How’s this sound for excitement: wildfires, Corona (the city, not the virus), a giant cactus photoshoot, the Grand Canyon, snow in September and pickleball? Just a couple of highlights from Russell, Kelsea and Kirstin’s trip across the U.S. collecting backpacks in the very strange year of 2020! The backpack trip is already in its third week, if you can believe it, and what a trip it has been.
Russell and Kirstin flew over on September 2nd to Washington State, where the trip commenced, and met up with Kelsea, who was staying with her family. Russell and Kirstin stayed with Kelsea’s sister, Kate, and got to spend some time with Kelsea’s parents and other siblings. During this time they stopped at Heidi C’s home in Lynwood, WA and made the first backpack pickup! They then finished packing up all the backpacks Kate had worked on and loaded them all into a Penske truck. On Sunday, they attended Kelsea’s home church for an outdoor service, then hit the road.
That afternoon they stopped and picked up backpacks from Caitie F. in La Center, WA. From Washington, the Penske truck headed into Oregon, then picked up backpacks from Kelli J. in Stayton. The crew spent the night in a hotel just north of the border with California, looking to get a good night sleep before the start of a very long Monday! They had one day to drive from there to Southern California. From hotel to hotel, it was a 17-hour trip, which included a few quick stops to pick up more backpacks from sponsors. This was the first of several very long days in a row. Don’t worry, the crew took turns driving and napping. They also drank a lot of coffee!
As they passed through California, the traveling trio met up with Naomi H. in Sacramento and Melissa P. in Morgan Hills and picked up donations and backpacks from them. Melissa was especially glad to see them, as her family had almost had to evacuate during the preceding days due to wildfires! She (jokingly?) told the crew that she wouldn’t mind having to evacuate now that the backpacks had been picked up! Then they kept driving until they arrived at their hotel at 1:30 in the morning.
After catching a few hours of sleep, they were back on the road by 7:00 AM on Tuesday, September 8th. The crew found it amusing that their next stop was a city called Corona. Seems appropriate, somehow. There they picked up the backpacks Kristin M. assembled with the help of her friends and family.
It was at this time that the wildfires really started getting bad up in Oregon and Washington. Kelli in Stayton, OR had to evacuate her house just a few days after the crew had passed through. She has been able to return since, praise God! Up near Kelsea’s family, half of Bonney Lake, a town near her sister’s house, had to evacuate. The crew was at this time supposed to be getting close to the end of the most grueling part of their trip, and was hoping to make a few stops for sightseeing now that their schedule was a little more flexible, but this was somewhat tainted by worrying about friends and family along the West coast. The crew was amazed to see how much haze and smoke the fires were generating. They were also extremely grateful that their trip was not affected by the fire - they were getting notices on their phones about evacuations in some of the areas they were driving through, but never near where they were.
As they drove through Arizona, the haze gave way to dust blowing up from the desert, as well as a few tumbleweeds on the road! The first sightseeing stop was to fulfill Kelsea’s birthday wish of taking a picture next to a giant Saguaro cactus in Quartzsite, AZ. Fortunately by then they had driven past the worst of the smoke. The truck then headed to their hotel, which was about an hour from the Grand Canyon. They got to the hotel in time for dinner for the first time since they left Washington state, so they were able to have a real, non-fast food meal. They also rearranged the boxes in the Penske, and caught up on some much-needed sleep. The next morning the crew went out to enjoy a quick look at the Grand Canyon and snap some selfies before heading out again.
From there, they continued on to Colorado Springs by way of New Mexico. Shockingly, it started snowing that night as they passed through NM on Wednesday!! Again, the crew had reason to be grateful, as the snow never became serious enough to impede their progress or make them feel unsafe. Once in Colorado Springs the next day the crew picked up the boxes and donations Monica L. was holding for them, and got to enjoy a quick bite of pizza with her and her family. Then they continued on their way to Kansas to visit Joplin and Andrea E. and their church, The Well.
Here they got to take a break for a few days over the weekend with members of The Well, who treated the crew to quite a few fun activities. This included a trip to a pickleball court on Friday and celebrating Kelsea’s birthday with a Mexican themed fiesta on Saturday! Happy birthday Kelsea! At The Well, the crew picked up more boxes of backpacks and donations. After church on Sunday 9/13, the crew again headed out, stopping briefly to pick up backpacks in Columbus, MO from Kimberly K.
Now the crew is in Indiana. They have met up with Allen, who drove up from Maryland where he was helping with food packing events and other ministry needs. The truck is getting pretty full now, so the crew will rent a second truck as they continue on.
Russell, Kelsea and Kirstin would like to say thanks so much to everyone who has been able to donate backpacks this year. They say it has been both thrilling and humbling to see so many people putting so much time and energy into backpacks during this difficult year. They also want to thank you for praying. Kirstin says, “Thanks so much to everyone who prayed for a safe journey! We have really felt God’s protection upon us!” The crew asks that you continue to pray for their safe journey as they continue the great American Backpack Trip of 2020!
- posted by Christi
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