Easter Sunday

This day, this moment, it was inevitable. We knew it was coming. We knew it was coming for 30 days, but I still was not prepared for it. Our month of absolute freedom, exploration, and utter blissfulness was coming to an end. We woke up in Pensacola Friday morning with a plethora of feelings: A little solemn that our month long journey was actually coming to an end but speechlessly grateful for all the adventure we were so lucky to experience along the way.

We said our goodbyes to Rocky and Stephanie and then began our drive home to Maryland. It was definitely a bittersweet feeling. As we drove through Alabama and Georgia we reminisced of all the fun we had and all the people we met along the way.

As nightfall was nearing, I pulled the map out one last time to find a place for us to stay for our last night. As fate would have it, South Carolina welcomed us with a cold, dreary, rainy, and foggy night (nothing we hadn't overcome before). We decided to make it an earlier night then usual and stayed in Spartanburg, SC.

We woke up Saturday morning still feeling a bit solemn but also feeling very excited to celebrate Easter and see all our family members. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast then packed up the truck for its final time before making our final drive home. The weather was still cold and rainy in South Carolina, but as we made our way through North Carolina and Virginia it began to clear up. The sun started to peak through the clouds and smile down on us. It turned into a beautiful Easter Weekend.

We could not imagine a more perfect way to end our journey then to spend it with family, celebrating Easter, and giving thanks for all that we were blessed to experience and see. We saw the most incredible landscape with indescribable beauty, experienced life at its fullest and life at its scariest. We became experts at camping in the rain, snow, and sun, and learned very well how to adapt to life when it doesn’t go as “planned.” 

I once heard a man say “The best journey is one that answers questions that you did not even realize needed answering to begin with….”- this cross-country road trip was exactly that for us! This trip…. this adventure….this dream, is one that Josh and I will never forget.

Playing in Pensacola!

Not sure again where we were actually heading for the day, I pulled out the map to see what was around. Remembering that our friend Rocky and his girlfriend Stephanie live in Pensacola, we called them up to see what they were up to and ventured to Pensacola for the night. 

We all had planned on kind of an early evening since we had to get up early in the morning, however, as we all know, that never happens! (Our early night ended at 3am, lol) They took us first to Flounders on Pensacola Beach to experience “Diesel Fuel.” Mine was yummy (Thanks Stephanie) Josh’s however, his was more like High Octane Gasoline (Thanks Rocky)!

After Flounders, they took us to Seville. A bar that encompasses 7 different bars inside of it! Most awesome place EVER! Of all the bars, Rosie O Grady’s Good Time Emporium was our favorite. They had a dual piano with live music going all night long. They even had a dueling between the violin and guitar. The music was awesome, the atmosphere was amazing, and our friends, they’re great!

Loving Louisiana

From Houston we headed into Mandeville, Louisiana, where we had planned to camp at Fontainebleau State Park. I went online to read the reviews and research the area a little better and saw that they also offered cabins on the lake at this State Park. They looked absolutely delightful, so I called to inquire on availability…they had just a few left, I got the nod from Josh, and said, “Sign us up for one immediately!!”

Before we got too cozy in our little house for the night, we went out and picked up some Crawfish and Shrimp for dinner! (When in New Orleans, do as the New Orleaners do!)

We hung out on our pier and enjoyed the beautiful sunset before experiencing our Southern Style Seafood Dinner.

When we realized that we didn’t actually know how to eat crawfish, we went straight to you-tube for help! After a lesson or two, we had it down…

Snap the head off….

Suck the head….

And then peel the shell off the tail (like you would a shrimp) and then ENJOY!!!

The Crawfish were really tasty, but me myself, I had to work up to sucking the head, but I finally did it... and it was actually pretty good!


Before....( I was still a little nervous)





During....(Mmmmm, yummy)



After...( Yayyy I did it)



Poor little guys, they never stood a chance!



After our delicious dinner, we hung out on our porch listening to the sounds of the waves crashing up against the stilts of the house, enjoyed a glass of wine, and watched the moon come up into the sky.

In the morning we drove over to New Orleans for a little bit where they actually had a few streets closed off, for a movie that was being filmed! After experiencing a bit more of New Orleans culture, we headed to Florida!  

Carlsbad Caverns

We left Grandma and Grandpa’s Monday morning and headed South, where the weather was still warm and the sun was still shining. We drove past some of the most massive Dirt Tornadoes I have ever seen, drove across some awesome Salt Flats, and even had to stop at the Border Control!!

We decided while driving that it would be awesome to see Carlsbad Caverns, so that’s where we headed. We got to Carlsbad in the morning a little after they had just opened and found out that it was Fee Free Day! (We like those kinds of surprises!!)

We then drove from Carlsbad, New Mexico into Houston, Texas! (Our longest day of driving thus far!) We enjoyed the drive so much better through the Southern part of Texas rather than the North. We saw lots of interesting landscapes and beautiful terrain.