Some Concluding Thoughts

Through 8,500 miles, 2 oil changes, 80+ miles hiked, countless hours spent alone and thinking, I could say so much about this past month. In some ways it might seem like it was all about the places I went and saw. I feel like an advocate for travel, the outdoors, for America. I've posted way too many pictures - my hope was not necessarily to show off "look what I'm doing", but to inspire others to get out there and try new things. To go where the road has not led you before. I'm inspired by pictures this way, so I try to give back accordingly. The pictures speak for themselves, so go see things!

However, the biggest thing I take away is the time spent with people. These times by far brought me the most joy. The time spent alone was great, and probably much needed. Time used to step away from my circumstances and realize the abundant blessings in my life, time to refocus and realign the path I'm on, time spent to ponder God's mysterious creation, time spent to ponder God's words. These were all great, but experiencing them alone was not where I felt the fullest. The alone days were not what I would consider my favorite moments of the trip. Although I would not trade them for anything, I think they offered a great contrast.
My time spent with people - my brother, friends in different cities, even strangers turned friends - was rich. Full of laughter, accomplishing things together, bonding, sharing stories. Comparing that to the alone journeys makes you realize how much less fulfilling alone is. When I left California, after being surrounded by 10 people for a whole week, it was really hard to hit the road again knowing I'd be by myself for the next 4 days. That to me says "work at those relationships at all costs".

Now hopefully this can be applied to living in Knoxville. Just like most people, I'm tied into multiple communities of people throughout weekly life - whether it be friends, coworkers, church groups, etc. So its time to give to those groups abundantly, whether it be time or efforts or whatever else, knowing the fruit of those relationships will be way better than going it alone.

Desert Places

It turns out there is something to be feared more than a storm on the prairie - a storm in the desert. Not only are the rain and lightning significantly stronger, they throw in swirling dust and tumbleweeds. I was driving along I-10 through New Mexico and I began seeing some signs I had never seen before. "Caution: Zero Visibility is Possible"; "Caution: Strong Crosswinds Area"'; "Caution: Dust Storms Next 10 Miles". They seemed interesting, but I didn't make much of them until I encountered what they were warning about. Once the dark sky on the horizon touched the road right in front of me, it was all a mess. The temperature dropped 30 degrees in under 2 minutes (no exaggeration). Dirt kicked up everywhere, the rain made me stop in the middle of the interstate (so did everyone else), and once I actually got going at about 20 MPH, I thought animals were running right by me as I saw dark objects flying by in the rain. I later figured out they were actually tumbleweeds. I managed to take this picture right as I was slowing down before I ran into the storm. That's rain and dust down there.

But I also confirmed some other thoughts about the desert. 1) It is remarkable in its own right, but I could never live there; 2) It is wild, maybe even vicious; 3) Of any geography, I think it offers the best sunsets. Better than over water, mountains, or the plains, the desert sunset is remarkable. I had to watch most of the sunset through my rearview mirrors as I was driving east, but it is something to behold. This is just a photo I took with my iPhone while stopping to get gas (I was too lazy to put my camera together), but every desert sunset I've seen is like this or better.

I started my drive through the desert on my way out of California on Tuesday afternoon. Drove all the way to Phoenix that night, where at 10 PM it was still over 100 degrees, and when I left at about 9 AM it was already over 100 degrees. Then from Phoenix I took I-10 through Tucson and El Paso. I wanted to take I-10 to see Saguaro National Park, which is just outside Tucson. I have to visit all the national parks after all. Although it was cool to see some of the giant cactus, this may be the only time I intentionally make a stop here...

So the desert is all-encompassing in some ways. Terrible, frightening, and powerful, but with its own beauty. Spending a little over 2 days driving through the desert, I can't help but think of Israel and their plight in the desert. I've grown to identify with Israel so much through my twenties - 40 years of wandering. At least that's what it feels like sometimes. The constant rebelling against God, things turn bad, asking "where are you God??", and then deliverance. I began reading a book recently and liked a line that read something like, "God never promised absence of trouble, but he does promise deliverance from trouble." Just like Israel, although you wander, there is a promised land.
It's difficult to go back and look at these personal deserts, but also much remarkable in their own right. Remarkable to see the things I've learned and ways I've grown in only 28 short years. Lessons that would not have been learned walking through fields of green. And that's one of the purposes of personal deserts - they are a training and testing ground for the times in better places. Where was Jesus led to in the temptation of Jesus? The desert (Luke 4). The desert reveals what we're really made of. Are you willing to give in to the harsh conditions and die of thirst/starvation, or you going to fight through to see greener fields? What is guiding you through the desert? Your own strength or something greater? I'll be the first to admit, I've tried the desert on my own strength. It resulted in such a severe fight against apathy that I nearly lost sight of any promised land. Or I just didn't care if there was a promised land. That's dangerous territory. But opening frequently this Book and the one word bookmark never would allow a complete apathy takeover.

Much like the physical desert - vicious and harsh, yet beautiful.
Through discouragement in the midst deserts, I've found encouragement in a few places. For anyone else that could use it, here are some of my favorites:
-read the story of Israel. It's such a testimony to God's faithfulness even when we are faithless
-Deuteronomy 8 - I try to read this at least once a week
-Joel 2:25-27
-Isaiah 45:2-5, with the emphasis on "treasures of darkness" and "riches stored in secret places".

I know these are all Old Testament, but it is in the Bible nonetheless. It is God speaking to His people. And are we not His people as well?

Although the desert is harsh, it produces previously unrevealed character.

So that's my preaching for the day. I would never wish the desert upon anyone, but if and when it does come, stay focused on the promised land.

From the desert I got a brief respite from the heat and dust by finding Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad itself is a dump of a town, lots of heavy industry and mining. But there is an incredibly cool and GIGANTIC natural cave just outside the town. I spent about 2 hours wandering around in the damp, cool dark a few hundred feet below ground. It seemed like I could actually feel the pigment leaving my skin while underground. All that hard work in the California sun gone to waste!
But it was still an awesome experience. I had not been in this big of a cave since I was a little kid. I tried to take some pictures, but the lighting was often difficult.

Cave Entrance - its about an 800 foot descent into the cave floor

Crystal clear water surrounded these formations and offered some awesome reflections

This was called the "Whatle's Mouth"

This area was called the "Boneyard"

Stalactites and Stalagmites

As you can tell from the number of pictures I've put up, I was fascinated by this place. It felt like I was in a sci-fi movie. I kept waiting for aliens or Darth Vadar to pop out from behind one of these crazy formations.
At the end of all this, I hiked back up out of the cave. Most people took the elevators back out, but something about me just won't do that. It was 58 degrees and there I am sweating my butt off in a tanktop working my way up. It was funny to see people's faces who were walking down as I was going up. Several of them said things like "congratulations" or "you're almost there". I may have even heard one "you're crazy".

Ultimately, it was a really cool experience, and I would recommend to anyone next time you're in the Carlsbad area.

After hiking out of Planet X, I hit the road for Dallas, my hotel spot for the night. Not a whole of driving or scenery left after that, so look for some concluding thoughts and comments here soon.

Leaving the West

I've already made my way into the Arizona desert. I spent the last night just a little west of Phoenix, about as far as I could make it before getting too tired. I mean, I did absolutely nothing the past week, the endurance is not quite there yet.

It's funny how I can already look back and see the change of thoughts and emotions over the course of the trip. At first, it was kind of tough (although also very exciting) leaving Knoxville knowing it would be a whole month before I got back. It was hard to let go just as I had gotten comfortable there. Part of that was a feeling of lost control. I wouldn't be able to control anything back home - my yard, my home, whether or not I got included on the group text of what's going on that evening, activity with my family. You almost wonder if you'll be an afterthought (I don't say this to try to draw sympathy or consolation from anyone, just saying these are the natural thought processes) once you get back. But that's where giving those things up to God makes all the difference. I feel like I did that, decided I can't control any of those things back home so why even give them too much consideration. That and knowing I'm returning to something better, whether it's internal or circumstantial, gave me much peace.

Well, I think I got so good at giving those things up that I'm almost nervous to return home. As I began my drive home yesterday, I started thinking about some things at home and my stomach started to knot up. Responsibility. Social dynamics. Work. Geez, I haven't had those things in almost a month.

So what does that say to me? That we're adaptable. One summer in college I lived in Nashville for an internship. My first week or two, I was so homesick. By the end of the summer, I didn't want to come back to Knoxville. About a year ago, I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to move to Portland - I thought I badly needed a change in scenery. It was hard giving up my hopes to remain in Knoxville, but I finally became ok with it. Then, a few months later, discussions of my new job came up. At that point, it was hard letting go of the decision to move - it was a done decision in my mind. All this to say, I've learned emotion and mindset can be powerful forces in the human experience. Through these experiences, I've learned its best to keep focused on the only constant, Christ. It makes all these other gyrations a little easier to maneuver. I always like to look to one of my favorite verses in these instances - Psalm 16:8 - "I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken".

I spent the last week with some good friends from Knoxville and their extended family in the Orange County area. We spent almost every day at the beach, eating great food, and laughing. Perfect timing for me. After wearing myself out for 3 straight weeks hiking, driving, and trying to think too hard, sitting in a lawn chair and bodysurfing (folks back home - Gulf and Atlantic waves are nothing like out here in the Pacific, at times I thought I would be broken in 2), eating like a king, and good fellowship were the perfect cap to a month away from home.

Plus, when it looks like this, it almost makes you wonder why you live in rainy Knoxville...

It probably looks weird that I crashed someone else's family vacation for a few days. But I guess I'm kind of the older, weird, single Uncle to these guys.

One of the funniest things from the week was my before and after. When I arrived, I had not shaved in a little over 3 weeks and not cut my hair in probably about 3 months. I had never met in person the California part of the family. They probably thought, "what kind of a person are we letting into our home?". Fortunately they were more than gracious. But it turned out one of my California hosts was an incredibly professional hair cutter (I'm sure there is a better term for that, but I don't know it) and they eventually persuaded me to let her clean me up. (I'm not really sunburnt in the 2nd picture, I think it was just the lighting, but it does look like I had a nuclear sunburn).

This kind of became the joke my last night there. Her husband, my friend's brother, is a preacher, so we joked that I showed up, he shared the gospel with me, and I changed my ways. Not that its about appearance, but it was just kind of funny. It basically does not look like the same person.

As soon as I got into the valley in California, I was already missing my time in Orange County. The new friends, the beautiful beaches, the relaxing atmosphere were almost enough to make me start looking for an apartment. But Knoxville is home, so here I come.

Being a national park geek, I wanted to take a slight detour through Joshua Tree National Park, since it is right off the interstate. I drove up to the north part of the park, cut right through, and hopped right back onto I-10. The trees and landscape almost seem out of this world.

This was really cool to see, but I don't know if I see much reason to make a special trip back. Other than to get a Joshua Tree coffee mug (national park geek has begun collecting national park coffee mugs).

This kind of began my 2 day drive through desert landscape. It's already got me thinking quite a bit about going through the desert, such as Israel. More to come tomorrow from what I think will be Carlsbad, New Mexico. Happy Wednesday people.

NorCal to CenCal to SoCal

As I stare at my blank TV screen here in my Hampton Inn room in Oxnard, CA, I realize that I have not turned on a TV in 3 weeks. What do those black boxes that sit on top of furniture or hang from walls do again???

I've not checked the news even once in 3 weeks. I have no idea if there are any good new songs or movies out. Call if blissful ignorance. 

I was noticing that my eyes are as white and clear as I have ever seen them. The absence of stress. Although I wouldn't say I now declare myself to be carefree for the rest of my life, I do think this short-term period of relative stress freedom has allowed me to see and realize some things that the past few years have not. Those years have not been so stress free. Looking back now, it looks like I couldn't see the forest for the trees.

To have a month like this has been good. I know once I get back, it will be back to many of the cares and considerations of before. But now I feel like I have a little more perspective. Getting away from it all it's a little easier to see the silver lining, and I've seen some great examples of joyful people. All the people I met in Glacier NP. The dude playing the weird horn at the cliff in Crater Lake. The breakfast bar attendant this morning who talked to everyone she could, and seemed to be best friends with everyone who had been at the hotel all week. I was in 2 Corinthians 2/3 yesterday where it talks about us "spreading everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him". It made me wonder how often I'm actually spreading the "fragrance" of Christ. I don't know what a lot of these peoples' backgrounds are, but I know I want to be more like them.

And what a great place to start practicing that, no better than Cali, right? What a chill place. I should be a pro by the time I get back home. Sunday afternoon Thomas and I were driving into the Bay area when we hit a lot of traffic. Traffic always stresses me out (probably a good thing I live in a small city where our traffic is nothing). We were trying to get to a little town called Sausalito on the northern peninsula right above SF before heading back into the East Bay to meet up with some friends of mine. We got there a lot later than expected because of the traffic, but as soon as we found a little place to sit down and have a beer, I said to Thomas "I can feel the stress just melting away". We had excellent views of the Bay and San Fran from right where we sat.

Good thing all that stress melted away because it came right back after. I was trying to make it back into the far side of the East Bay area to meet up with Toby and Erika Nichols to get some dinner before getting Thomas onto the BART to the airport. We were a little later than expected, dinner took longer than expected, and Thomas just barely missed his flight. I felt like a turd. He seemed to be pretty forgiving though.
It was really good to catch up with the Nichols though. I got to hear about their ministry and life in Concord. I was kind of hoping I would be the first Knoxvillian to meet baby Nichols who could be here any day. I missed out, but I look forward to meeting her one day in the near future.

So that pretty much sums up my time in NorCal. I stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge on my way out of town on Highway 101. Got a few cool views.

This always make me think of the 90's sitcom "Full House"

From there I headed down the coast on Highway 1, through the beautiful Big Sur area. Unfortunately it was mostly foggy the 2 days I spent driving. Actually, I planned to camp a little south of Monterey, but I drove all the way down there and it was so foggy and late (and expensive, $35 to camp is ridiculous!) that I decided to drive all the way back to Monterey and stay at a dumpy hotel.
Tuesday morning I drove all the way down the coast to just below Santa Barbara. Even though it was foggy about 2/3 of the time, I still saw some amazing views. This has to be one of the world's prettiest drives.

This is Bixby Bridge.

Below is McWay Falls. I've been here before, but I think this is the most scenic waterfall I've ever seen.

Kind of a funny story. I pulled over at one turnout over the cliff and saw a point I could climb down to (pics below). I spent a few minutes about halfway down just sitting and pondering the ocean and views before deciding I wanted to try to get all the way to the end. I got there, but immediately a seagull started dive-bombing me. At first I thought it was just flying a little close. But by its third pass, it was flying only a few feet away from me and making some hideous noises. So I got the point, packed up my stuff quickly and got out of there as fast as I could. I guess I got a little too close to its nest. I had no idea seagulls could be so harsh.

But I did get this picture from the seagull lair.

Spot where I ate some lunch

The only other noteworthy thing from Tuesday was the elephant seals. I was driving and saw a sign for "elephant seal viewpoint". I thought it was some gimmick, but pulled over anyway. Then I saw a ton of these fat, lazy, smelly and kind of ugly seals laying around on the beach. It was still pretty cool to see though.

Adults - not that attractive

Baby seal - these were alright - it looks like it is practicing its swim strokes

A whole beach full of them

Beautiful coastline

From here Highway 1 turns inland a little bit. I know "CenCal" is not a real term, but that is the phrase I will use to describe the central part of the state's Highway 1, which was mostly farmland. Once I got back to the coast, it was beautiful again. I got out in Santa Barbara, a great city where all the buildings have been kept in traditional Spanish architecture and design, and went to their farmers' market and got a pie...

I also saw some of the coast there. I remembered from visiting in 7th grade that there were a ton of very tall palm trees all along the beach. Well, they're still there. Santa Barbara is a cool little city that I wish I could've spent more time in. I guess that just means I'll have to come back one day...

Now I'm about to take off for San Diego to stay with the extended Wenger clan. This is the portion of the trip where I finally stop driving so much, take a little time to do nothing but sit on the beach and read/relax, and hopefully get it all out my system before heading home.

I'll update ya'll from San Diego.

Oregon - the Brotherly State

Just got done with a week with Thomas touring western Oregon and even part of Washington. We dubbed our trip the "Northwest Volcanoes Tour", as you will see here shortly. To say we kept busy would be an understatement. We fit more into one week than most rational people would try in a month it seemed. We kept joking we were going to start writing travel books with titles such as "Portland in 1 Day", "Mt Rainier in 1 Day", "Crater Lake in. 1 Day", etc. Then we feared whoever would come along and write Portland in 3/4 Day, just like "7 Minute Abs" from "Something About Mary".

We saw a lot, so here is a quick recap and some great pictures. It's taking every ounce of restraint I have not to put 100 pictures up, because it is so scenic here. I will spare you though and just give the highlights...

Sunday we actually had the chance to go to Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Portland where the Thomas family serves. I've known the Thomas family since my years of going to Guadalajara for bball mission trips, where they used to live and churchplant. It was a great time to catch up with them and their 5 wonderful kids. If I had planned a little better, I would have been able to hang out with them a while longer. But as I did not, Thomas and I headed back to Portland after the service and saw the city for half a day. At the famous Saturday Market (even on Sunday), I bought a clock made with old forks and utensils. That was probably my most noteworthy event of the day. 

I've loved Portland ever since the first time I visited. As Thomas and I walked around, he was amazed at how much he liked it right away. I don't know if its built into the Frasers or what, but it made me feel a little better to have someone else immediately like a city I rave so much about.

Monday is when we really got going. From Portland, we drove west over to Cannon Beach on the Pacfic. You may not recognize the name, but you've probably seen pictures. There are a lot of screen savers and famous pictures of this place, deservedly so. Its one of the most scenic places I've ever been. Good thing it was scenic though, because the sandy beaches are not the sandy beaches we southerners know so well. The air was crazy windy and cold, and the water was even colder. Not exactly a lot of people swimming.

We walked right up to the rocks and saw some baby seagulls up on top of some. I caught one trying to take flight. I don't think he actually did, maybe just stretching his wings.

From Cannon Beach we drove further south on the 101. There are great views at almost every turn.

We ended at Pacfic City, a really cool little vacation town. We ate lunch at the Pelican Brewery, helped ourselves to one of their home recipes (when in Oregon...), and spent the next few hours exploring the rocks.

It's literally been a dream of mine to watch a sunset at Cannon Beach. Although I would've preferred a beautiful woman by my side, Thomas made decent company for the event. I've seen some cool sunsets in my liftime, but this may have been my favorite.

Tuesday was our Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood day. After driving down the gorge, seeing a few waterfalls and a sturgeon fish hatchery, we cut in towards Mt Hood at the town of Hood River. Just so happens Full Sail Brewery is in Hood River. So once again, Thomas and I had some lunch while checking out the local flavors. We both approved. 

Hood was great though. The skies cleared literally just as we arrived at the trailhead. It was like God was saying "I'll clear the way for you". Things like that happened multiple times throughout our week. As you can see below where Thomas is scoping out our journey, it was a little bit of a hike to Hood.

After getting lost once and hiking an additional .75 miles STRAIGHT up to the point shown below, we probably did about 13 miles round trip. The final .75, just like that one trail in Glacier, was brutal. Both of us thought every single step was our last before we should turn around, but our stubbornness kept us going. When we got to the top, we were thankful for our stubbornness. With views like below and a sense of accomplishment, the pain of getting there felt like a long-lost thing of the past. 

As we were doing this, I got to the top by continually telling myself "you only need strength for one more step, focus on just the next step". Because if you looked at the point we were going to and the trail getting there, it looked like too much to conquer. And I'm learning the same with life. Lord give me the grace and strength to get through today and to do it well and joyfully. Because if I look ahead to where I want to be at 35, 45, 50, it seems like it might not ever happen and the road to get there could be full of difficulty. So instead, I won't worry about that road, but consider today alone. Not that I'll lose sight of where I'm going or the trail I'm on, but just focus on the next step in front of me. For anyone else reading that may feel the same way sometimes, I hope this is an encouraging thought. We're not going to get to our destinations overnight, as I may have used to think, but its all about each and every day. It's all about putting one step in front of the other. And then you get to this...

After Hood, Thomas proposed the idea of going to Mt. Rainier in Washington. I had not even thought about it, but it looked pretty nice. It's a national park I've never been to, and its only bigger and snowier than Hood. So Wednesday morning we set off for Mt. Rainier National Park. We got one of the coolest campsites I've ever stayed on. The firepit and table were on one side of the lot, and then there was a small wooden bridge that led to the tent spot. Very unique and fun to call home for 2 nights.

But who cares about the campsite, the scenery was amazing!

Wednesday night we were pretty tired and took a short hike from one of the main park centers. We stood right under the south face of Rainier, which looked like this...

Then looking away from the mountain, you could see everything. You could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens all from where we stood.

Adams in the background on the left and St. Helens in the background to the right

Mt. St. Helens

Clouds settling into the nearby area

St. Helens zoomed in

Mt. Adams zoomed in

On Thursday we decided we had rested enough and wanted to try a long trail. We regretted it. We both agreed it was probably about the worst hike we've ever done. We calculated it out to be roughly 9000-10,000 feet in elevation change and 13 miles. It would've actually been about 15 miles, but we happened to catch a young park ranger driving down a service road. We hitch-hiked back to the trail head and thanked him over and over. I had run out of water with about 6 miles left, so I was dreading every passing step. We were almost so miserable that we couldn't even really enjoy the views.

We actually bushwhacked a trail up a river bed for a mile or so before finding the real trail. Thankfully...

The trail actually took us over a swinging suspension bridge. It was kind of nerve wracking walking a few hundred feet over a rushing river on a swaying bridge.

View from Emerald Ridge, our destination. This was the west face of the mountain.

By the time we got done with these hikes, we had absolutely no desire to do anything. So naturally, we drove back into the tiny town right outside the park and found some pizza and beer. Although exhausted, Mt. Rainier would be a cool place to visit again. There is a trail that goes all the way around the mountain, called the Wonderland Trail, which we met several people doing along our hikes. They all said it was amazing, but took 6-8 days. One day in the future...

Friday, from Rainier we drove all the way down to southern Oregon to Crater Lake. Between the traffic all along I-5, losing the last campsite right on a lakefront to the car RIGHT in front of us, and, and the worst mosquitoes I've ever experienced, we had a rough Friday. After our tent was finally set up at 9:30, we decided to drive into the park to watch the stars over the lake. 

As soon as we got up there, we were both enthralled with the lake. 

Although it was almost 11, we decided we'd go ahead and wake up at 4:45 to catch the sunrise over the lake.

After less than 5 hours of sleep, we went back for a nap before tackling the park that day. Good thing we did, because we dominated Crater Lake all day long. Our favorite part was hiking to the bottom and cliff-jumping into the FREEZING lake. It was a really hot day, so the cold water felt great. And all the bystanders would cheer you on as you jumped. And there was this hippy, but super friendly dude playing a horn for each person that jumped. It was a funny scene.

The "choffer" as they called the horn.

I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for Crater Lake. It's almost a magical place. The water is the bluest water I've ever seen in my life. The island in the middle of the caldera is called "Wizard Island". The sunset from Watchman Tower was amazing (we realized we pulled off the trifecta - moonlit lake, sunrise over lake, sunset over lake).

Almost full moon over the lake

I wish I could go into more description of each of these places and some of the funny stories from each. Ultimately, I was thankful to have Thomas around to share these experiences. It was nice to have company, but it was even nicer to have my brother with whom we can recount these stories for the rest of our lives. We had some classic good campfire man talk, but also made fun of stupid things. I hate to admit my lack of planning prevented from making his flight out of San Francisco on time (sorry bro!), but he got home alright and didn't seem to want to kill me for it. What a guy.

As it relate to nature though, my lasting impression from this week is the POWER of God. He created all these things, and they are mighty. The Pacific Ocean crashing into the Oregon coast sounded like enough to break the rocks. The wind howled unlike anything I've ever heard. We stood on Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier and listened to glaciers cracking and falling down the mountainside. We swam in Crater Lake and saw Mt. St. Helens, both of which are erupted volcanoes. All these things are such powerful forces of nature, yet all so different. God just keeps us guessing and keeps us in awe, doesn't He?

So where am I now? I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Monterrey, CA trying to figure out where to spend the night. Looks like it will be camping tonight, but hopefully I get to catch up on the blog tomorrow night as I stay in a hotel near Santa Barbara. Should be a full and fun day of exploring the coast, although I'm looking forward to having company again in San Diego. Thomas spoiled me by having someone to talk to. Now its back to my own thoughts for a few days. Keep checking Instagram...