Spring Break Road Trip to the Rockies
Spring Break is a nice time to go home and spend time with family, but some of us decided to venture out of Texas for the first half of the week on an 18+ hour drive to Colorado! It took a while to just get out of the Texas boundaries, but our 7 vans were stocked with a lot of snacks, riddles, and life stories to keep everyone entertained.
“During the car rides we played games like Psychiatrist where one person comes up with a rule and everyone has to figure out that rule. It was really funny to see people’s reaction when they figured it out, because the rule is usually something ridiculous.”
But then unfortunately on the first night, one of the worst things that could happen on a road trip happened: one of our cars broke down, so a good chunk of our group fell behind—but it all turned out well in the end! They still had fun hanging out at a city called Post and stopped by Texas Tech University. And what’s a road trip without some bumps along the way, right?
As for the rest of the group, they made it to New Mexico and explored the famous Carlsbad Caverns! It was quite a tiring trek, but also super cool to go through a maze of stalactites and stalagmites. (Gotta think back to elementary school science to remember which ones go up and which ones go down!)
The next day, we reunited and made it to the Great Sand Dunes! All the sand made it tough to climb those inclines, and riding down on boards wasn’t always smooth sailing, but it was still tons of fun!
Apart from all these awesome nature excursions, we also spent some nice family time back at our Airbnbs. It was satisfying to eat home-cooked meals after all those fast food runs on the road, and we fellowshipped over the blanket and couch games and some people got to reveal their rapping skills. (What rhymes with Colorado? Avocado!). We were even able to hold a Sunday service at one of the hotels we stayed in!
“It was my first time seeing actual white, fluffy snow, and I enjoyed sledding and having snowball fights.”
On Monday, we finally made it to the Rocky Mountains, which was a favorite part of the trip for many of us!
Sledding down the snow was definitely a blast: the more people, the more momentum, the more crashes, but all the more fun and exciting! Overall, it was just wonderful to see real, tall mountains and stand in awe of the beauty of God’s creation.
“My favorite part was getting to see the landscape of Colorado. The mountains and plains were awesome, and it was a nice change of scenery from the trees of Texas.”
But the Rockies weren’t our last sightseeing stop. On the way back to Texas, we visited the Garden of the Gods, which was full of awesome rock formations that called for some cool perspective shots!
Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to the snow and mountains and finish the last stretch toward home. But we made one last stop in Dallas before Austin for a massive meal of Jin Korean BBQ! We ate till our stomachs couldn’t handle any more meat—but we still had some room for boba at Sharetea! Then, at long last we made it back to Austin, with so many memories and stories to tell.
“The car ride that was most memorable was the one after Jin BBQ. I got to hear two of my peers’ life stories that I never heard before, as well as Kelly’s life story. I feel like through this trip, I was able to learn more about my peers, other students, and staff through their sharings and testimonies.”
Whew, what a trip! Can’t wait to hear what everyone was up to.