Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

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From Bar Harbor to San Diego

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In two month-long trips over the past five months, Ken and I have traveled this country kitty-corner from the eastern coast of New England and into Canada, to the farthest west coast and border between California and Mexico! That’s a lot of miles—3,448 to be exact—yet we’ve driven most of those miles traveling only 3 or 4 hours a day. (I’m sure there is a life lesson there: How do you eat an elephant? One mile at a time! How do you write a novel? One word at a time.)

We’ve seen a lot of glorious views of God’s creation, we’ve had some frustrating moments when things in the camper or campgrounds didn’t work right, but most of all, we’ve made some sweet memories together, and our love for this beautiful country has never been stronger.

I shared photos of our New England trip in this post, but thought I’d share just a few of the highlights of our most recent trip below (not counting time with our Texas grandkids, Ken’s dear family, and the inspiring retreat in Phoenix with fellow writers that I wrote about HERE)

No, it’s not snow! It’s the spectacular White Sands National Park in New Mexico! Truly one of the most astounding sights I’ve seen in all our travels!
City of Rocks near Deming and Silver City, New Mexico is one of the favorite campgrounds we’ve ever stayed in. We parked right amidst the rocks and had a gorgeous sunset, a pretty sunrise and the most incredible night sky in between!
Joshua Tree National Park near 29 Palms, California has long been on Ken’s bucket list. We camped in the park and had beautiful views and another stunning night sky.
Monterey Bay, Big Sur, and the Bixby Creek Bridge on the California coast were my very favorite sights of the whole trip. The sky was dramatic and the ocean was unfathomable and seeing the green and the colorful flowers blooming was a breath of fresh air after all the desert miles we’d traveled.
Morro Bay State Park in California was another colorful stop with nice camping and beautiful morning views. We watched otters swim and seagulls swoop near Morro Rock.
Lovely Sedona, Arizona is unforgettable! Between the shopping and galleries in town and the breath-taking scenery on the winding roads nearby, we were both delighted and would go back again.

As wonderful as the trip has been, there is nothing on God’s green earth that makes my heart as happy as the words, home, sweet home. And that is where we are now—back in Missouri! (At least for a little while.)

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Deborah Raney

DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a three-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.
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Comments

  1. I always love following along on your travels via Instagram! I’ve seen a few people travel to Joshua Tree recently and started looking into it for myself. Not sure I’ll make it there this year… but maybe!

    • I’m not a fan of the desert and it’s a long way to Joshua Tree, but I’m really glad we saw it and camped there and it does have a certain beauty about it. And the Joshua trees are very unique and interesting. 🙂

  2. What an amazing trip, Deb! I grew up in Lompoc, CA – You might have driven by it on Highway 1 on your way to Morrow Bay. Lompoc is about an hour north of Santa Barbara, right next to Vandenberg Air Force Base. Super small town. It’s one claim to fame is the flower fields outside of town where they grow flowers to harvest the seeds and to supply nursuries and flower shops. They have a big flower festival every June. Well, there’s also a maximum security prison that put us on the map, but that’s not nearly as tourist-worthy. Ha!

  3. In your earlier post you had not yet made it to Bar Harbor, one of our favorite return-to vacation spots. These are amazing pictures! I’m so happy you have been able to take these trips.

    Our daughter has lived in California for 30 years, so we have seen much in that state from 50 miles inside Mexico to Sonoma. Monterey Bay and Big Sur are definite highlights. We were fortunate to take two cross country trips from Virginia to California – 2009 when our grandson was born and again in 2017. We took the northern route out and the southern route home. Highlights being Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, and Graceland. I am so thankful to have those memories since I lost my husband in 2023. So keep on traveling whenever you can.

    • Thank you for the encouragement, Betty! Even though I don’t like traveling quite as much as Ken does, I’m definitely grateful for the memories we are making together! Your trip sounds wonderful and we’e seen all those sights except for Graceland!

      P.S. We LOVED Bar Harbor and would love to go again!

  4. So fun! I haven’t seen much of these natural wonders even though I’ve visited Arizona and California many times!

  5. I’ve been to most of the places you detailed in this post. I, too, LOVE these spots! As it happens, I’m in San Diego right now as I type this. I’m from southern CA and was first here celebrating my mom’s birthday a week ago and now my daughters have joined me for a spring break trip to San Diego and Disneyland. 🙂

  6. Beautiful scenery! Great pictures! Yes, we live life ‘one mile at a time’ – but I have a huge appreciation for writers who can weave incredible stories ‘one word at a time’. Incomprehensible to me, but I am so thankful for those of you who write these stories!!!

  7. I love coming along on your travels! And such wonderful photographs you post. Thank you for letting us be a part of your journeys.

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