Texas: Cowboy Churches, Green Grass, Sunshine, and a Lot of Highway

Tim: We have arrived in Corpus Christi and have set up our new home (a three dome tent) this morning. We arrived last night to the campground at midnight and decided to set up the Element and sleep in it last night. Yesterday was a day full of lots of driving. Texas is huge and we drove from Texarkana all the way here yesterday (roughly 600 miles).

We decided to get off the Mapquest path and take US highways from Texarkana to Corpus Christi. We saw a whole lot of nothing on this journey, but it seemed every little town in Texas has won the state football title at one time for another (at least that is what most of the water towers had painted on them). In addition, every town's football stadium looked like a Division I stadium.

We also saw a ton of "Cowboy Churches", which was something that makes sense, but I never heard of before. We drove through Houston on this journey and it has to be one of the biggest cities I have ever been through. The traffic was almost Chicago-esque...bumper-to-bumper all the way through it. We drove right past Lakewood Church, the church that Joel Osteen pastors with his wife. It was the home to the Houston Rockets for many years. Boy, what a big church...I guess they have 20,000 for services.

As I type this post, I am sitting on a picnic table at our campsite. We are right beside the shower house and are in a secluded section of the RV park. The people here have been very friendly so far and really like pets, so Chase is in a good place. The temperature is around 85 degrees and overcast skies with some sun peeking out. We are a stone's throw from the water here, so Chase will be loving this place.

Candy and I will start our reading marathon today. I know that during the trip yesterday I really started to think about the great John Wooden's definition of success and what my thoughts are about it. I brought two of his books with me (as well as many other books from other authors) and will be searching for what I believe success is. I am sure it is identical to what his definition is, but after how tough the last three years have been, I have to refocus on this.

Candy and I both have a lot of work to do. It may be a nice, warm place, but we are both on a quest...a quest for what is really important in our life. We know that this is going to be a trip that will be a turning point in our lives and we are ready for it.

Regarding what we are doing, I found this great quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson regarding sticking to your guns: "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great person is one who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."

This quote fits what we are searching for. People think we are crazy to just jump in our Honda Element and go out into an uncertain world and future. We say we would be crazy NOT to do this. It certainly is not a life for everyone, but it is the life for us right now. We are both looking forward to just doing what Jesus did many times in His ministry- getting away from the world and praying and resting.

Alright, I will get off the soap box now and stop preaching (plus, I think I might be getting a sunburn on the back of my neck). We both hope you all have a great day and we will have another post ready for tomorrow. We need to get out and see what is actually here in Corpus Christi!