Murphy and I made it to South Lake Tahoe! We had quite the drive from Southern California. We stopped plenty along the way, for food, bathroom breaks and picture taking. I’ve included some pics of our journey below! Needless to say, it was a long day in the car, stemming roughly 8 hours.

The first half of the drive was rough. What seemed to be only a few gas stations for potential stops over the first three hours. The high desert scenery became somewhat boring if I’m honest. I almost gave up on my scenic route plan until we hit a town called Bishop, which is in central California. Once we went through and grabbed our second Starbucks of the day, the geography quickly changed. All of the sudden we were heading toward higher elevation, which brought many shades of green, brown and even white all mixed together. That’s right- snow capped mountains were a staple of our afternoon journey! What seemed so barren and dull became colorful and awe striking as we wound around lakes, through pine forests and by rivers with rolling rapids. If you ever get a chance to head up 395, north of Bishop toward Tahoe, I wouldn’t shy away!

I was reflecting on how disappointed I was during the first several hours of the trip, given my expectations of grand scenery. Barren, dull, indifferent and ever-unchanging landscapes had me stretching to remain positive for the first half of the drive. Followed by the second half, which consisted of colorful mountains, streams and lakes. I started to think about the symbolism of my two halves of today’s journey…

Life was somewhat barren and dull for a while. Before I really tuned into the idea of living a spiritual connected life, I often felt indifference within. Life circumstance brought me to craving a deeper relationship with God, how “ironic!” I’m amazed at how many doors He opens along the way, I must have passed by so many! Once I started to lean into a relationship with Him, life became a lot more stimulating, much like the second half of today’s journey. I think many of us travel through the barren landscape of seeking earthly veils to cover up the lack of joy, purpose or inner peace we crave. I think once we elevate our mindset and seek a truly Devine relationship with our Creator, joy, peace and true purpose surely follow. I also think so many of us walk around wounded from our past. Conditioned from our experiences and the projected perspectives of others. We are hardly aware that we can elevate to a higher consciousness and yield so much more out of life than the ruts and valleys we are often stuck in. I was stuck there for years! Chip on my shoulder, trying to prove something, making decisions from a wounded place to chase a feeling of belonging, or constantly trying to appease others in this world. What I realized throughout that journey was regardless of what successes I had, I simply never found true peace or joy. Sure- moments here and there felt incredible, yet the true inner peace wasn’t there. I needed to heal my wounds. I needed to seek Him first. I needed to give up the desire to control my future, which mostly stemmed from fear. I needed to change!

I’m still ebbing and flowing from the barren desert of the world to the glimmering landscape of feeling more spiritually connected. We all go through the “peaks and valleys.” I guess today I’m just thankful that I know the difference within myself when I’m dialed into God vs. when I’m dialed into the world. He created us to be ourselves. He created us to achieve something within His Master Plan. I still believe whole-heartedly that we’re all created for a reason, a purpose, a Divine Calling. I’m willing to bet that the view is better when we elevate, just as I experienced on my long car ride today. Elevate our lives, elevate our priorities, elevate to our True Self and elevate our love for others! 

Here’s to Day 3- Our first day of rest, nestled along the waters of beautiful Lake Tahoe. My first sunset here was amazing last night, check it out below! God is here, I recognize His paint brush!