much, like Lake Tahoe being beautiful, a barbecue on a friend’s back porch being the best way to spend an evening, and the two hour traffic jam you hit on the last day of your trip.

But I was reminded on this road trip that you don’t always know what you’re gonna get. That can bring hope in life, when you are facing a seemingly endless season in the dark.
It’s why you need to hold on to your faith.
Because you never know when God may have a surprise that’s about to come into view.