Owning a barn. Living in the mountains where we used to vacation. Seeing the Cleveland Browns win a playoff game over the Steelers. These are just a few of the unlikely things in my experience. Add to that today…going off-roading.

There’s plenty of space for it out here in western Wyoming. In past years, I’ve looked at a few routes, driven a little bit on some of them, but they always turn “expert-level” pretty quickly. And we don’t have one of those super-duper off-road golf cart type vehicles that would be ideal.

So, in planning this trip, I got to looking at a ridge line with unpaved roads. Namely, Bald Ridge. Seemed pretty straightforward without a lot of steep climbs or descents. We made our way to the trailhead and drove in.

The road (and it technically was a road, since it was numbered along with all the various off-shoots) was generally pretty well-maintained. A bit rough in spots, but our large-size SUV was able to clear them. Toward the top, we had some uncertain moments, but we pulled through.

The destination at the end was worth it. We were overlooking the deep Clark’s Fork River valley. Interestingly enough, earlier in the day, we had driven to the mouth of this valley with the idea of driving along those lower off-road trails. However, they were immediately beyond our capability, so we drove to the ridge line, and within an hour or so, we were looking down into that very valley.

We are now back at the cabin…cleaned, fed, and resting, happy in the adventure of the day. One unlike anything we’ve undertaken before.

How like life this day has been, so analogous to our journey to the Celestial City. Rough roads with hardly a smooth patch at all. Moments of wondering if we were going to make it. Flashes of fear as we felt the car slipping. Telling ourselves that the worst was over, only to come upon a more uneven stretch.

There is a highway that we travel on our way to the cabin with the longest stretch of straight road I’ve ever driven upon…probably 10 miles long. Wyoming Highway 120. It’s wide and smooth, and the speed limit is 70 MPH. It’s not very busy, so even if you come upon a slower vehicle, it’s easy to get around them.

Life is not Highway 120. It’s the Bald Ridge Trail. But there’s an advantage to traveling off-road; the destination is worth it. And as I stand on the top of Bald Ridge, gazing down at the valley far below me, I am reminded again of that for which I live and strive and suffer. Jesus! “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” was the Apostle Paul’s credo.

It is because dying is gain that life is worth the journey. I can withstand a thousand bitter tears if I know that Jesus is at the end of them. And more than that, since “to live is Christ,” I know that he is with me in every rough and uneven patch of road I drive upon.