Medora/Fargo, ND, and Coon Rapids, MN

On December 6th, I left Missoula around 7:00 a.m. and headed to Medora, North Dakota. I started driving before the sun came up, and I didn’t stop until after the sun went down. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that about three hours in to my nine hour drive, my car started making an incredibly obnoxious rattling noise. Like any handyman, I quickly solved the problem… by turning the radio all the way up so that I couldn’t hear the noise anymore. That solution worked until I was in the middle of nowhere where apparently only two radio stations exist. Neither station was getting the job done, so I grabbed my iPod… no battery. I tried my phone… no service. I tried the radio again… still couldn’t handle nonstop Christmas music. So there I was with six hours of driving left and a crazy rattling noise that I couldn’t seem to pinpoint, even after stopping a couple different times. If you have yet to make a six hour drive listening to an exasperating rattling noise, don’t. It’s overrated.

On Monday, I went horseback riding with my friend, Keara. For my first time on a horse in over 10 years, I’d say things went pretty well. After we finished riding, we drove through Theodore Roosevelt National Park as the sun started to set. Once the sun went down it was pitch-black out, which made it tough to navigate all of the turns. What made it tougher, was the herd of bison that were standing on the road just around one of the bends! Although we got plenty close, we were able to stop just in time. After the adventure in the park, Keara and I went back and made Christmas cards to drop off for people in nursing homes.

The next day, I went from one side of North Dakota to the other, driving from Medora to Fargo to stay with my friend, Joey. Once I arrived, we went to Mass, then stayed at the Newman Center to play ping pong. Since I was planning on an extended stay in Fargo, I used Wednesday as a day to sleep in and get caught up on emails.

On Thursday, my friend, Jenna, arranged for me to do an interview with the local news station (http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/headlines/Minnesota-22-year-old-traveling-all-50-states-to-help-others-361488181.html). Later that night, Joey and I went to Mass again. Following Mass, I had the opportunity to speak at St. Paul’s Catholic Newman Center!

On Friday, I volunteered at the Great Plains Food Bank. They had me putting together packs of Christmas cards created by children who benefit from the food bank's services so that the packages could be sent to the organization’s supporters. Later that night, Joey took me to a Newman Center event to meet some of his friends. After Mass on Saturday, I was able to attend another event to meet some new people.

On Sunday, I stopped at a nursing home to drop off the Christmas cards that Keara and I made in Medora. After that, I headed home for the first time in four and a half months! After stopping by Adoration to say some prayers in thanksgiving for a safe trip, I finally made it home!

After a week of spending time with my family and being able to sleep in my own bed, I took advantage of the Christmas specials and bought a cartful of blankets to donate to a local organization called Fiona’s Hope which aims to “address the comfort needs of families of hospitalized children during prolonged or unexpected hospital stays”. To learn more or to make a donation, visit: http://www.fionashope.org/

Thank you to Keara and Joey for hosting me. Thank you to everyone at St. Paul’s Catholic Newman Center and Valley News Live for helping me share my story. Thank you to everyone at the Great Plains Food Bank for working to end hunger. Thank you to everyone at Fiona’s Hope for providing for families during times of need. And thank you to all of you who continue to support me and pray for me. None of this would be possible without you! I am currently back home in Minnesota and plan to head to Alaska and Hawaii in about a month!