Road trip around the South East

Well, here we are at the tail end of our American Adventure.  Tomorrow we have our first scheduled flight home and it's been an eventful final leg, but more of that at the end of this post.  For now, I'd love to share with you about the road trip we took last month.

As the internship finished up at the end of May, it was time for us to hit the road and explore the bottom right hand corner of the US.  Road tripping in the current circumstances certainly had its challenges in trying to avoid coronavirus as well as riots and a potential hurricane, but we are thankful to God for an enjoyable adventure and lots of quality time as a family with great friends.  The main focus of our trip was to catch each of the intern families in their home towns as well as some family, all the while enjoying the countryside as we passed through.  While things were mostly closed as we expected, we were able to find some beautiful natural treasures along the way.

Here's a summary of our 13 states over 3 weeks - I'll let the photos do most of the talking:


District of Columbia: Packed up our belongings, loaded up the rental car and hit the road.  First time the five of us had been in a car for 5 or so months!

Virginia: Visited Roanoke's version of the Hollywood sign: The Roanoke Star.  Sat by a hiking trail and read Pilgrim's Progress to the kids while looking out over the grassy hills.








North Carolina: Stayed in Charlotte.  Drove through the deserted city (as a result of the riots) and had delicious cheesy garlic knots and pizza for dinner.  Caught up with our friend Katie from DC and hung out with her family in Waxhaw.  Enjoyed the famous Southern BBQ.




South Carolina: Swam in Buford Dam and stained our faces with yummy cherries.  Noticed accents were starting to get thicker.

Georgia: Drove through downtown Atlanta where we observed the damage from the riots the nights before.  Kids played on a playground for the first time in months in an out-of-the-way town called Newman and had a blast getting soaked in the rain!

Alabama: Beautiful green, grassy hills.  Sang 'Sweet Home Alabama'.  Had our first Taco Bell.

Florida: Arrived in Pensacola to spend time with JR's cousin DJ and his fiancee Olivia.  Avoided a tropical storm (downgraded from a hurricane) and swam in some of Florida's gorgeous beaches.  Spent a day playing Monopoly.




Mississippi: Spent time with one of the intern families, the Oliveiras, and explored Jackson and its surrounds (including a trip to Tiago's old stomping ground, RTS).  Amazed by the number of churches on a single street!







Tennessee: Hung out with the Raders (intern family) in Memphis and attended our first church service in months due to Covid.  Drove through Nashville with our windows down listening to live country music all along the main street while eating Hattie B's hot fried chicken (JR caught up with a friend).  Spent some time in the Great Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, including a day at Over Gatlinburg theme park for the kiddies.


Arkansas: From Tennessee we crossed the Mississippi on a massive bridge to Arkansas while a train crossed beside us and a ferry passed beneath us, just to say we made it to Arkansas ;P








South Carolina (again):  Spent two nights in Charleston and checked out the local history, scenery and Cracker Barrel.  Drove to Rock Hill where we spent some time with another of the intern families, the Rosses.



Maryland: Arrived in Maryland and spent a few weeks hanging out with JR's family. Enjoyed 4th of July celebrations as a family and ate our first ever cotton candy grapes (they actually taste like cotton candy!)







West Virginia: Made a trip across the West Virginian border so that JR could sing the song (!) and explored a historic little town by the name of Harper's Ferry.





Pennsylvania: Took a day trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and learnt all about the civil war, Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg address.

And so here we are, back in DC.  The new apartments built on the church property were completed a week or so ago, so we've been really enjoying staying here for a little stint as we have sorted, packed and made plans.  We've had flight cancellations, route alterations (cancelled our trip to Florida for the wedding due to coronavirus complications) and a last minute coronavirus scare when a close friend tested positive, but we are incredibly thankful to be well and healthy and cleared to fly on Monday.  We trust that God is completely in control and so we embark on our trip home with peaceful hearts and no fear.  We have N95 masks ready to go, bags packed and hearts ready to return.

We hope to be posting our next blog from quarantine in Sydney before we make our return to Darwin.

Love from the Del Rosarios.

Follow this link for heaps of photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gxALYya1CHtpSDeQ6