Back in January two friends (Brad and Stefan) and I went on a road trip to the Southwest. We had originally planned to go to Peru and then road trip the Carretera Austral in Chile. It was going to be a legendary trip. We thought we were planning right around the reopening of many places, but we jumped the gun and the UK strain had other ideas for us. With a last-minute cancellation, 2 friends backed out and it turned into just the three of us hitting the open road.
White Sands National Park
Behind the vintage look of all these trip photos was an idea of unplugging and staying off of my phone as much as possible during the trip. In order to do that I bought a bunch of disposable cameras and left my phone in the car for our excursions whenever possible. While it was nice to unplug and be more present during the trip it was also fun to wait for the photos to come back and to laugh over how they turned out! The major of this post will be the sharing of my favorites of those photos and a couple of travel stories!
Went through Arkansas and Hot Springs National Park and on down through Texas and Arizona eventually spending some time on good old Route 66. Part of the road living is partaking in local delicacies such as the fast-food franchises that don’t exist in Michigan. I had heard good things about Whataburger from an Army friend, and I have to say it exceeded expectations. I told them it was my first time at a Whataburger and they upgraded my meal for free, and after we sat down they came and gave us all free shakes and cookies on the house just because we were so excited about the experience! I, personally, developed quite a relationship with In-N-Out and suffered from withdrawals once we were out of their reach. Also pictured is a picture of me with a low-quality Bellagio in the background. We spent one night in Vegas and I really think I could have spent the whole time just watching the Bellagio fountain shows over and over.
This next piece is an excerpt from Brad’s travel journal from the trip pertaining to the picture of me with the deer. Enjoy!
Day 3 (1/11/21) – Alamagordo, NM to Casa Grande, AZ
“Hiked in Organ Pipes National Monument [on the] Pine Tree Loop. about 5 miles round trip. Along the trail, Sam spotted a dead deer right off the trail. It was a big buck! 8-point and it was a Mule Deer. [It] ended up being a mile up the trail. The deer hadn’t been fed on at all. It was crazy! Super fresh. So we did the loop, ate our Clif bars at the top and finished at the car. Saw some guys emptying trash, so I mentioned the deer and he referenced me to a phone number for the camp host. He took my info and contacted the authorities. I got called back a few times and ultimately it was determined that the deer had been killed by a young cougar. Which is crazy considering how fresh it looked. May have happened near when we were up there. All we saw was a small wound on its side and leg.”
To add a little more detail to that journal excerpt, I believe is was a park ranger or some other type of park authority that contacted us several times. Brad was trying to give him directions to where we had found the deer and that took about two different calls. Then we hadn’t heard anything for a while and when we did get a call back it was with the conclusion the authority had drawn after skinning the deer. When he skinned it he was able to see evidence of bite marks, scratches, and contusions that likely lead to some internal bleeding and ultimately killed it. Perhaps the the deer had gotten away from the cougar, but not before a big tussle causing the contusions. Then the internal bleeding from the attack finally got the best of it after it had made it away from the cougar and that’s when we found it dead under a tree? No matter what the case, we were happy to see that it was form nature being nature and not from poachers. It’s still crazy to think how little evidence we saw of an injury besides a scratch and a little blood, but all the damage was internal and hiding under the hair.
Native American drawing and structures at Tuzigoot National Monument.
Saguaro National Park
Hiking up to Wasson Peak and taking in the many views along the way!
Airbnb camper set up
Outside of Grand Canyon National Park
Never having been to the Grand Canyon before it was an awesome experience that definitely lived up to the hype. Its so crazy to see just how huge it is. At some points it just feels like you are starring at a picture because you cant comprehend it. Its got me thinking about a return trip to hike down into the canyon.
We made it all the way out to California and Death Valley National Park before turning back to head home. I want to give a special thanks to Brad’s Grandpa and Grandma who took us to Outback Steakhouse in Nevada and also to my Aunt and Uncle in Arizona who gave us multiple meals and a place to stay for two nights. Also thanks to Uncle John for sharing some Army stories from the cold war era that gave us chills!
What started out as a trip to endure “the hardest 10 days in the Army” turned into something a lot more. I left for Army Air Assault school in Fort Benning, GA on November 1st and finally returned back to Michigan on December 2nd after burning through a whole month, traversing 12 states, thousands of miles, sleeps in the bed of my truck, and many great times with friends and family along the way!
Air Assault school is split into three separate phases. The first phase was primarily academic where we learned all the different types of aircraft and their rated cargo capacity and the prerequisites for carrying sling loads. At the end of this phase was a 6-mile ruck with about a 50lb rucksack. The second phase was sling load operations. In this phase, we did a lot of hands-on with different configurations of loads for different types of helicopters. At the end of this phase is a hands-on test where you are graded on find 4 out of 5 deficiencies within 2 minutes on four different loads; the cargo trailer, a humvee, a cargo net, and a cargo bag. I failed the cargo bag and had to retest! Luckily after some retraining time, I did my retest and passed. If I had failed the retest I would have been sent home. The final phase of the school was rappelling. This was by far the most fun. We spent two days doing different types of combat rappels out of a 60-foot tower. On the third day of this phase, we went out to a big open field and we all had the chance to rappel 90 feet out of a Blackhawk. I was scared, but so pumped for that! Not many people can say they have been in a Blackhawk, let alone rappelled out of one and got paid to do it!
Me struggling on the far right.
The very last event at Air Assault School is the 12 mile ruck where, again, you have the 50lb rucksack on your back and you have to complete the ruck in under 3 hours for a 15 minute mile pace. Seeing that this was the last event, and I really haven’t pushed myself that hard on rucks so far in my army career, mostly do to my inexperience, I decided to see what I was made out of. The route was 3 miles, so we had to do down to the 3 mile, then back to the start, and then to the 9 mile for the final turn around and then to the start for the finish. The fastest person in class, leading the ruck, gets to carry the guidon (class flag). If someone passes them they take the guidon and hand off their weapon to the guy they passed. Rucking with the guidon was never really a thought in my mind especially after I saw the class leader cruising wayyy ahead of me at the 3 mile turn around point. However, I had already decided this was a person challenge to see how well I could do. I noticed at the 6 mile turn around point I was a little closer. Then at the 9 mile I was a fair amount closer. I still didn’t think I’d catch the guidon, but I was determined to finish with a good time. With one mile left on the ruck I was running on a stretch with no streetlights (it was still dark since we started the ruck at 4am) then way ahead of me in the distance I saw a streetlight and the guidon waving under it! I couldn’t believe I was that close so, with renewed energy, I picked up the pace and caught up to them and joined the couple of other guys running with the guidon. They decided that rather than having one winner we would finish as a group all holding the guidon together. In the end I finished with the class studs, a bunch of ranger regiment guys and an SF guy, with a time of 2:10. That was under the 11min/mile pace goal I had set for myself, and more than that I learned an important lesson in leadership. Rather than having one guy finish and feel good about himself, we had 5 guys finish as a special group all proud to have been apart of the team. That was a good moment is one of my more fond Army memories.
After that I spent the weekend in Fort Benning catching up with friends. We had a really nice cookout night and we also had some dumpster diving and thrift store adventures! Another one of my buddies is going to be stationed in Italy, so I spent some time teaching him to drive a manual car in my old truck. Hopefully, that lesson will help him out when he tries to find a car once he gets to Italy!
After hanging out in Georgia I started heading southeast to Florida! My plans involved Visiting Florida’s three National Parks; Everglades, Biscayne, and Dry Tortugas. However, plans are prone to failure and that’s not exactly what happened, but I got my toes in the sand and I saw my share of sunrises and sunsets!
Everglades was the only real park that worked out and I really enjoyed my time there. It is a lot different than typical National Parks so you have to shift your expectations a lot before you visit. My visit was definitely elevated by the alligator that I saw. He was a biggin, probably over 10 feet! I saw him just chilling on the land right by the water and then I accidentally scared him into the water and watched him swim away. Iguanas seemed to be all over the Florida keys when I headed that direction.
I made my way out to Key West to catch a ferry to Dry Tortugas National Park, but unfortunately, it was really windy when I was there so all ferries were canceled. Being stuck in Key West with nothing to do is better than most places Id say though. I did the typical touristy things and made it to the southernmost point in the continental United States. I explored some wrecked bridges from, what I assume, was tropical storm damage. I also took advantage of some fresh seafood and sunsets. Biscayne was more mainland closer to Miami. I really got very little of the real experience at that park. That was due partly to the extra-expensive socially-distanced boat tours and due to the same high wind conditions. That park is best-seen snorkeling and with such high winds, the sand would have been all kicked up.
Tre is center.
Joel and his wife Lydia and her friend Chloe.
After spending so much time sleeping in the bed of my truck in wild and in Walmart parking lots it was pretty refreshing to catch up with some old friends (and sleep on their couches). The first friend I visited was my old college roommate Tre. Tre lives near Tampa now so that was a nice stop on my way back north from the Keys. The first night we just hung out and caught up and then he nerded out teaching me the Star Wars intricacies of the Mandalorian when we watched one of the episodes. Just like old times! The next day we went longboarding by the ocean and explored Clearwater beach, which is super nice! That night he and his girlfriend, Brooke, took me out to a restaurant on Clearwater beach. It was a great time and so good to see him! I already have plans of wrangling up the rest of the college roommates to go explore down there! We were both living in the moment so much that we, unfortunately, didn’t even think to take a picture together. Instead, enjoy a college throwback. Tre is the one taking the picture (neither of us looks that young anymore).
Coincidentally, Tre only lives an hour and a half south of my old high school roommate Joel (I went to a boarding high school for those who don’t know). Joel is in school to be a pastor and is doing what is called his vicar year where he gets assigned to a church under the guidance of an experienced pastor to mentor him and help him get some hands-on experience. I showed up on a Sunday morning and got to receive communion from him which was an awesome experience! It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come. We hung out at his place, went out for dinner, and then Lydia and Chloe obsessed over Hallmark movies and Christmas decorating back at their house. Needless to say, it was a fun first day of hanging out. The next day we went to a beach and watched the sunset and then had an oven pizza for dinner!
The Colonel!!!
I left Joel and Lydia’s after hanging out for a couple of days and headed for Virginia where my family was having Thanksgiving this year. Virginia was a long drive and I got to talk to my Army buddy, Jack, who is stationed in Italy, on a Facebook audio call. He mentioned that his dad, who I know, lives in Fayetteville, NC, and that he would love to have me over if I needed a stopping point on the way to Virginia. I took him up on that offer and on short notice I ended up hanging out with his dad that night who caught me up on all his latest adventures as he’s enjoying his Army retirement. The next day he took me on a tour of Fort Bragg. As a retired colonel, he had spent quite a bit of time at Bragg and he practically knew what every building on that whole post was used for. He took me out to breakfast at the golf course on post and after that, I was back on my way to Thanksgiving with the family! It was super cool that I was able to catch up with Jack’s dad and that he was such a gracious host.
The Bumhoffer boys.
Since my brother Jon and his wife, Andrea are the only ones in the family who live in Virginia and they live in a smaller apartment we opted to rent a secluded house in Kinsale, VA near the Chesapeake Bay. It was in a quiet backcountry neighborhood with a big backyard with a dock to the Potomac! We were blessed with great weather and we spent a lot of nights around the bonfire and days playing catch and chasing my nieces around. There was even a zipline for the girls to play on. I tried my hand a crabbing after I found some cages and shrimp for bait. It’s a good thing we had brought our own food because I didn’t catch a thing! Inside the house, there was a foosball table and a ping-pong table. Lots of good times together and of course good food! On my way out of town on Sunday I went through my brother’s town and went to his church where he the worship director.
I was back on the road, but with another extra bonus to my already extended Army work trip. I headed to Pennsylvania to visit my Army buddy Reece and his family. Reece, and Jack, who I mentioned earlier, went through basic training and officer candidate school together with me and consequently, we have endured a lot of shared hardship together and after those training and bonding even more good times!
On the way to Pennsylvania, I made a quick stop at Gettysburg and made a walk through the National Cemetery there. I definitely need to go back and really take it all in, but it was a cool stop nonetheless.
With my self-proclaimed Godson.
I made it to Reece’s family’s house just in time to help him made some jerky out of the deer he had just shot. That night we made some delicious venison jalapeno poppers too! The next day Reece and I had some fun messing around the property while we waited for our jerky to cure. He taught me how to ride a dirt bike and then we did some exploring on the wooded mountainous property they have there. We went out and walked through a mile-long train tunnel cutting into the side of a mountain. It was pitch black in there at night! Reece, his wife Sarah, and some other family and friends had a fun darts competition and a bunch of hanging out and time well spent. It was fun to play with their son, Hosea, again. He’s a big fan for some reason! I left early in the morning after one more venison breakfast and some goodbyes! So good to see them again! Blessed to have so many connections in so many places to have them work out so well for my road trip.
On the last leg of the road trip home, I stopped at Kinzua State Park in northern Pennsylvania, all of which is so beautiful. It was home to one of the largest train bridges in the late 1800s and it was used well into the 1900s and eventually fell out of use and was designated as a state park. Eventually, it got to the point where they closed it to foot traffic because it was unsafe. They were in the middle of restoring the bridge in 2003 when an F1 tornado destroyed the middle section of the bridge. The restoration then turned to securing the remaining portion and today it served as an observation deck with a beautiful sight of the valley and of the wreckage of the rest of the bridge below. I would love to go back with more time to take the hiking trails down into the valley to get a better view of some of the wreckage.
I did not intend for the road trip to last that long and honestly I didn’t plan for a lot of the fun stops that happened either, but Proverbs says, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” I am so thankful for the good times and the new experiences! I talked earlier on the blog about feeling stuck with the lack of control in my life and I am really proud of myself for letting go of my frustrations and living in the moment and enjoying the opportunities right in front of me despite of how COVID and other things out of my control have affected my previous plans. I pray the Lord will continue directing my steps!
Years ago, before I started high school in Saginaw and went off to college, I was learning Tae Kwon Do from a local teacher in rural Michigan where I grew up. This local teacher happened to be a national competitor in his competitions days and is now a 7th-degree master blackbelt. It was this teacher that ignited my love for martial arts and taught me so many life lessons, especially the importance of discipline, at such an impressionable time in my life.
It was always weird to me that such an accomplished man and martial artist lived in what most consider “the middle of nowhere.” One day in class he told a story, the one portrayed in the video above, about how he ended up making his way to Bad Axe, MI as a refugee. There was a reason we bowed to the American flag before class. The freedoms we enjoy here in America are blessings, blessings that didn’t exist for him as a child and still don’t exist for many in the world today.
Many years later, after college, I stopped back into the restaurant that his family owns in Bad Axe, MI, and I talked to him about my plans to travel and my plans to travel to Cambodia in particular. He gave me his advice and phone number to call in case I needed help, but what I received when I got to Cambodia was an even greater appreciation and respect for a great man who impacted my life more than he probably knows. Being at the killing fields I got to connect the dots back to that story from class and really feel the inhumanity that took place and understand the perspective that he was trying to instill in us through Tae Kwon Do.
I feel really fortunate to have been taught and impacted so greatly by this teacher and I am really excited to be able to share this story so that it can impact others as well. That wouldn’t be possible or nearly as effective without the beautiful film put together by his son, David Siev. I highly encourage you to take 15 minutes out of your day and watch this film. You’ll be better for it!
