Madventures

Have you ever brushed your teeth in a random tire shop bathroom on a random Sunday afternoon? 

Picture this. Ten days in the blazing hot heat, in desperate need of a shower, everyone is defeated and waiting to hear how much car damages are going to cost. Not to mention we are hours away from home. 

How did we end up here? Let’s talk about it. 

…..

This year’s road-trip was planned to be a special trip before Caleb departs to Scotland to finish his Master’s degree. We wanted to go out with a bang and really hit out west. With that, we packed our bags and made our way to the other side of the country with 28 hours of driving ahead of us. 

On our way there we made a few pit stops including the American Pickers store in Iowa. We continued to drive and everything was great…until we hit Nebraska. Everyone talks about how boring Kansas is to drive through, but nobody warns you about Nebraska. (This is your warning if you haven’t had one). You wonder what it’s like? Close your eyes, that’s it! Long hours full of nothing but a horrid smell of cow manure. 

After long, hard, dedicated hours to get through Nebraska, we pulled over to sleep in a Walmart parking lot in Wyoming for the night. The next morning we made our way to our first destination, Salt Lake City. 

We were instantly disappointed to find out that Salt Lake stunk even worse than Nebraska. The beach also has a bug infestation. Millions of bugs piled up into mountains (I wish I was kidding). Instead of chilling among the lake, we adventured out in the city for the night and roamed the college campus nearby. 

Packing up the next morning, we drove a couple hours away from Salt Lake to explore natural hot springs. This was a surprise that Caleb planned for us girls. We knew nothing but to wear a bathing suit. Excited and eager to go splash in the natural springs, we were dressed in a two piece bikini, old navy flip flops, and exactly half a bottle of water. However, we were not told that it was a two hour hike to get to the hot springs in the blazing desert heat. While we were dressed to swim, hikers were passing us with full hiking gear on and giant backpacks…. How humbling. 

This day was long, hot, and ended up being a friendship challenge for us all. We were thirsty, hot, and confused how Caleb forgot to mention MAJOR details. However, at the end of the day, this was something to laugh about. 

We continued our journey to Moab, Utah. We visited Arches National Park, went off-roading in Caleb’s Subaru, and hiked to some fantastic waterfalls. We truly had the time of our lives here. 

We stayed in Moab for a few days and then headed to the Grand Canyon National Park to camp for a night and watch a sunrise at the Canyon. 

Life was great. 

On the final stop of our vacation, we chose Sedona to be our last destination before our departure home. The trip only kept getting HOTTER and HOTTER even when we didn’t think it could be possible.

We did all of the touristy things in Sedona. Explored the shops, ate locally, hiked a little, and literally laid in the hot desert heat. 

We laid low here for a few days, until our last night in Sedona. After we went to a natural waterslide park, we decided to visit Jerome one last time while it was light outside. 

When we arrived at Jerome, we started driving around to explore some. Our driving eventually led to an off road. 

Not just any off-road. An off road that had a big and intimidating sign that read, “Enter at your own risk.”

How did this NOT sound like a good idea? We went off-roading in Utah, so why not finish our whole trip with something fun and adventurous? 

As the sun started to set, we made our way through the mountain with little to no service. It was a one way dirt road the whole way with a couple thousand yard drop off right beside us. Our free-spirits were crushed forty minutes into the drive. 

Sliding toward the cliff, our tire light came on. We exited the car only to find that not ONE, but TWO of our tires were gashed open from a big rock. 

Hear me out. We had one person laughing, one person sobbing, one person panicking, and all three did not know how to change a simple tire. 

We were actually stuck in the middle of nowhere. 

While everyone was off mentally coping, I walked away and prayed. I prayed and asked God to show us a sign that we will soon be okay. 

As we dialed up AAA, a nice lady answered. Waiting over half an hour, we figured out that AAA couldn’t come to us because we were many miles away from a paved road. 

Our hearts dropped. Nobody knew where we were, nobody could help us, we were so defeated and the last thing we were going to do was swallow our pride and call our parents. 

However, the AAA employee, Tavour, talked us through everything. She asked us questions to get our minds off of things and as hours went by we slowly started to get to know each other on a personal level. She was our only comfort at this point.

Fortunately, Caleb’s dad is a park ranger so we caved and called him. He contacted the deputies nearby to notify them that there were stragglers out in the yonder. They told us to hang tight as they pinged our location. 

A couple hours later, we were notified that the search and rescue team was notified and they were forming a plan to save us. They would soon be on their way. 

Tavour continued to stay on the phone many hours after she broke the bad news that AAA company could not get us. She had a child our age and her motherly instinct kicked in to make sure we were all safe. She then proceeded to tell us that Murphy’s Law is not on our side, without knowing my last name was Murphy (Ironic). 

Another hour goes by with no word from anyone but Tavour. Just until three men on a Razor sped around the corner, and instantly came to a complete stop before hitting our car. They were confused on why we were all in the middle of a mountain with a Subaru, crying and panicking. 

They turned out to be very nice gentlemen who were locals. When they figured out our crazy situation, their mouths immediately dropped and then they started to problem solve on how they were going to help us. They changed the front tire for us with the spare and tried to connect us to local services to help us. 

When they truly realized we were screwed, they sat with us so that they knew we were safe. Still no sign of search and rescue, it started to become dark. Hours passed by and I continued to panic again. We were stuck with strangers in a bear infested area, in the middle of NOWHERE with barely any cell phone service – just enough to make a call but not enough to look anything up. 

I began to sob over exhaustion and nervousness. Walking away, one of the men noticed that I was crying and without hesitation, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Let me pray over you”.

This was yet another sign from God. Nobody has ever done this for me before. 

When he finished praying, he gave me a hug and told me that it is common to fear the unknown. He comforted me and told me that God has it all figured out already. This was around the time the AAA lady had comfort that we were safe, but we promised her that we would somehow notify her that we made it home safe. The phone call was a hard goodbye. 

Another few hours passed by and we were all out of ideas on what to do. Instead, we all just sat in the middle of the dirt road while one conversation led to another. Starting to get late, the surface level conversations turned deeper and all of us began to get vulnerable. 

Both of the men happened to be recovered addicts who fell short in the past. They told their personal stories and what all they have been through and proceeded to talk about how God found them when they needed Him the most. 

They were very strong in their faith, very inspiring, and down to earth people. People who often get misunderstood. 

This moment was not a coincidence. Three strangers helped us without knowing a lick about us, prayed over us, told us their life stories, and waited for many hours in the middle of nowhere for us to get home safe. 

….

Around midnight, not one, not two, but three search and rescue team jeeps came rolling down the road. They FINALLY found us! 

We said our goodbyes to our new friends and thanked them more than 10 times. We packed up our jeep and headed to our campsite an hour away. 

Throughout the night, our car was towed to a tire shop. The cost should have been doubled of what it was but the tow company was generous and cut us some slack. 

In the early morning, we had to make our way to the tire shop to get new tires. Our campground was so big that it would have taken hours to walk up the hill with a huge tire that we took with us the previous night. Instead, we bravely asked our neighbors in the campground to take us to the top of the campground so that we could catch an Uber. 

Instead, they offered to take us to the tire shop. This was a huge stress relief. 

On our way to the tire shop, the lady in the front seat looked back at us and talked about how good and mighty God was without even realizing our whole situation. We were all stunned, God kept sending us great people. 

As we pulled up to the tire shop, she then started praying over us. She talked about her life before God and how God changed her lifestyle and how He allowed her to meet her lifelong husband, who was next to her in her car. 

They were a couple who lived out of their camper and traveled all around the United States. They had children and were very considerate and compassionate people. 

We hugged goodbyes and they gave us their phone number so that we could update them when we arrived home. We needed another boost of hope and God gave us them. 

After the whole day of chaos, we finally made our way home. We blared Willie Nelson, On The Road Again, half laughing, half in utter shock.  

We drove, and drove, and drove.

Halfway to home, I began to get too tired to drive so I asked Caleb to take over. 

As soon as I pulled off the interstate, his car started making horrific noises. 

WHAT IN THE WORLD?! CAN WE CATCH A BREAK???

Ironically, there was a tire shop on the exit we pulled over on. 

We pulled in and were told the news that the last tire shop tightened our lugnuts so tight that the majority of them fell off while driving. They also proceeded to tell us that if we drove another mile or two, that our tire would have completely fallen off. 

God truly stopped us from getting hurt one last time. The damage and injuries could have been serious if we continued to drive on the interstate at the speed of 80mph. 

So here I was, in a random tire shop on a Sunday afternoon, brushing my teeth and in desperate need of a shower and waiting to hear how much car damages were going to cost. Not to mention we were still hours away from home. 

This is my life. This is the life of traveling.

…

Defeated, tired, and worried that we will be thrown through another obstacle, we made our way home (for real this time). Third time’s a charm after all. 

So here I am now, laying in my own bed realizing that traveling brings the best memories. Even if they are memories of you stuck in the middle of a mountain, in a death zone, with old navy flip flops on, and surrounded by strangers. Even if the trip ends up costing you extra. Even if you think you’re going to have a heat stroke while deprived of water. Because at the end of the day, traveling allows you to meet amazing people, laugh about Murphy’s law, and reminds you that there is still good in this world. 

So Tavour, this one’s for you. Thanks for being part of the good in this world. Thank you for being part of our story. Lastly, thank you, God, for writing our story. 

Tavour, we made it home.