We're only 1,534 miles from home...

We're in Carlsbad, NM, grabbing lunch and enjoying the sunshine.  We haven't made it too far yet today, we're only about 166 miles from El Paso, but we took a detour and hiked through Carlsbad Caverns.  That was an amazing stop!  We're all really glad that we went!

After a solid night's sleep on carpeted floors Wednesday night, we all felt ready to tackle a day of hard work with Casas yesterday. Our students worked hard!  Every year, His House students pack all of the kits to build Casas homes.  Yesterday, a team packed over 140 crates of electrical and roofing equipment and completely emptied Casas's stock of supplies!  They did a great job!  Another team went to Justin Kirklin's, a His House alumni and current Casas staff, and did landscaping in his new back yard.  That team worked really hard and wound up removing a extra-large trailer worth of dirt before laying down new rocks.  Justin and his family are very special to Ferris State and we were really excited to be a blessing to them. 

After quick showers back at the church (even cold showers feel good after 6 hours of shoveling!), we went to Golden Corral for our annual celebration dinner with Casas staff.  We take them out to dinner as a way to say thank you to them for all of the work that they pour into us and every other team that comes down to work in Juarez, Acuna or Guatemala.  And the buffet style restaurant is one of the best places for all of us to go for dinner and it finally fills all of the 6' plus college guys up.  I think Tanner finally stopped after 3 steaks! 

Casas and His House at Golden Corral

Following dinner, there was another run through Wal-Mart to replace stinky sweatshirts and ripped jeans before we went back to the church to go to bed early (well, early for us. It was around 11p local time, 1a Michigan time).  A group of us went to vacuum out the vans and get all of the "Satan's teeth" out of the carpets and seats.  "Satan's teeth" are sharp burrs that cling to everything, thrive on the Casas compound and have a tendency to find the most tender spot on your foot to sink in.  We did pretty well, only one person has found one in their shoes today!  We also stopped at Chick-Fil-A for our traditional "hit the road" breakfast this morning. Chicken for breakfast seems odd for a lot of people, but the restaurant there always takes great care of us and the food is really good!

The past 2 years, we've stopped in St. Louis, MO to go to the City Museum as a fun afternoon out of the vans and just hanging out.  This year, we opted to go to Carlsbad Cavern's instead and wandered through 2 miles of caves, stalactites and stalagmites, limestone deposits and pools.  It was amazing to see God's creativity and the massive amounts of detail in each formation.  It was almost overwhelming to look at!  We played, hiked and took pictures for a couple of hours and then waited in a massive line to ride the elevator the 754 feet to the top.  It was definitely worth the detour!  

We're headed straight to Michigan from here.  According to Google, we're approximately 22 hours from Big Rapids, not counting any food/gas/emergency bathroom stops or time changes along the way. It's going to be a long drive, but we're all sinking into a food coma anyway so that will make it a little bit easier :)

Wendy's internet is moving ridiculously slow so uploading any other photos isn't really working.  Hopefully, wherever we stop for dinner tonight will allow us a better connection.  We're excited to be back home, (although not at all excited about the snow!) and be able to tell all of you about our trip in person.  Thanks for your prayers!  We'll see you soon!