Guinea Update and US Road Trip Part 1

Hi Friends and Family,

Daniel and I have been busy the last couple months traveling around the US. Since we were waiting to get our visas we figured we would pack our Prius up and visit family and go out west. Our visa was just approved a couple weeks ago and it was actually for 3 years! Originally, we had requested the visa for 90 days but God gave us 3 years so you never know what might come of it. We are hoping to go to Guinea in July but waiting for our first plane tickets to be refunded. This gives us time to prepare for the trip. In a way I feel like God wanted us to go on the trip around the states to prepare us for the trip to Guinea. There were some really great times but also some not so great moments and we had to work together to get through them. Below are the highlights of the first part of our trip. 

We left on April 13 and went to Kansas for a couple weeks. We stayed with Daniel's sister Crystal and her boyfriend Patrick. We got to spend lots of time with our niece, Kaisley. She is 10 months old and adorable. Daniel lifted the Prius to add a couple inches since we knew we might end up on some not so great roads. We also visited Daniel's grandparents and uncles and aunts in Topeka, Kansas for a week. We played pickleball a couple times and really enjoyed it.  

April 29th we left to go to Arkansas to meet the Tredway Stubbs Racing team for the fastest mile and half mile motorcycle and car race. However, before we actually got there was a journey in itself. Daniel had rented a camera in Fayetteville, AR that he wanted to try out for his telescope. We picked up the camera and I started driving toward where we were going to camp that night. 15 minutes on the road and the rented camera had a dead battery so back to the store we went. Got a new battery and started again. We drove an hour and 30 minutes and ended up at a hotel for Daniel to try the camera with the telescope software on his computer. After hours of working on and trying to get it to connect, it didn't work. So we went back to the camera store to return the camera. While at the store Daniel found a camera he wanted to buy but he needed a certain adapter to attach the camera to the telescope. The camera store didn't have them but there was an astronomy store 20 minutes away so we went there to see if they had any. When we walked in the door Daniel explained what he was looking for and the guy was like, I have one at home that you can buy from me. His wife brought the adapter to the store and Daniel paid him and we went back to the camera store to buy the camera he wanted. Then we were able to head to Richland Creek Recreation Area where we were planning to use the telescope and camp. 

We found a place to set up the telescope on top of a mountain we had to climb up. Daniel took all the equipment up. We were in a  middle of a field. When it was dark I used the flashlight anytime I heard something move to see if there was an animal out there. Turns out there are quite a few armadillos. We left early Saturday morning to meet the team in Blytheville, AR. The roads were not in good condition leaving the recreation area. There was one hill that had rocks and mud and wasn't completely together. Daniel was driving and the car didn't get the grip it needed and we went in reverse to try again but the car swerved and the rear passenger wheel wasn't even on the road anymore. I got out as carefully as I could so I could see what the situation was. We were on the side of a 10 foot cliff and the front tires were stuck in the sand. We had no service and there weren't many cars around. So we started digging the car out with sticks. About 30 minutes later a truck came around the corner. Our car was taking up the whole road so there was no way he could get around us. He offered to help and mentioned he had a small shovel with him. Once we had that Daniel was able to get the car out and the guy had been putting a wall of rocks under the back tire that was off the road. He was very helpful and said he would take us back to the main road to get us cell service if we needed to call a tow truck. Daniel got in the car and put the car in reverse and I helped the guy push it out. When it went back on the road, that was the best feeling of relief. That man was our angel that day helping us get the car out. He said he had a similar situation and someone had stopped to help him so he wanted to pay it forward. We used a lot of dirt and rocks to fill in the gaps on the road so we didn't get stuck again. I stood in front of the car to guide Daniel where to go and we didn't have any other issues. In the moment I had thought about taking a picture because it was pretty crazy but at the same time I was like what if we don't get our car out or the car goes off the cliff I am not going to want to remember this. I was pretty panicked in the moment so I didn't take the picture but it is in my memory. We both walked away very lucky and also very dirty. 

We got to the airport around 12:30pm and it was great to see family again. We spent the next 24 hours watching car and motorcycle racing. It was pretty amazing to watch. Tredway Stubbs Racing team was doing motorcycle racing and currently holds the track record of 264. 

I am going to continue the rest of our trip (Utah, Washington, Oregon, California in another blog. We are excited to go to Guinea and will share with you once we have our tickets. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. 

God Bless, 

Daniel and Amy