The playground equipment at this park was awesomely old-school. Many of the pieces took me back to my childhood days...
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| Ryder, Tate, Dave, Shiloh, Brittany, Juliann, and Choice |
Dave and Brittany walked us inside where all of the dedicated men and women were working to make sure everything runs smoothly.
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| Tate, Dave, Ryder, Shiloh, Brittany, Juliann, and Choice |
It didn't take long before the kids found themselves lucky recipients of sweet little tokens from the Pilot Flying J Corporation. They each were given a t-shirt which Tate in particular COULD NOT WAIT to put on. With it being a tad large he concluded that for a few years it will be a pajama shirt.
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| Tate and Juliann |
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| Tate and Juliann |
Ryder is almost big enough for his though. It is amazing to me how much he has grown!
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| Tate, Juliann, and Ryder |
They also gifted us some "PhilMore" mugs that are refillable at Pilot Travel Centers all across the country. This will be a treasured, and very well used, gift. Thank you!! We did our best to give them an idea of just how integral a part of our journey Pilot truck stops have been. For everything from fuel, oil, and bus parts, we utilize Pilot for showering, loading up on snacks, letting the dog and kids run around, and overnight parking. It has become a familiar and friendly network for us on the road. And to top it off, they are a company who we are grateful to support as they reached out and supported us in our darkest times.
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| Brittany, Kyle, Tate, Choice, Shiloh, Juliann, and Ryder |
It is difficult to keep Choice's attention when talking about the sappy stuff. He'd rather explore the office than listen to his mom ramble on and on. It is always fascinating to see what he's found to occupy his time on these visits. Dave had a very kid-friendly office which helped Choice remain somewhat interested.
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Choice
While the kids explored Dave's office, he shared with me about his involvement in the local Crossfit box. Knoxville is big into Crossfit, as is Prescott, AZ. We had the commonality and talked about how Andrew and I would workout at Captain Crossfit in Prescott 5 times a week. Many days, Andrew would do two workouts in a day; one in the morning with the crew, and one after work with me. He loved it!
Dave told us that he'd participated in the Hotshot 19 WOD and it kicked his butt. He looked extremely fit so I believe he was just being humble and self-deprecating. He had the WOD written out on his wall and we were glad to be able to snap a few pictures next to it.
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GMIHC 19 Crossfit WOD
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| Choice, Juliann, Tate, Shiloh, Dave and Ryder |
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| Choice, Juliann, Tate, Shiloh, Dave, and Ryder |
He even had his own set of kettle bells at the office that Tate and Choice were mesmerized by.
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| Choice and Tate |
Tate was actually doing 35 pound kettle bell swings. His Daddy would be proud!
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| Choice and Tate |
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| Choice, Shiloh, Ryder, and Tate |
Dave, if you are interested, I challenge you to try out the BE BETTER WOD. It was created in honor of our message and put into play on Labor Day. Let me know how you feel the next day. :-)
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| Be Better WOD |
I want to mention one more inspiring tidbit about Dave. He is a veteran of the United States Army. Service to his fellowmen is not something that Dave does, but something that he IS. He proudly displays items within his office that depict and reverence that time in his life. He understands all too well what it feels like to lose a comrade. AND, the loss of a family member. His father was also a military man. From what I understand, he too was a very influential and highly respected man in the United States military. Dave lost his father during his High School years. For as long as I live, I will never forget the message he shared with my kids today. I pray they will remember it as well.
He looked them in the eyes and said (in summary)...
You will never forget your father as long as you live. There will be moments in your life when you will feel him around you and know that he is watching over you and is proud of the decisions you are making in your life. There have been moments in my life when I have wished that my dad could be there to see me accomplish something or to help me through a difficult time. Then I sit still and know that he in fact is right there with me all the time. You see, you have a very important job to do. It is an enormous responsibility to lose someone you love. Now you get to live for him because he no longer has that chance. In everything you do and in every decision you make, remember that you are living in the remembrance of your father. It is an awesome responsibility that is bestowed upon you.
WOW...BEAUTIFUL!!
He recollected to me the thoughts he had watching the news of the Yarnell Hill Fire. He said you couldn't see that photo of your family picture and not feel a tugging at your heartstrings as a father. God bless you Dave, not only for sharing with us about the losses you've endured in your lifetime, but also for being so raw, so candid, and so loving. We will cherish the moments we had with you today.
I was so thankful to Brittany and Dave for opening up to us about the values of their company. They both mentioned that the thoughtfulness and compassionate service really comes from the top down. They couldn't say enough kind things about their boss, Mr. Haslam, and the core set of values he lives by and founded this company upon. To put it modestly, he is one of the leading businessmen in the country. He excels in building successful companies. These great men and women at Pilot know how to succeed in a business sense. That being said, we wanted to focus on the way in which they successful plant seeds of goodness and charitable kindness as well. We were a few of the blessed beneficiaries of their good works and speak from personal experience of the way they are impacting our world for the better.
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| Brittany, Ryder, Tate, Shiloh, Choice, and Juliann |
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| Brittany, Ryder, Tate, Shiloh, Choice, Juliann, and Dave |
Oddly enough, I spotted the word "BETTER" in numerous places throughout their office.
There were uplifting phrases, such as "Our Mission: Making Life Better for America's Drivers".
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| Juliann |
They gave us a cold drink for the road and we made our way out of the building so they could get back to work.
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| Juliann, Tate, Choice, Ryder, and Dave |
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| Juliann, Ryder Choice, Dave, and Tate |
Dave, Brittany, Mr. Haslam...please know that you are making life better for more than just America's Drivers. You are bettering everyone who comes into contact with your amazing company in one form or another. I feel so honored to have been able to take an inside peek at the beauty that fills your company. You are doing wonderful things and I pray that others will take interest in the way in which you Spread the Better.
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| Juliann and Jason |
Just as your shirts state, "Thank you for making us part of your family".
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| Tate, Shiloh, Ryder, and Choice |
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| Ryder, Choice, Tate, Juliann, Rusty, and Shiloh |
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| Juliann, Shiloh, Ryder, Rusty, Choice, and Tate |
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| Ryder, Choice, Shiloh, and Tate |
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| Ryder, Choice, Tate, Juliann, Rusty, Shiloh, and Jason |
We ventured out of Knoxville and stopped in an eclectic and lovely little city called Ashville. I fell in love with this place immediately.
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| Ashville, TN |
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| Ryder, Jason, Shiloh, Tate, and Choice |
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| Shiloh |
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| Juliann and Jason |
The kids spotted the local Fire Department and Police Department right in the heart of downtown.
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| Choice, Ryder, Juliann, Shiloh, and Tate |
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| Choice, Ryder, Juliann, Shiloh, and Tate |
We also noticed the statues of animals on the downtown square. Below you will see Shiloh and Tate riding birds and Choice and Ryder atop a couple of pigs. Just your average Monday evening for the brigade.
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| Shiloh, Tate, Choice, and Ryder |
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| Shiloh and Tate |
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| Shiloh |
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| Tate |
My favorite element of Ashville was their "BEFORE I DIE" wall. An entire wall, covered in chalkboard paint, with the words repeatedly written "Before I die I want to _______________". They provide the opportunity for anyone who would like to, to write down one of their personal bucket list items for all to be inspired. I could not leave until I read each and every message that currently exists on that wall.
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| Jason, Choice, Juliann, Shiloh, Tate, and Ryder |
A few seemed to REALLY strike me.
HELP PEOPLE
PUBLISH A BOOK
FEEL CONFIDENT
LIVE
SEE MY KIDS BE SUCCESSFUL
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| Choice, Shiloh, Tate, and Ryder |
We all took our own turn to write down our "Before I die" thoughts.
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Shiloh, Choice, Tate. and Ryder
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Shiloh, Choice, Tate, and Ryder
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RYDER..."Before I die I want to...Help the Earth."
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Ryder
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SHILOH..."Before I die I want to...get a cat." "Before I die I want to...get a car."
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Tate, Shiloh, and Choice
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TATE..."Before I die I want to...SKATE".
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| Tate |
I learned a couple of things by that exercise. The first is that it is a lot harder than it looks to come up with what you are going to write. I am not sure if it is the pressure that comes from knowing that others will be, and are, watching what you will write. Was I more concerned with what others thought I should care about doing before I die than with what I actually want to do? Weird.
Second was the value in writing things down. It is empowering to display your goals because it gives you a sense of accountability. Whether you feel accountable to yourself, those who read your thoughts, to the universe...whomever it may be. You begin to feel accountable to step up and accomplish the things that are important to you.
I fully plan on copying this idea and putting it somewhere where others can feel moved, touched, and inspired by it just as I did. As the human race, we all have such incredible insight and individual talents, gifts, and views of the world. We should share those things with one another...this will enrich the world we are living in and motivate action to spread the better before our time here is over.
On the road again...
but before we get too far, we are making another stop at a Pilot to energize ourselves and refuel the bus. It is fun to visit Pilot Travel Centers now, knowing the ins and outs of the company and having gained an even greater appreciation for them.
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| Shiloh and Jason |
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| Jason and Shiloh |
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| Ryder and Shiloh |
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| Ryder and Shiloh |
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| Shiloh, Ryder, Jason, and Rusty |
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| Juliann and Jason |
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| Juliann and Shiloh |
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| Ryder and Shiloh |
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| Ryder |
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| Ryder and Shiloh |
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| Juliann, Ryder, and Shiloh |
We use these truck stops for all sorts of purposes. Sometimes we get very creative.
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