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Day 11 – Idaho 2025 // Bonneville Salt Flats, Antelope Island, Travel Home

Isaac Church — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 03:30:56 +0000

Today is final day of this trip – a bittersweet ending, as we are ready to go home, but also have experienced so many incredible things.

Twin Falls

After seeing off Cody and Morgan (their flight from SLC left long before ours), we packed up and completed our check-out list for the rental house. Before leaving Twin Falls, we stopped one more time at Full Steam Espresso in the downtown food hall, and picked up some cappuccinos for the road. We skipped food in favor of finding an early lunch. I’ll throw in one last picture of the rental house; they’d converted the garage into a very nice game room. Unfortunately, we didn’t really get a chance to use it, other than a few games of arcade basketball.

Rental House in Twin Falls, ID

Full Steam Espresso - 2nd South Market - Twin Fall, ID

Nevada

Driving south on US-93, we crossed into Nevada, passing through some of the most remote and uninhabited stretches of land I’ve ever seen. Finally, we saw some signs of civilization in Wells, NV, where we joined I-80E, which cuts across the northern part of the state. The western route winds south towards Reno, eventually depositing all its navigators into the San Francisco Bay Area.

Driving through Nevada

It was remote but scenic, and could definitely all be experienced sufficiently from the car. I would not want to be outside here in the summertime!

West Wendover

Soon we arrived in the twin towns of West Wendover, NV and Wendover, UT, which are divided by the state line (which also happens to mark legalized gambling). If you don’t care for casino food/atmosphere, there’s really only one food option in town, and that’s the Salt Flats Cafe on the Utah side. It’s a Mexican joint decorated with paraphernalia from the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats International Raceway, where speed demons attempt to set land-speed records out in the desert.

Salt Flats Cafe

Apparently most people don’t care for the casinos, because that place was absolutely slammed. The food was very good; we split quesadilla and taco plates and left very full.

Historic Wendover Airfield Museum

Despite all the degenerate gambling across the state line, Wendover, UT does have one interesting stop, the Historic Wendover Airfield. This is where the Enola Gay was loaded in World War II, and was an important base during the war. Unfortunately the museum was closed, but we did get to go inside an old plane and see a little of the airfield, which is still in occasional use by the US Military.

Historic Wendover Airfield Museum

Bonneville Salt Flats

As I hinted at earlier, we soon arrived at the Bonneville Salt Flats, a massive powdery-white desert that occasionally floods. The main area was closed to the public for some event (unless you paid a hefty admission fee), so we took pictures from the “free look area” and made our way back to the interstate. It was very interesting, and I imagine it would be very nice during sunrise/sunset, or when the seasonal flooding provides reflective aura.

Bonneville Salt Flats

Loki Coffee

About two hours later, we finally arrived in Salt Lake City, and immediately headed to Loki Coffee for a much-needed caffeine/stretch-your-legs break. They serve Idle Hands Roasting Company beans, and that combo proved to be tasty. We tried two pour overs: a sweet honey-processed Colombian; and a funkier, anaerobic-natural-processed Panamanian.

Loki Coffee

Antelope Island State Park

Left with substantial time to kill before our red-eye flight home, we were left with a decision of what to do. One option was to drive into the Park City area, which I’ve always wanted to see. Unsure of the traffic and potential delays, we instead drove northwest of downtown, around the east side of the Great Salt Lake, and across a causeway to Antelope Island State Park, a destination I’d learned about only the day before.

This was a great decision. The “island” provided stunning views of the Great Salt Lake, downtown Salt Lake City, the surrounding mountains, and much wildlife. There are significant herds of bison on the island, and it was a great surprise to see one final round of the giant American mammals before we headed back east.

Antelope Island State Park

As the afternoon sun started to descend, we decided to drive back closer to the airport to allow plenty of time before our flight. Plus, we wanted to make a couple more quick stops.

Antelope Island State Park

Salt Lake City, UT

Dutch Bros

The first stop was Dutch Bros, for the second time in two days. We once again got Tuxedo Dutch Freezes, and they were delicious. We enjoyed them outside on a picnic bench, with a nice view of the fall colors on the slopes of the mountains.

Salt Lake City, UT

Dutch Bros

Salt Lake City, UT

Final Stops

Finally, we dropped in a nearby Cabela’s to throw away some trash, stretch our legs one final time, clean out the Jeep, and organize/consolidate our luggage. While witnessing a beautiful sunset, we made a quick stop to top off the tank with gas (thankfully we didn’t have to charge the battery too!). Next, we pulled into the SLC airport and handed off the Jeep and its keys.

Sunset - SLC

SLC // Beecher's

Security at the airport was crowded, so we’re glad we arrived a few hours early. The extra hours gave us plenty of time to find our gate, and to eat at our restaurant of choice. You might recognize this one from our other trips…

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese is an incredible cheesemaker we discovered somewhat by accident at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. They have amazing sandwiches and macaroni and cheese, which we partook of. I’m very happy they’re opening airport cafés around the country; it will make future flying much more enjoyable for me.

Beecher's Handmade Cheese - SLC Airport

We walked around a little more, chatted with some fellow Boone residents and App State fans who had made the trip out, and then settled down at our gate. We’d intended to get dessert, but ended up missing out because most of the food options had closed before we got around to making a decision.

Our flight departed right at midnight MST, and we landed in CLT just before 06:00 EST.

Video

Here’s a video from today’s adventures.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the view from Antelope Island back across the Great Salt Lake”.

The best thing I ate today was… “everything at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese“.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “Antelope Island”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the macaroni and cheese”.

Best of the Trip

Before I wrap things up, here are our favorite moments from the trip. By the way, we filled these out separately – so no, we weren’t collaborating on our answers.

Isaac

Best breakfast: “Skyline Guest Ranch“

Best pastry: “everything from Wild Crumb Bakery in Bozeman, especially the scones”

Best coffee: “Slow by Slow in Boise”

Best lunch/dinner: “this might be the hardest to choose…I’d say probably Piccola Cucina Ox Pasture in Red Lodge”

Best dessert: “huckleberry pound cake from Nora’s in Jackson Hole”

Best hike: “Bechler River Trail and the Pelican Valley Trail”

Best scenic drive: “the Beartooth Highway”

Best wildlife sighting: “the moose by the Gros Ventre river”

Best sunrise: “Blacktail Plateau”

Best sunset: “watching the grizzlies at sunset outside of Yellowstone”

Best repeat thing: “Blacktail Plateau”

Best new thing: “the Bechler River region of Yellowstone”

Best place we stayed: “Skyline Guest Ranch, with honorable mentions going to the rental house in Twin Falls and the cabin at Yellowstone Lake Lodge”

Most surprising thing: “the amount of wildlife we saw – I couldn’t believe it!”

Most disappointing thing: “probably Idaho Falls, or the lack thereof”

Jerry

Best breakfast: “Skyline Guest Ranch or Persephone”

Best pastry: “Pimento cheese bacon scone from Treeline in Bozeman”

Best coffee: “Slow by Slow in Boise or Loki in Salt Lake City”

Best lunch/dinner: “Piccola Cucina Ox Pasture in Red Lodge, with honorable mention to Nora’s in Wilson, Montana Ale Works in Bozeman, and Yellowstone Lake Hotel…also the sandwich from Ernie’s Deli (because of the sandwich + the scenery)”

Best dessert: “a tie between the warm Basque cake from Yellowstone Lake Hotel and the cornbread ice cream from Sweet Peaks“

Best hike: “Bechler River Trail”

Best scenic drive: “the Beartooth Highway, or really almost everywhere around Yellowstone”

Best wildlife sighting: “the bull moose by the Gros Ventre river in Jackson Hole”

Best sunrise: “Blacktail Plateau on top of the hill we climbed”

Best sunset: “watching all the grizzlies at sunset”

Best repeat thing: “Blacktail Plateau in Yellowstone”

Best new thing: “the remote corner of Yellowstone we went to”

Best place we stayed: “Sapphire Motel in Bozeman – but Skyline Guest Ranch, Yellowstone Lake Lodge Cabins, and the rental house in Twin Falls are all close seconds”

Most surprising thing: “how much wildlife we saw”

Most disappointing thing: “when we went to Idaho Falls and there were no falls”

Conclusion

Mom picked us up at the airport Monday morning, and we stopped for breakfast at Chick-fil-A in Lincolnton. Then, after a brief stop in Granite Falls, we drove on up the mountain so I could spend the remainder of my Monday with Faith and the kids before heading back to work the next day.

We thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and hope you enjoyed following along. Currently, we have no plans for our next trip, but you never know…

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– Isaac & Jerry, plus some friends along the way

Pelican Valley Trail

App State at Boise State

Galena Pass, ID

Beartooth Pass Vista

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Intro, Day 1 – Idaho 2025 // Travel, Bozeman

Isaac Church — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 03:59:26 +0000

Welcome back — after over a year-long hiatus, we’re back on the road again, headed out west. I’ll give you a little trip background below, and then jump right in with the good stuff.

Background

As you might have guessed, this story, like many great stories, starts with Appalachian State football. A couple years ago, we found out through a conversation with an administrator in the ASU Athletic Department that we’d be playing a two game series with the Boise State Broncos. Naturally, we immediately blocked off the surrounding weeks on our calendars.

Faith’s grandmother lives in Idaho, which added to the trip’s potential. Originally, there was talk of some of Faith’s family, both of my parents, our kids, etc. making the trip together. Or, we would travel our separate ways out there, rendezvousing in southern Idaho a couple days before the game. Unfortunately, this plan fell through due to various circumstances (I’ll spare you the details), and slowly but surely the guest list dwindled.

Eventually, we decided that Dad and I would make the trip out west, meeting up with some of our friends along the way. Mom opted out of this trip, wanting to take a break from traveling. A large chunk of Faith’s family is taking a beach trip while we are gone, so Faith, Walker, and Ivey will be on that trip along with a host of their nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers, sisters, and who knows who else.

Oxbow Bend

Sunset - Lamar Valley

Dad and I are going to revisit a few places, and also see a few completely new destinations. We’re starting in Bozeman, driving through Yellowstone, the Tetons, southern Idaho, northern Nevada, and then flying back out of Utah. We’re excited to be back out west during the fabulous fall season!

Cars, Planes, & Automobiles

Last night, after I got the kids to bed, I headed down the mountain to Granite Falls. Mom volunteered to drop Dad and I off at the airport, so we left Granite around 06:00, arrived at the CLT airport around 07:15, and migrated through the whole airport process. Our flight departed CLT at 09:20, and after 4 hours and 33 minutes in the air, we landed in Montana at the Bozeman airport. We picked up our rental car (a Jeep Grand Cherokee) from Alamo, and headed for downtown Bozeman.

Downtown Bozeman + Food

In downtown, we found a parking space, and began walking down Main Street. First, we made our way to Five on Black, a Brazilian lunch counter known for quick, nutritious bowls and pão de queijo, their Brazilian cheese bread (see my Brazil blog for more info). Unfortunately, this late in the day, they were out of many of their most popular dishes. Even more unfortunately, I forgot to order the cheese bread, and the line was so long we didn’t go back through. Nevertheless, the bowl we ordered to split was excellent. It had tilapia with mango barbecue sauce, coconut roasted sweet potato, brown rice, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Five on Black

Bozeman, MT

Good, quick food – with a selection you don’t find in many places. It’s like local fast-casual Brazilian Chipotle or Cava.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Main Street + Coffee

Back on the street, we perused a few more shops in downtown, including Schnee’s, a toy store, a couple bookshops, the Bozeman Community Food Co-Op, a few leather goods stores, and some cowboy apparel shops.

Schnee's

Bozeman Community Food Co-Op

Schnee's

Soon, we stopped for coffee at Rockford Coffee. I got an Ethiopian pour over, and Dad got a Nicaraguan Americano. Both were good, and a nice pick-me-up after a long flight. They had a nice looking selection of pastries too, but we had our sights set on other sweets.

Rockford Coffee

Dessert

We walked back towards the eastern end of the shopping district and got some ice cream at Sweet Peaks, a Montana-based small chain that we visited during our trip to Montana in 2021. We got four flavors and split them: “Into the Woods”, which is pine-infused ice cream with granola and orange essence; huckleberry; “Wüstner Honey Cinnamon”; and “River Float”, which has Dutch-oven-style cornbread with extra honey and butter and a fruity swirl of forest berry jam. All the flavors were excellent, and we were hard-pressed to pick a favorite – but the “River Float” was truly unique and exceptional. Dad said it was probably the best ice cream he’d ever had.

Sweet Peaks Ice Cream

Downtown Bozeman

Sweet Peaks Ice Cream

Bozeman, MT

Amazing traditional and creative flavors, fresh ingredients, and friendly service. Everything you’d ever want in an ice cream shop!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Murdoch's Home & Ranch Supply

We left downtown and decided to kill some time and run some errands before it was time to check into our lodging for the evening. First, we went to Murdoch’s Home & Ranch Supply, a western chain we’d heard about but never visited. It’s kind of like a Tractor Supply or Rural King on steroids, but with a large clothing and housewares section, and really a good bit of anything and everything you’d ever need or want. It was a fascinating place to walk around, and we managed to kill over an hour wandering the aisles.

Murdoch's Home & Ranch Supply

After Murdoch’s, we headed down the road to Walmart and Safeway to pick up some supplies. We got all the essentials you need for a western trip: snacks, a disposable cooler, water, and cleaning wipes…but forgot laundry detergent.

Sapphire Motel

By now it was finally time to check into our lodging, the Sapphire Motel just north of downtown. This is an old motor lodge that has been nicely renovated with a retro theme. We checked into our hotel, FaceTimed the family back home, resituated our luggage, and relaxed for a while.

Sapphire Motel

Montana Ale Works

We had a dinner reservation at Montana Ale Works for later in the evening, but I decided to call over and see if they had any super-early openings so we could eat and head to bed early. Sure enough, they did, so we headed on over to the restaurant for dinner. Montana Ale Works is situated in a historic Northern Pacific freight building, and is a beautiful, rustic restaurant that has the honor of being Bozeman’s most decorated establishment.

Montana Ale Works

We started with an appetizer of bison potstickers with mango-garlic chili sauce, and then split two entrees: the “Montana Meatloaf” with local bacon-wrapped pork, beef & Idaho Kootenai bison, mashers, and caramelized onion gravy; and the “Monarch Elk Burger” with North American elk, melted Gruyère, tomato jam, arugula, and truffled porcini aioli.

Montana Ale Works

Everything was phenomenal, down to the veggies that came with the meatloaf. We loved the meal, and saw many other things on the menu we’d love to try one day.

Montana Ale Works

Bozeman, MT

Amazing atmosphere, finely crafted menu items, and great service. This is one of our favorites we’ve visited for western food.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Sightseeing + Ice Cream

After dinner, we drove through Montana State University’s campus to see the sights (they have a duck pond similar to App’s!), and then stopped at Genuine Ice Cream Co. to split a couple of small cups. Genuine was once in downtown, and we visited their old location on a previous trip to Bozeman. For the day’s second round of ice cream, we once again got four flavors to split: huckleberry, salted caramel cookie dough, chocolate orange, and honey cornbread. All were fantastic, but perhaps a small step below Sweet Peaks from earlier. Although, we both agreed Genuine’s huckleberry might’ve been slightly better.

Montana State University

Genuine Ice Cream Co.

Bozeman, MT Mural

Genuine Ice Cream Co.

Bozeman, MT

Very good, very creamy ice cream. Great flavor selection. If Sweet Peaks wasn’t right down the road, this would probably be a 3-star establishment.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Early To Bed, Early To Rise

We headed back to the Sapphire, and settled in for the night, ready to get an early start in the morning. We’ve committed to stay mostly on eastern time, so you’ll see a lot of early nights and early mornings from us on this trip (we hope).

Sapphire Motel

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “Murdoch’s Home & Ranch Supply”.

The best thing I ate today was… “a tie between Sweet Peaks Ice Cream and the meatloaf”.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “Murdoch’s Home & Ranch Supply”.

The best thing I ate today was… “bison potsticker and cornbread ice cream”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow we’ll be driving south into Yellowstone, but we’ll be taking a new [to us] route into the park. It’ll be a roundabout way—shocker—to get to our final destination, but I’m hoping we’ll see some great scenery along the way.

– Isaac & Jerry

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Intro, Day 1 // Monterey 2024

Isaac Church — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 03:00:13 +0000

Here we are again! Just a few weeks after our trip to the Pacific Northwest, we (Faith, Walker, and I) are heading back out to the west coast, this time to visit Faith’s sister Anna and her family (husband William // children Mary, Madeleine, James, and Ransom). Last fall, we visited them in Havre de Grace, MD, but they recently moved to Monterey, CA. They’ll soon be moving overseas, so we wanted to take the opportunity to see them one last time before then.

This was definitely a very last-minute trip – probably the closest to departure that I’ve ever booked flights. Thankfully, I had some airline miles and credit card points to use, so we didn’t have to pay anything for the flights (which would have been very expensive last-minute!), and were able to fly into Monterey instead of one of the larger international airports.

BNE

Saturday morning, we left Boone around 08:00, stopping briefly at Bald Guy Brew in Blowing Rock to grab some drinks, since I’d used up all our coffee at the house. Faith got an iced Americano, and I got a pourover of their Ethiopian Gigesa Natural. We also tried one of the seasonal specials, a iced cubano shot – this is made by putting a layer of turbinado sugar on top of the espresso puck, pulling a shot through it, and then mixing with a small amount of milk, cinnamon, and ice. It was delicious as always!

Bald Guy Brew Coffee Roasting Co.

Boone/Blowing Rock, NC

I guess I don’t do a lot of local food ratings for the High Country, but I figured it’s about time I threw some in the mix…

Bald Guy is the standard by which I judge all other coffee shops. Don Cox (the bald guy), is a master coffee roaster who pioneered fair trade/organic/etc. before it was even the “cool” thing to do. They specialize in medium-roast single-origin coffees, and only buy the highest possible quality beans.

This is not a shop for sugary drink-lovers, but if you like quality black coffee and enjoy medium roasts, you won’t find a better spot.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We made a pit stop in Granite Falls to eat a cheese omelette (courtesy of Mom), and then Mom and Dad drove us to the airport in Charlotte.

CLT

Once we got through TSA and to our gate, I went to fetch us some lunch from Wow Bao, a Chinese restaurant in the airport. We got two bao buns (sweet steamed buns filled with spiced meat and vegetables), citrus chicken over white rice, and a few ginger chicken potstickers.

Wow Bao

The food was very good, and fairly reasonably priced for airport food. The airport was pretty chaotic because a lot of flights had been rerouted there due to weather; there was a surprising amount of University of Michigan fans around because of the diversions. I made sure to let them know I was an App State fan any chance I got.

PHX

The flight was long, but very smooth – Faith and Walker napped some, while I watched part of a WWI movie and the Olympic men’s basketball championship game.

We had a layover in Phoenix, an airport (also city/state) we’d never visited before. I was surprised by how many mountains there are around the airport. I was not surprised by the heat (depending on the source, it was somewhere between 106-111°F outside). PHX is a large airport, but didn’t seem overly crowded. It was an almost 20 minute walk to our gate, but we made it with no issues.

PHX Airport

In the airport, we got food from La Madeleine Country French Café, which was a shockingly good meal, even by non-airport standards. We got a hot sandwich with turkey and sun-dried tomato pesto, a chicken Caesar salad, and salt & vinegar chips.

La Madeleine Country French Café

PHX Airport

Here’s a first: a restaurant in an airport earning a star. A great place to get a hot sandwich while your plane’s tires are melting on the runway.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

PHX Airport

MRY

We had one more short flight (about an hour and a half) into Monterey. Walker also slept on this flight, which was a huge blessing. It turned out to be impeccable timing for scenic views; we flew in during golden hour, as the sun illuminated the Central Valley, the Carmel Highlands, and the coastline.

Flying into Monterey, CA

The view from the plane was spectacular, and phone camera pictures simply can’t do it justice.

Flying into Monterey, CA

We both thought we were either going to hit the mountains or the ocean as we descended, but we dropped into the local airport without a problem. It’s a tiny airport, with just ~4 gates. We deplaned directly onto the tarmac via a ramp, and then quickly passed through the airport and out to the arrivals pickup area. The Pinkertons picked us up shortly thereafter, and then had a short drive back to their house.

MRY Airport

Welcome

The cousins were all very excited to see Walker (and us, I guess). We visited for a while, fed Walker some spaghetti, and put him down for bed. After all the kids were in bed, we visited with William and Anna and ate some ice cream (black raspberry chip and mint chocolate chip) before heading off to bed ourselves.

Monterey, CA

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the view flying into Monterey”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the sandwich at the Phoenix airport and black raspberry chip ice cream”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the landing in Monterey”.

The best thing I ate today was… “spaghetti at the Pinkertons”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll mostly stay around Monterey.

– Isaac, Faith, and Walker

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Day 13, Conclusion – Mount St. Helens, Travel Home // Church Trip 2024

Isaac Church — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:00:53 +0000

Today is the final day of our trip, and it’s definitely bittersweet to be headed home. We are all pretty exhausted, but it’s been an incredibly fun and scenic trip.

This morning, we woke up around 06:30, loaded the car, and headed southeast of Ashford.

Rivers Coffeehouse & Bistro

About 30 minutes away in Morton, WA, we stopped for breakfast at Rivers Coffeehouse & Bistro. It’s an eclectic joint with fascinating décor, quality food, delectable pastries from Cat and Fiddle bakery in Ashford, and freshly roasted-in-house coffee (albeit dark roast). For some reason, we all were extra hungry, and their prices were very good, so we placed a pretty hefty order.

Rivers Coffeehouse & Bistro

Dad and I both got a granola parfait with fruit and local granola; Faith got an açaí bowl (whatever that is), Mom got a plum earl grey galette, and we all got a strawberry ricotta cake to split. Dad and I each got a pour over of their house blend, and Faith got their seasonal iced latte (with local honey).

Rivers Coffeehouse & Bistro

We ate our breakfast in the bistro’s eclectically-decorated dining room. It was all very good, even though it was dark roast coffee. After we ate, we browsed through their retail section and bookstore, and then hit the road again.

Rivers Coffeehouse & Bistro

Morton, WA

Really, this place is worth visiting for the atmosphere rather than the food or drink, although those are pretty good too.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

White Pass Scenic Byway

After driving another hour and a half on the White Pass Scenic Byway and I-5, we finally reached the town of Castle Rock, WA.

White Pass Scenic Byway

WA Parks Interpretive Center

Our first stop was the WA Parks Mount St. Helens Interpretive Center, a repeat from our 2018 trip. However, during our last visit, we hadn’t been able to see the mountain because it was raining and extremely overcast, so we were excited to see more of the mountain and surrounding area.

Mount St. Helens Visitor Center

The visitor center has excellent exhibits (which I highly recommend visiting sometime), but we’d already been through it in 2018, and there’s a pretty steep admission fee, so we decided to move on to other things.

Spirit Lake Highway

Leaving Castle Rock and headed east, we started driving the Spirit Lake Highway towards Mount St. Helens.

Spirit Lake Highway

The edge of the blast zone is marked by Hoffstadt Creek Bridge. Everything from then on was completely replanted after the eruption in 1980.

Hoffstadt Creek Bridge

Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center

The highway was lined with an unbelievable amount of wildflowers, which thrive in the area since the eruption leveled acre upon acre of forest.

Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center - Mount St. Helens

Atop a ridge that had a view of the mountain, we stopped at Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. This is home to the US Forest Service’s Science and Learning Center, which has a variety of exhibits on the buildup, eruption, aftermath, recovery, and monitoring of Mount St. Helens.

We spent well over an hour browsing the exhibits. One exhibit focused on pyroclastic flow, flooding, and river temperature rising. Another talked about the massive elk herds and overpopulation problems. Another had a model of a rover used to navigate the crater and analyze future volcanic activity.

Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center - Mount St. Helens

Coldwater Ridge - Mount St. Helens

There’s a large observation deck on the backside of the center, where you can see the mountain, Coldwater Lake, and Castle Lake.

Coldwater Ridge - Mount St. Helens

Landslide Brings You Down

Normally, the area’s largest visitor center is Johnston Ridge Observatory, named after volcanologist David A. Johnston, who died in the eruption, but managed to warn about many details and help with evacuation plans. However, there was a huge mudslide in 2023 that cut off access to the visitor center and Johnston Ridge.

Twelve people were stranded as a result of the mudslide and had to be evacuated by helicopter; eventually they were reunited with their vehicles two months later. The road is expected to be closed through summer 2026 at the earliest. The Forest Service moved their primary visitor station to Coldwater Ridge instead, and have plans to renovate and improve the center in the coming years.

Coldwater Ridge - Mount St. Helens

After spending some time on the observation deck and in the gift shop, we watched a 20 minute short film about the eruption. You can watch it through the US National Archives YouTube below; I’d highly recommend it if you don’t know much about the disaster. The video also includes info on David Johnston, whom I mentioned earlier.

Before leaving Coldwater, we ate some of our snacks from the car, including the last of the Washington apples, and fed Walker his lunch.

Driving

Loading up, we retraced our steps on the Spirit Lake Highway back to Castle Rock, stopped for petrol at the local Shell station, and then began driving north on I-5 towards Olympia.

Coldwater Ridge - Mount St. Helens

Traffic was mostly stop-and-go once we got on the interstate, especially in the area around Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Olympia Coffee Roasting

Needing a caffeine boost and a restroom stop, we decided to visit Olympia Coffee Roasting on the south side of Washington’s capital city. Dad and I split two different Ethiopian pour overs, Faith got an iced mocha, and Faith and I split a blackberry kouing amann (a laminated French pastry originating from Brittany – [pronunciation]). Everything was excellent, and I actually ordered some Colombian beans to have shipped back to NC.

Olympia Coffee Roasting

WA - Olympia, Seattle, etc.

Great coffee and pastries! Also a great place to order beans.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Spud's Produce Market

Next door to the coffee shop, there was a small produce market with local fruit, so we decided to stop in to get a snack for everyone, since we’d run out of fruit at lunch. I got a container of marionberries and a container of blueberries, and after setting aside some blueberries for Walker to eat on the flight home, we all split them on the way to our next destination.

Cactus Proctor

Around 17:00, we arrived back in Tacoma, making our PNW trip truly “full circle”. We headed to Cactus Restaurant Proctor on Proctor St., one of a handful of locations of the local “sort-of Tex-Mex” chain Cactus. This turned out to be an incredible dinner. We thought about visiting the week before when we passed through Tacoma, but I decided to save this as a special dinner for our last meal of the trip.

After starting off with some delicious chip and salsa, Faith and I both ordered their famous seafood enchiladas (Pacific snapper, prawns, bay scallops, blue corn tortillas, Monterey Jack cheese, sherry-tomatillo cream sauce, blistered corn salsa, and charred tomato salsa). Mom and Dad both ordered the Cactus Fajitas (cilantro-lime prawns with Spanish rice, cumin black beans, caramelized onions, fresh guacamole, sour cream, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, and housemade flour tortillas). We also got Walker a smoked brisket quesadilla.

Cactus Proctor

All the food was truly incredible; we’ll all remember and talk about this meal for a long time. I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, but Walker’s quesadilla might win the prize. They basically gave him a full adult portion, so Dad and I ate the leftovers after the meal so as not to waste it. The brisket was actually incredibly well-done…it’s amazing that a Tex-Mex place in Tacoma would make better brisket than a lot of barbecue joints we’ve visited.

Cactus

WA - Seattle, Tacoma, etc.

Everything about this meal was perfect – spice level, flavors, freshness, portion sizes, atmosphere, service, and more. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Other than boarding our flight, we had but one thing left to do: find a new home for the Pack ‘N Play. I mentioned on Day 1 of this trip that it was cheaper to buy a travel crib for Walker than to pay another checked bag fee, so we just picked one up with our Target mobile order. We’d asked a few younger couples with kids we’d seen waiting at the restaurant if they might need a spare Pack ‘N Play, but everyone said they already had one. Finally, we asked our waiter if he knew of anyone who was expecting a baby, and he said there was a waitress on staff who was expecting her first child soon. The waitress said she and her husband had been looking at buying one soon, and she was thrilled to have it!

Metropolitan Market

To kill a few minutes before heading to the airport, we walked across the street to Metropolitan Market, a famous local grocery store chain. All their locations sell “The Cookie“, a massive warm cookie that they continually bake fresh throughout the day. Faith and I split one; meanwhile we explored the store, and grabbed a few squeeze snacks and a new pack of baby wipes for Walker. I wish we’d allowed more time here; it was exceptionally interesting, and they sold much more than just groceries. Their selection of produce, meats, seafood, and cheeses were astounding for a chain grocery. “The Cookie” also lived up to its hype; we were very glad we got one, even though we were full from dinner.

Metropolitan Market

WA - Seattle, Tacoma, etc.

Come for “The Cookie”, stay for the excellent selection of food, housewares, and other goods.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Airport

Taking a slightly roundabout route to avoid evening traffic, we drove north towards the airport, getting one last look at Mt. Rainier as we drove.

Tacoma, WA

It took a while to drop off the luggage, return the rental car, check the car seat, and make it through security, but we made it to our gate with a moderate amount of time to spare. We were treated with a gorgeous sunset as we boarded and took off over the Puget Sound.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

The flight home was fairly miserable, as all red-eyes are, but Walker and Faith slept almost the entire time. We arrived in CLT shortly after 05:00 on Saturday, fetched our car from The Parking Spot and our luggage from the downstairs carousel, and immediately drove to Chick-fil-A in Linconton for breakfast, arriving shortly after they opened. After a quick stop in Granite Falls, Faith and I drove back up the mountain, arriving home around 08:50, and then napping until around 12:00.

Video

Here’s a short video from today’s adventures. Bonus: this also features a video Faith took of our garden when we returned to Boone!

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center”.

The best thing I ate today was… “seafood enchiladas and Walker’s brisket quesadilla”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the view of Mount St. Helens”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the meal at Cactus“.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “the view from Coldwater Ridge”.

The best thing I ate today was… “shrimp fajitas and the WA Cosmic Crisp apple”.

Amy

The best thing I saw today was… “the views of Mount St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, and the film at the visitor center”.

The best thing I ate today was… “shrimp fajitas”.

Wrapping Up

Well, it’s been an amazing trip! It was a grand way to officially celebrate Dad’s retirement, and was fun to spend time with everyone for nearly two straight weeks. I know it will definitely be hard to go back to work, and especially to not spend so much time with Walker (and everyone else) each day.

Below, I’ve polled everyone about their memories from the trip. It’d be impossible to record (or even remember) all the wonderful things we did, but these are just what came to mind for everyone.

Thanks to those of you who follow along. I really started write my blog to record the memories, but I’m glad that a few other people seem to enjoy it too.

Three Food Highlights

Question: what are three food highlights from this trip? Note: everyone said Granville Island Public Market was a top thing, so I’m excluding that. Also, it’s likely that everyone will share more than three.

Isaac

Cactus in Tacoma, WA
Fox & Oak in Squamish, BC
The Oak Table in Sequim, WA
Red Fish Blue Fish in Victoria, BC

Faith

Welly’s Real Fruit Ice Cream
Breakfast at The Oak Table
Shrimp dish at Italian restaurant in Mount Vernon
Cactus

Jerry

Biscuits and gravy at The Oak Table
Halibut at Red Fish Blue Fish
Lee’s Donuts
Fresh raspberries

Amy

Welly’s Real Fruit Ice Cream
Breakfast at The Oak Table
Cod at Northern Fish Co.
My Italian meal in Mount Vernon

Three Activity Highlights

Question: what are three activity highlights from this trip?

Isaac

Mt. Baker
Olympic hiking
Mt. Rainier hiking

Faith

Sunset ferry ride to Victoria
Sourdough Ridge hike
Butchart Gardens, especially riding the carousel with Walker

Jerry

The morning ferry ride leaving Vancouver Island
The hike to Sol Doc Falls
Pushing Walker in his stroller while Isaac and Faith hiked

Amy

Sunset ferry ride to Vancouver Island
Mt. Rainer at Paradise, including the old lodge
Butchart Gardens (delightful!)

Three Disappointments

Question: what are three things that disappointed you this trip? Note: I’m excluding the flat tire escapade and the unexpected heat wave, since both were obviously not great.

Isaac

Pike Place was not as great this time
Not enough time at Olympic – could’ve spent a whole week or two there
Didn’t get to do a longer hike in North Cascades
The road to Johnston Ridge Observatory was still closed

Faith

No orcas on either of the ferry rides
No other disappointments!

Jerry

No A/C in some of the places we stayed
The train ride was shorter than expected
We didn’t see much wildlife

Amy

We saw very little wildlife
We didn’t get to try the chowder at Pike Place
Can’t think of a third thing

Three Surprises

Question: what are three things that surprised you this trip?

Isaac

The Dungeness Spit
How much there was to do at Mt. Rainier
How much snow there was at Mt. Baker

Faith

Edible wild berries
Seeing elk
Walker sleeping really well every night, despite the strange locations

Jerry

How much I enjoyed Butchart Gardens
How big Mt. Ranier was, and then finding out we were still 6 miles away from it
That it only took 3.5 minutes for the eruption at Mount St. Helens to cover such a large area
The portable A/C unit in our bathroom in Ashford

Amy

The wild orange salmonberries were delicious
The beautiful color of the lakes
I really enjoyed Mount St. Helens and learning more about its history

Conclusion

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It’s been another great trip, and we’re glad we could share it with you! Stay tuned for another blog series coming very soon.

– Isaac, Faith, Jerry, Amy, and Walker

Coldwater Ridge - Mount St. Helens

The post Day 13, Conclusion – Mount St. Helens, Travel Home // Church Trip 2024 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Introduction // Church Trip 2024

Isaac Church — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 16:37:17 +0000

Good afternoon, and happy spring/summer to everyone! We’re excited to be back on the road again soon for another “Church Trip: 2024 Edition”. Before I get into trip details, I’ll share a few updates.

A Few Updates

Life has been busy, as you might infer from my rounds of very delinquent posts. I’ll summarize…you can click the text links if you haven’t read the previous ones and are inclined to catch up. In October, we took a trip with the McKinneys to Williamsburg and Colonial Virginia. In November, we traveled to Maryland to visit family, passing through Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Then, in December, I went with Dad and Trevor to Alabama for a whirlwind sports-filled weekend.

Concord Point

Buc-ee's

Faith and I have our hands full with a rapidly growing one-year-old. We’re scheduled to play music a few weekends at the Watauga County Farmer’s Market this summer. Dad retired at the end of March, and he’s found plenty of activities to fill his time. Mom has been busy with various church events.

Some History

In celebration of Dad’s retirement, and because we aren’t planning on very much football-related travel this fall, we decided to take a summer trip. As we vetted potential destinations, we realized we needed to pick somewhere that was (1) easy to plan, and (2) wasn’t so remote that all the lodging was already booked for the summer (looking at you, Montana). We decided a repeat trip to the Pacific Northwest was in order, since we thoroughly enjoyed our time out there in 2018.

For those of you just now joining, I’ll give a quick backstory. After a crazy series of flight delays, I got a substantial amount of airline credit after getting bumped from a flight in 2017. Using that credit, Mom, Dad, and I flew out to Seattle in March 2018, and did a speedy tour of the Pacific Northwest. In just eight days, we visited Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, seeing every sight possible at the expense of not sleeping much.

Sea to Sky Gondola

Olympic National Park

Tillamook County Creamery

Olympic National Park

That was right when Faith and I started dating, so she’s never made the trip out to the PNW. The food is fantastic, and the temperatures should be relatively cool in July, which were the two main things Dad wanted out of a destination. He’s pretty easy to please.

A Map or Two

At first, we planned to essentially repeat the last trip, adding back in a few Washington State destinations we skipped last time because of either time or snow. However, we quickly realized that much driving time with a soon-to-be-walking child isn’t ideal; so we opted to cut out Oregon and concentrate on a more manageable area.

We’ll still add in some of the things we missed last time, and repeat/dive deeper into some locations. Most notably, we’ll be able to access more of national parks and mountainous areas in Washington, since there shouldn’t be as much snow in July.

Here’s a map of our general route. This clearly involves some water crossings via ferry, as well as crossing the border into Canada.

If you’d like to subscribe to posts about our trip, click the subscribe button below. If you’ve subscribed in the past, no need to submit the form again.

If you’ve aren’t receiving emails, check your spam folder. If you haven’t received an email from me since the first of the year, they’re probably in your spam folder! It might be towards the end of July before more posts come out.

Conclusion

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Please feel free to leave a comment below.

– Isaac, Faith, Walker, Jerry, and Amy

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Alabama 2023 // Montgomery, Troy, North GA, Western NC

Isaac Church — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:00:00 +0000

We’re back on the road again! This will be a short trip, but will be packed full of events.

Rather last minute, Dad, Trevor, and I decided to drive down to Troy, AL to watch App play the in the Sun Belt football championship game. Since we defeated undefeated JMU in Harrisonburg (who also wasn’t eligible to win the conference in their first year, per the agreement they signed), we were the Sun Belt East Division champions.

Ordinarily, a trip to southern Alabama would make a reasonable weekend road trip, but there was a slight wrinkle: App State men’s basketball was hosting Auburn in Boone on Sunday at 13:00 in front of a sold out Holmes Center crowd, so we had to be back in time to both fight the crowd and (hopefully) cheer the Mountaineers on to victory. So, I devised a logistics plan, and the three of us left Boone right after I got off work on Friday afternoon to start our whirlwind of a weekend.

Watami

To avoid Friday evening traffic in Charlotte, we decided to head west before we headed south. After passing through Asheville, we finally stopped for dinner in Waynesville, NC. My aunt and uncle had recommended a couple places, and Watami Sushi & Noodles had the trifecta of being both open, not overly crowded, and conveniently located.

Our meal was outstanding! We started out with some egg rolls, and then Trevor got General Tso’s chicken, and Dad and I split a couple sushi rolls and orange chicken. Everything was perfectly prepared and cooked; the portions were generous; the spice level was just right; and the prices were very reasonable.

Watami Sushi & Noodles

Waynesville, NC

Fantastic Japanese, Chinese, and sushi dishes. The food is reasonably priced, the quality is exceptional, and the flavor is phenomenal.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After dinner, we drove down US-23 through north Georgia, passing the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School (a well-regarded athletic preparatory school), but not really seeing much else of interest.

Gainesville

A couple hours later, we arrived at our Airbnb in Gainesville, GA, and settled in for the night. We woke up early the next morning, and drove downtown to Inman Perk Coffee, arriving right when they opened at 07:00. We each got a large mocha to go, piled back in Dad’s truck, and proceeded down US-23, thankfully avoiding heavy traffic as we passed through the Atlanta metro area.

Inman Perk Coffee

After joining I-85 in Atlanta, we continued south, stopping at Buc-ee’s in Auburn, AL for a quick snack, some petrol, and a bathroom break. I’ll revisit Buc-ee’s later in this post, so for now I’ll just post a few photos of the mammoth gas station experience.

Buc-ee's - Auburn, AL

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

I guess it wouldn’t be an “Isaac-planned” trip without a detour to some random historical site. I made an eleventh-hour decision to pull into the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. This was the training site for African-American pilots during WWII. When we first pulled in, we didn’t really expect much – it just looked like an abandoned airstrip and some empty hangars. However, as we walked down and entered the buildings, we realized there was a fantastic museum full of planes and other artifacts from the era.

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Training Room

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

German Army Uniforms

Wartime Magazines

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

We spent about an hour doing a rushed walk-through of the museum’s three buildings, and then Trevor, braving the plethora of warning signs about aggressive bees (and many dead bees on the ground), climbed the observation tower while I opted to stay downstairs in bee-free territory. Thankfully, the bees were all dormant for the winter, so there were no issues. We visited the gift shop, and then headed back to the interstate. We learned a lot from our visit, and would highly encourage you to stop by sometime if you’re in the area. To avoid a history lecture, I’ll just share some photos from our visit, but I encourage you to read about the site and the brave pilots who trained there. I did find the room full of training materials particularly interesting. In addition to the uniform guides and propaganda on the walls, they had full guides available to browse through, including “The United Nations War Atlas” and a 1944 “Pilot’s Information File“.

Runway

Hangars

Montgomery

By now, we were getting very hungry, and needed to kill some time, so we took a slight detour over to Montgomery to seek out some seafood. We revisited a place we’d been a couple times before, Wintzell’s Oyster House in downtown Montgomery. When we first sat down in the restaurant, we saw the App State football team buses leaving their hotel to head to the stadium at Troy. We ordered a Chargrill Oyster sampler, which had all of the restaurant’s signature oyster flavors. We also got some onion rings, fish tacos, and po’boy’s, but if we had to do it again, we’d just order onion rings and oysters.

Wintzell's Oyster House

Montgomery, AL // Various Locations

We’ve been to Wintzell’s, an Alabama chain, at least three times now. The restaurant gets a star for their exceptional oysters and quirky wall décor, but I’d mostly avoid everything else on the menu. Focus on the oysters!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

After lunch, we attempted to find a cheesecake place just outside of downtown. However, when we walked in the door and wound up straight in the kitchen, we quickly realized they were now a catering-only business. So, we scurried out without anyone noticing we’d ever been there, and continued (disappointed and dessert-free) towards the football game.

Troy

A couple hours before kickoff, we pulled into Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in Troy, AL, after passing as quickly as possible through a very rough part of town right outside campus. Despite its surroundings, Troy’s campus is actually quite nice. However, it was unnecessarily difficult to find an entrance into the football stadium. Once we finally found our way inside, we made our way to the App State section, rendezvoused with a handful of friends from Boone, and settled in for the game. It was a long, wet, miserable game. The Mountaineers, plagued with injuries, held on for a while, but were ultimately defeated by both a few unfortunate plays, and by Troy’s superior linemen and depth.

Veteran's Memorial Stadium

Though a loss, it was a fun game, and nice to check another collegiate stadium off our list. I was very unimpressed by the turnout of Troy fans, especially for a conference championship game, and equally impressed with the amount of App State fans that made the long drive.

App State at Troy - 2023 Sun Belt Championship

Buc-eeeEee's!

We arrived back at our vehicle soaking wet, as the steady showers had changed to a downpour right when we exited the stadium. We basically had to slide down a giant grass hill to get back to the truck – I wasn’t sure if Dad, still not fully recovered from his knee replacement, was going to make it. Even Trevor and I were having some difficulty navigating the slick grass and steep embankment.

As disappointed as we were with the loss, our spirits were quickly lifted by the knowledge that we’d soon arrive back at Buc-ee’s in Auburn for dinner. Our GPS enthusiastically called it “Buc-eeeeeeeeeee’s!”, so I’m using that pronunciation from now on. Apparently all the App State fans had the same pit stop idea, as did the Alabama fans who were headed home after defeating UGA in the SEC championship game in Atlanta.

Famished, we went all-out with our food order, and were so hungry we finished all of it except the “snack food”! We got a fried chicken sandwich, a sliced brisket sandwich, a pulled pork sandwich, and XXL chopped brisked sandwich, banana pudding, coconut cream pie-in-a-cup, chocolate pie-in-a-cup, and a cinnamon roll. For snacking later, we bought some Beaver Nuggets and a box of animal crackers.

Buc-ee's

The food was great – particularly the sandwiches. Even though we’d visited multiple Buc-ee’s in Texas, we hadn’t gotten many of their “meals”. I thought the chicken sandwich, though different, was just as good or better than Chick-fil-A, and the pork and brisket were also great. It’s not quite what you’d get from the best Texas barbecue joints, but it’s better than 99% of beef barbecue you can find in North Carolina. The dessert cups, which we consumed on the road to save time, were a delicious way to cap off the meal and the day.

Buc-ee’s is truly an experience like no other, so you need to make sure you go sometime. One awestruck App State fan commented to us as we exited, “You can buy everything in there to hunt and process a deer except the gun and the bullets!”. Indeed, they had tree stands displayed between the soft drinks and the beef jerky wall, plus a robust camo selection a couple hundred yards away on the other end of the store.

Buc-ee's

Auburn, AL // Various Locations

There’s a reason everyone can’t stop talking about it. You have to visit at least once in your life, and until you do, there are no words with which I could accurately describe it to you.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We really struggled to stay awake the rest of the rainy drive north, but we made it through Atlanta and back to the Airbnb alive, mostly thanks to some extra-large caffeinated drinks from Buc-eeeeee’s and lots of loud music. We rolled into Gainesville after midnight, showered, and headed straight to bed, knowing we’d have to wake up early in the morning to make it back to Boone for the basketball game.

Waynesville

Our alarms went off around 05:30 the next morning, and after snoozing a few times, we reloaded the truck, and drove north on US-23 back to Waynesville, NC. On our way through northern Georgia, we passed by the beautiful Tallulah Gorge, an area I’d like to visit sometime. Our first stop in Waynesville was Daylight Donuts, a donut chain that used to have locations in Boone and Hickory. We got a dozen, focusing (as one should) on their old-fashioned donuts, but we sprinkled in two glazed yeast, a maple, and a chocolate glazed for some variety.

Daylight Donuts

Waynesville, NC // Various Locations

In my opinion, Daylight is the best donut franchise in the country. Be sure to get their signature old-fashioneds, but the yeast donuts are fantastic too!

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Patiently waiting to eat our donuts (and maybe doing a little taste-testing), we drove up the hill to downtown, where we headed in Orchard Coffee to get some much-welcome caffeine to complement our donuts. All three of us got large mocha cafe lattes, which were exceptionally good.

Orchard Coffee

Waynesville, NC

Excellent coffee with an attention to detail.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Leaving Waynesville, we joined I-40, and then US-221 as we climbed the mountain back to Boone. We arrived just in time to easily secure a parking space, and were one of the few dozen people in the arena right after the doors opened around 11:00.

App State vs Auburn

Once inside the Holmes Convocation Center, we headed to the Yosef Club room, where they were serving sandwiches and snacks. We ate a light “lunch”, and then walked out into the arena to watch warmups and cheer on the Mountaineers.

App State vs Auburn

The atmosphere for this game was incredible. The highly anticipated matchup between the Tigers and the Mountaineers marked the first time since 1999 that a Power 5 program had come to Boone. Both teams were having an exceptional season (the Tigers would go on to be SEC champions, and the Mountaineers were regular-season SBC champions), so we were in for an unforgettable game. The noise was so loud that I kept getting “loud environment/potential hearing damage” warnings on my smart watch.

App State vs Auburn

After a nail-biter of a game, the Mountaineers pulled out the win, upsetting the Tigers in a win that all will remember as a signature win for App State basketball – like Michigan was for the football program in 2007. The students stormed the court, and the crowd went absolutely wild. It was a moment we’ll never forget!

App State vs Auburn

Here’s a sort highlight video from the game:

Video

Here’s a video from this trip’s adventures, and some more highlights from the game.

The Best Things We Saw [This Weekend]

I’m not doing my usual “best things we saw/ate”, because we simply had too eventful of a weekend to recap it in one short section. Our biggest highlights were the Tuskegee museum and the basketball game. Our best food included Watami, Buc-eeeeee’s, Daylight Donuts, and Orchard Coffee. It was a memorable weekend, and another successful App State sports road trip!

Conclusion

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There’s another Church Trip coming soon (in early summer 2024). Keep a sharp eye for an intro post coming soon – its should be another exciting trip with 3+ national parks and lots of great scenery!

– Isaac, Jerry, and Trevor

App State vs Auburn

Sunset in Boone, NC

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Day 9 – Travel Home // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 23:00:32 +0000

This morning when we woke up, Faith ate the leftover pizza for breakfast, and then we started loading both cars. We left Massanutten and the Harrisonburg area, heading south on I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley towards Roanoke.

Wildfire in the distance in the Shenandoah Valley

Roadmap CoffeeWorks

Faith and I made a pit stop in Lexington, VA at Roadmap CoffeeWorks, a place rated by various sources as one of the better coffee roasters in the US. We weren’t disappointed by their selection or quality. Faith got an iced latte, and I got a drip coffee. Both were fantastic, and we thoroughly enjoyed them. I learned, by watching the barista, that the secret to making good cold coffee drinks is apparently to use a cocktail shaker to chill the drink, rather than pouring it over ice that will then dilute the coffee.

Roadmap CoffeeWorks

Lexington, VA

While there’s not a lot to do in Lexington, VA, one can definitely get some quality coffee here. Be sure to stop by if you’re in the area.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Alejandro's Mexican Grill

For lunch, we stopped on the north side of Roanoke at Alejandro’s Mexican Grill, a local chain. The food was very good, the service was quick, and the portions were enormous. It was an efficient stop, allowing us to get back on the road quickly.

Alejandro's Mexican Grill

Travel, Dinner, Home

We made one more stop in Winston-Salem to grab Thanksgiving groceries and a snack from Trader Joe’s, and then split off to go our separate ways home – Mom and Dad taking I-40 and Faith and I taking US-421. We saw a beautiful sunset on our way up the mountain, and arrived home in time to get unloaded, unpacked, and settled for bed before it got too late.

Driving on US-421 towards Boone

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the setup at Roadmap CoffeeWorks”.

The best thing I ate today was… “snacks from Trader Joe’s and coffee”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “sunset over the mountains”.

The best thing I ate today was… “coffee from Roadmap”.

Jerry

The best thing I saw today was… “the end of the Shenandoah Valley”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Mexican at lunch”.

Amy

The best thing I saw today was… “home”.

The best thing I ate today was… “Mexican at lunch”.

Conclusion

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Keep an eye out for a blog from another trip coming soon…

– The Churches

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Day 4 – Annapolis // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 23:00:55 +0000

Last night, we were in a bit of a frenzy figuring out a destination for today. Our top candidates were originally Harper’s Ferry + Antietam, or DC. Unfortunately, there was road construction causing significant detours and delays near Harper’s Ferry. We also learned there was a huge rally scheduled on the National Mall in Washington, with potentially 60,000 people expected, plus some accompanying security concerns. So, after breakfast, we decided to head southeast instead, and drove to Maryland’s state capital, Annapolis.

United States Naval Academy

After a pleasant hour and a half drive, we arrived in Annapolis, and secured street parking near King George St. with surprising ease. Faith and I walked over to the entrance of the US Naval Academy, and rendezvoused with the Pinkertons. William, a West Point graduate, made sure all the kids had “Go Army // Beat Navy” pins to wear for the duration of our visit…plus some sported Union infantry hats from our visit to Gettysburg. For good measure, I think one was even sporting a “Go Army // Beat Air Force” pin. We made a quick stop into the Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center to register and receive visitor passes, and then began our self-guided walking tour of campus.

United States Naval Academy

I should note that our “self-guided” tour was mostly led by William, who couldn’t resist making a few jabs about the superiority of his alma mater and preferred service branch. Nonetheless, he offered some excellent insight into the campus. We walked the grounds for a while, taking in the sights on the historic campus. We’d hoped to visit the museum on campus, but it was unfortunately closed for renovations.

United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy Chapel

The Naval Academy Chapel

Since the museum was closed, we headed across the terrace to the Naval Academy Chapel, a beautiful building that opened in 1908, with a 193′ tall dome. The inside is spectacular – not overly ornate, but very beautifully designed and built.

United States Naval Academy Chapel

To end our tour of the chapel, we headed to the lower level to view crypt and sarcophagus of John Paul Jones, a hero of the American Revolution who is known as the “Father of the American Navy”.

Crypt of John Paul Jones

After exiting the chapel, we decided it was time to find some lunch. We walked back across campus, exited through the gate, and began walking towards downtown.

United States Naval Academy

Chick & Ruth's Delly

We settled on eating at Chick & Ruth’s Delly, a local diner (open since 1965) that’s famous for their colossal crab cakes and equally hefty milkshakes – ranging from 20oz up to 6lb! Before we could order, I realized that even though you could “renew” your parking in the ParkMobile app, you had to move your car to a different zone. So, I had to walk all the way back to the other side of the Naval Academy, get in the car, and find another parking spot (which was thankfully close to the restaurant).

Finally back at the restaurant, I was now extraordinarily hungry from the long walk, as was everyone else from the extended wait. The “delly” was very accommodating though, and even allowed us to take our strollers in the back entrance so we could spread out at a larger table. Faith and I split two dishes, their signature half-pound crab cake sandwich, and a seafood club on rye, which had a crab cake and shrimp salad on a triple-decker sandwich. We also ordered a side of onion rings for all of us to split.

Chick & Ruth's Delly

I can say without a doubt that this was the best crab cake I’ve ever had. There was very little filler; just enough to hold together the giant lumps of sweet crab meat. Even though it was a ton of food, we ate nearly every bite, although we had to forego the bread towards the end of the club sandwich to make sure we didn’t waste any of the seafood.

Chick & Ruth's Delly

Annapolis, MD

Oversized everything, but you’ll be grateful for the excessive amount of meat in the crab cakes.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

Maryland State House

We cleaned up from lunch (which is quite the process with a handful of kids), and headed back out to explore a bit more of Annapolis. Walking from the restaurant up to the top of the hill, we arrived at the Maryland State House, passing many historic buildings, beautiful flower beds, and colorful trees along the way. We attempted to visit St. Anne’s Parish, a historic church dating back to 1692, but it was closed at the time.

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Maryland State House

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Ice Cream // Waterfront

After walking about a mile more through the historic buildings, we decided to backtrack to the Annapolis Ice Cream Company, a spot we’d seen earlier that of course intrigued all the kids (and adults). I got oatmeal cream pie and lemon chocolate chip; Faith got oatmeal cream pie and pumpkin chocolate chip. All the flavors were excellent, especially the pumpkin chocolate chip, which Faith could not stop talking about the remainder of the trip.

Annapolis Ice Cream Company

Annapolis, MD

Excellent selection of homemade ice creams and sweet treats with some creative flavors.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

We took our ice cream down to the waterfront, and sat and watched the ducks and people jaunt around a section of the Annapolis Harbor known as Spa Creek or Ego Alley.

Downtown Annapolis, MD

Ducks, Books, and Coffee

DTA Ducks

Once we finally tired of duck- and people-watching, we walked to Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse near St. John’s College, which was about a half-mile away. The weather was pleasant, but chilly and breezy, so it felt good to get moving again. The coffee shop/bookstore combo was an interesting place to browse, and had an excellent selection of children’s books. Faith and I split an Americano (since their drip coffee was shut down for the day) to give us a caffeine boost to stay awake for the drive home.

Aunt Faith

Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse

Maryland WWII Memorial // Bridges

We headed our separate ways back to our vehicles, and began the drive back to Havre de Grace at sunset. Faith and I saw a nice sunset over the Naval Academy Bridge, and made a quick stop at the Maryland WWII Memorial to take a picture of the colors over the water. Driving back north, we actually crossed the 1.6mi Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has since collapsed after a container ship collided with it in March 2024.

Naval Academy Bridge

Maryland WWII Memorial

Nighttime

Back at the Pinkertons’ house, Anna pulled together a light charcuterie selection for dinner. We made more affogatos with the ice cream I’d bought, and watched more of Gettysburg, but didn’t make it very long because we were so worn out from the day. Our feet were sore from walking on all the cobblestone road and sidewalks, but it was a fun and memorable day. Annapolis is one of our favorite cities we’ve visited, and far exceeded our expectations.

Charcuterie for dinner

Maryland State House

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the Naval Academy, particularly the Chapel”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the crab cake at the delly”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the old buildings in Annapolis”.

The best thing I ate today was… “pumpkin chocolate chip ice cream”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll explore more of the Havre de Grace area.

– Isaac and Faith

Maryland State House

The post Day 4 – Annapolis // Maryland/Virginia 2023 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 2 – Susquehanna State Park // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 23:00:54 +0000

Today was our first day waking up in Maryland. It was a fairly chill day; we didn’t have many planned activities.

Sunday Morning

In the morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and hung around the house until it was time for church. We visited William and Anna’s church for an excellent service. They were scheduled to teach children’s Sunday School afterwards, so Faith and I left, taking the scenic route back to their house to kill some time.

Vignon Manor Farm

Church

Susquehanna State Park

Faith and I drove over to Susquehanna State Park, a 2,753 acre park on the Susquehanna River. There were still some leaves on the trees, making the drive very scenic. First, we drove down to the Deer Creek Trestle Bridge, where an old railroad track has been converted into a greenway of sorts.

Deer Creek Trestle Bridge

From the trestle bridge, there were some spectacular views of the river and the five islands in the center of the river: Robert, Wood, Snake, Spencer, and Steel Island.

Susquehanna River

From the trestle bridge, we drove downriver to the Rock Run Gristmill. The historic mill has a 12-ton water wheel.

Rock Run Grist Mill

We left the park, driving back to the house to get started on lunch and put Walker down for his nap.

Susquehanna State Park

Sunday Afternoon

We spent most of Sunday afternoon relaxing at the house. A crowd from church went to go play Frisbee at the park, but my knee/ankle still aren’t allowing me to run much. Instead, I spent some time catching up on photo editing from our western trip, and took a cat nap while Faith read and took some fall photos of Walker.

Dinner

In the evening, I went to pick up sushi for the adults’ dinner, while Anna fixed some food for the kids. We placed an order from Johnny’s Sushi House in Perryville on the other side of the Susquehanna River. We got a variety of rolls to try: salmon, salmon mango, crunchy crab, tempura shrimp with sweetpotato, Sakura (tempura salmon, cream cheese, crabmeat, fish roe, scallion, sauce), and an Angel (tempura shrimp, spicy crabmeat, snow crabmeat, and sweet mayo). All the sushi was excellent, especially the specialty rolls and the roll with sweetpotato and shrimp.

While I was out, I also got some vanilla ice cream, vanilla gelato, and Peppermint Park ice cream from Food Lion. We made affogatos using William and Anna’s espresso machine, and stayed up late hanging out and making plans for the week ahead.

Johnny's Sushi House

Tillamook Peppermint Bark Ice Cream

Johnny's Sushi House

Perryville, MD

Great sushi with some creative rolls on the menu.

* – Would definitely visit again

** – Exceptional, must visit if you’re in the area

*** – Worth making a special trip to eat there

For more info on food ratings, click here.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the Susquehanna River”.

The best thing I ate today was… “shrimp tempura roll with sweetpotato and Sakura roll”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “the train tracks by the river”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the shrimp tempura roll with sweetpotato”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’re going to drive into Pennsylvania to visit Gettysburg.

– Isaac

The post Day 2 – Susquehanna State Park // Maryland/Virginia 2023 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.

Day 1 – Intro, Travel // Maryland/Virginia 2023

Isaac Church — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 23:00:00 +0000

We’re back on the road again! This time Faith, Walker, and I are headed up to Maryland to visit Faith’s sister Anna, her husband William, and their kids. They live in Havre de Grace, MD.

Spraying // Leaving

We woke up around 05:30 Saturday morning and began loading the car. I decided I’d spray our annual preventative bug treatment in/around the house before we left, so after we’d loaded the car I made the rounds with the sprayer. We finally left the house at exactly 06:30, and started our journey north.

I’d decided we’d take the slightly longer route up I-95 instead of taking I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley. This was partly because I wanted to have more options for stopping with Walker if we needed to. This was also partly because we will be meeting Mom and Dad next Friday in the Shenandoah Valley to spend a couple nights there.

Eating // Drinking

In Winston-Salem, we stopped for breakfast and coffee at Waterbean Coffee, an NC-based chain. Faith got a latte and I got a pour-over, and we both ordered a breakfast croissant sandwich with ham, salami, cheese, and some kind of mustardy aioli. It was a very good breakfast, and I would definitely visit one again.

Waterbean Coffee

Breakfast croissant sandwich - Waterbean Coffee

Unfortunately, we realized that even though we’d carefully planned our itinerary to align with Walker’s eating schedule, we were going to be off because he wasn’t hungry at his normal breakfast time. Faith attempted to feed him, and I even walked around in Academy Sports for a while because I was distracting him, but nothing worked. Oh well; onward we went…

Resting // Eating

We didn’t stop again until we reached one of Virginia’s famous rest areas, where we stopped to feed Walker and let him move around for a while. After a quick stop, we were back on the road again.

I-95 in Virginia

On the north side of Richmond, we stopped at a Chicken Fiesta (a local Richmond chain famous for their charcoal-roasted rotisserie chickens) to eat lunch. We both got combo plates with chicken, rice, and tortillas – a delicious meal.

Chicken Fiesta

Driving // Eating

Because traffic in DC looked terrible on our map app, I decided to swing east and take US-301 around the city. It turned out to be a very scenic drive, and even though it might not have saved much time, it certainly prevented some stress. We crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, and stopped at Landon’s Ices & Creams in La Plata to get some dessert, and to feed Walker again.

Crossing the Potomac River

The flavor selection at Landon’s was very interesting. I got sweet potato pie and triple chocolate cookie dough, and Faith got pumpkin pecan and honey vanilla. However, it was one of the only ice cream shops I’ve ever been to where they refused to give free samples, so they definitely lose points for that. And, it took an eternity to get four scoops of ice cream, even though I was probably the only customer they’d had all afternoon. Nevertheless, the ice cream was very tasty.

Landon's Ices and Creams

Arriving // Sleeping

App was playing football at Georgia State while we were on the road. Faith slipped in some noise-cancelling headphones, and I stayed on the phone with Dad, who gave me a play-by-play of the game over the phone. At 18:30, we finally arrived in Havre de Grace, exactly 12 hours after we’d left Boone. For dinner, we had leftovers from a Thanksgiving gathering Anna and William had hosted with some of Faith’s siblings who’d visited the week before. We visited for a while and then headed to bed, exhausted from the long drive.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the scenery in southern Maryland”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the breakfast croissant at Waterbean Coffee”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “finally getting to the Pinkertons’ house”.

The best thing I ate today was… “lunch at Chicken Fiesta”.

Conclusion

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Tomorrow, we’ll explore some of the area around Havre de Grace.

– Isaac

The post Day 1 – Intro, Travel // Maryland/Virginia 2023 appeared first on Isaac Church // isaactchurch.com.