½ Tank #1

(Editor’s note: The title refers to the fact that we are trying to keep our gas tank at about half full, so instead of gauging what we’ve done per tank, it’ll be per half-tank. Sorry for any confusion this causes.)

On Wednesday, September 23, 3009, I filled Pete (that’s our car, in case you haven’t read any previous posts yet...which you should do) with gas and we headed out of Bellingham via Chuckanut Drive. We met Hannah at her younger brother’s soccer game down in Edison, then hoofed it to the ferry going to Orcas and got in line just in time. That night we hung out with a few of Hannah’s friends from high school, which was fun, although I zoned out a bit because I had no idea what they were reminiscing about. Hannah and I did get into a couple “strong discussions” during the few days we were on Orcas, one about our food- and health-life choices of all things, but I think it was actually really good for us. Partly because it gave us practice with disagreeing and still being friends afterwards and also because I think we both got to hash out our opinions and came to more of a respectful understanding.

We had planned to leave Orcas early on Saturday morning, but instead we decided to leave late on Friday so that we would have more time (and energy) to do everything we needed to do Saturday. It was difficult to watch Hannah have to say goodbye to her family, especially her brother, because it reminded me of my farewells to friends in Bellingham. There was a voice telling me that it was difficult because I don’t have anybody like that in my life, but I remembered that that simply isn’t true of my life anymore, so I told it to shut up.


As we were running errands Saturday I told Hannah that I hoped every day of the trip would be like that day. We had a pretty tight schedule for the day and it could not have gone smoother. The whole we were just about right on time for every stop we had planned. Even when it seemed like Costco shoppers, traffic, and community donation centers not accepting a mattress were going to be barricades, we were able to pull through at all the right moments. It served as a great example that although things may seem impossible, God is in complete control. There were many prayers answered and I even saw a few signs (literally) of comfort as I was questioning the beginning of the trip and what was to come for me. One was a business reader-board saying “GOODBYE,” another was a “IGBOK IT’S GONNA BE OK” bumper sticker, and another was a well timed real estate advertisement for “NEW HOMES.” And when I was wondering about that last one really being from God today, I saw another sign saying the same thing but followed immediately by a sign for a politician where only the last name was really big enough to read. His last name is LORD. :)


So by the end of Saturday night Han and I were exhausted and very ready to relax with our old roomie Sam and a couple other friends. It was great to hang out with Sam again, and it definitely made me miss the old college days when we all still lived together. And we figured out (AKA were commanded by Sam) that the latest we could return to Seattle is March 5 because Sam gets married on the 6th. So there is some good news for those of you who might be afraid we’ll never be back.

There were a couple thoughts that stuck with me after all the people we came into contact with during this first half-tank. For starters, I was awed by how many people talked to have actually been on trips like this before, whether it was across the states, or over in Europe. I thought my idea to drive around the U.S. was an original one, but it seems like there’s a LOT of folks out there who have already done this. And that was great for us because we ended up getting a lot of great advice and encouragement. One of the bits of advice we received from almost everyone was not to trust anybody. At first I didn’t think much about it because I just naturally don’t trust other people, but then I realized how it bothers me that everyone said the same thing. I despise the fact that we live in a world where you can’t trust anybody, and where people advise you not to trust. I really wish it wasn’t that way, and that people weren’t creepy and, well, unworthy of trust. It stinks that there are people out there who do horrible things and thus ruin it for the rest of us who are trustworthy. Ugh. I really wish I had some chance of changing the world, and just making it a better place, but I have no idea how to do that. I’m not sure if it’s enough to just live my life in a trustworthy manner and hope that others will begin to do so as well. It certainly doesn’t feel like enough.

To view more pics, go here.

God bless, over and out.
~Marissa


“Live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be.” -- an episode of Angel (Go ahead and make fun of me because it’s an awesome show. Watch it a few times and you’ll see. Joss Whedon, I love you. WB or whichever company cancelled the show, you suck.)