Murphys Mom

August 14, 2026

Leaving Home......Dallas.

For the past week and a half, we have been chasing the road to Billy Graham. ❤️

And apparently, we believed the shortest route to Billy Graham was through Colorado, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Mayberry, a swinging bridge, an improv group, a large bolt…and possibly a rainstorm or two. 😂

We have arrived by THIS route… (see map).

And looking at it now, I’m fairly certain Moses took a more direct route through the wilderness.

But what a journey it has been.

Visiting the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina has been a longtime dream of Wayne’s. Today, we finally arrived and watched that dream come true.

But God had quite a road planned for us before we got there…

❤️ First stop—Colorado.

We flew to Denver to spend time with our dear friends Jan and John at their mountain cabin and attended a MercyMe concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre......a BIG Ol' Bucket List item for Liz.....☑️

Fabulous doesn’t quite cover it. Like…REALLY fabulous.

❤️ Then we flew across the country to Scranton, Pennsylvania, Wayne's hometown, to celebrate his sister Linda and her husband Phil on their 50th wedding anniversary. A beautiful celebration was hosted by their daughter Sue and her husband Tyler and their 4 littles.....We picked wildflowers, made centerpieces, looked at old family photos, ate pizza and apple cake, and even did a little jig with the lady cousins, visited Aunt Marion, and left an hour before Mr. Black Bear showed up at Cathy & Rob's house. DANGIT!

Lots of LOVE.

After the last piece of apple cake was eaten, it was then time to kiss our Pennsylvania family goodbye and set out on a weeklong road trip to Charlotte, NC....home of Billy Graham.

First stop: Gettysburg National Military Park.

🇺🇸 We walked and drove the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg, where history suddenly felt much less like something you read in a book and much more like something you felt beneath your feet. We were actually able to experience a Cyclorama....one of only two left in the country. Google it....its super cool!

🚗 Then we drove through Cavetown, Maryland.......

As the skies started darkening up and drops started hitting our windshield, we discovered a bolt approximately the size of my arm lodged in our rear tire.

We survived. Thanks to a chick named Katie at the Hahn & Sons repair shop who risked her life to travel in the pouring rain for a 40 minute drive to get us a tire........

By the time we reached our first destination, Luray, Virginia, we discovered a cranky desk clerk, a Speakeasy for dinner, and a view of 8 A/C units outside our 2nd-floor window. We didn't care.

We woke the next morning in search of a coffee shop and a good walk. We found a cute place for coffee just STEEPLY down the road called Broad Porch Coffee Co, where we snagged a table by the window just as the raindrops starting falling outside. We read our Jesus Calling devotional and each picked a family name out of our prayer bucket to pray over. Our every-morning ritual.

As the rain slowed, we walked around this quaint little town, admiring all the things that made it unique....before tackling the STEEP hill back to our hotel.

🏔️ Then we traveled through the breathtaking Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive, followed by a little shopping in Staunton, Virginia, where every shop seemed filled with Southern charm—and where a chai latte at Crucible Coffee provided the necessary fuel to continue our AI-generated travels.

❤️ We spent a sweet night in Lexington, Virginia,

Another fine coffee shop was found and our morning journey through Jesus Calling and picking a name from our Family Bucket to pray over......(it is SO much fun...trust me!)

Natural Bridge State Park was our next stop Ai informed us we needed to visit.....all 159 steps down to the Natural Bridge.....

And here is the important thing nobody tells you about 159 steps DOWN:

There are also 159 steps BACK UP.

Then came the Blue Ridge Parkway…

With town names like.....

Tuggle Gap.

Rocky Knob.

Mabry Mill.

Meadows of Dan.

Seriously…you just have to love the names of these places tucked into the Appalachian Mountains.

Eventually, we arrived in....wait for it.....you're going to love this one.....

MAYBERRY!

Well…Mount Airy, North Carolina actually, Andy Griffith’s hometown and the inspiration town for Mayberry RFD.

We walked Main Street, soaked up every bit of nostalgia, and I am almost certain Aunt Bee was working at the Visitors Center.

I SWEAR I saw her.

Barney gave us a ride in his squad car and Wayne even got a "pat" down by Barney....

But we learned so much about this man named Andy Griffith. Everyone in town knew him....considered him family and smiled when they spoke and remembered him.

Then we landed in the beautiful little mountain town of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

While walking through town that evening, we came upon something I will remember long after the shops and scenery fade from my memory:

A Prayer Tree. Right smack dab on Main Street in the middle of town.

People could write down the prayers weighing on their hearts and hang them from its branches.

Hundreds of little pieces of paper…

Hundreds of stories…

Hundreds of people asking God for something only He may fully understand.

And suddenly, in the middle of this fun and crazy road trip, there was this quiet reminder:

Everybody we pass is carrying something.

🙏🏻The next morning we made a quick—and VERY breezy—stop at Grandfather Mountain on our way out of Blowing Rock, where winds at the summit have been recorded at more than 100 mph. My hair would agree with that.

This is where we met Lisa. A lovely never-married lady (I only know this cause she told us) who was the Q&A volunteer at the Visitor Center. Lisa took a liking to Wayne and "quietly" let us in the park....FREE!

And of course, someone decided this was the PERFECT location for a swinging bridge a mile high....since the winds were known to exceed 100 mph.

So naturally…

WE WALKED IT.

FUN FACT: You can actually hear the bridge "sing" as the wind moves through it. I’m pretty sure it was singing, Nearer, My God, to Thee. Oh ya...that was cool!

Oh ya.....and a portion of Forrest Gump was filmed here.....!!

And as we left this beautiful park in the Blue Ridge Mountains to head to our next Ai destination, we stopped to "thank" Lisa for her generous gift of FREE. As I walked away, I heard her say, "You're So Welcome....I Love You"........

It wasn't just the bridge singing the rest of the day....my heart was singing as well.

Then came Asheville, where we attempted to blend in with the locals downtown and somehow ended up enjoying an improv group performing in the city park.....

We did notice a few strange people....men wearing short skirts and go-go boots with painted on white faces.....

Lots of green and purple hair and "interesting" artwork......and we found the "perfect" dinner table to experience all of this from.....Front Row Seat!

And then came today.

Our final day.

We pointed our very tired, very dirty, rental car with a new tire, toward Charlotte.

Finally…

Billy Graham. The reason for the road trip in the first place.

But just as we drove out of Asheville, we saw a sign.

THE COVE — Billy Graham Training Center.

It wasn't the Billy Graham Library we were headed towards.....it was something else.....

We looked at each other.

And turned around. ❤️

And that unexpected turn became one of the most meaningful moments of this entire journey.

Tucked high in the beautiful mountains outside Asheville, we found Chatlos Memorial Chapel—a simple, beautiful mountain chapel with a tall steeple surrounded by trees. This was the place for mountain retreats, a place to slow down and exhale.....to sit and chat with God as you walked through the challenges and trials of this life we all know so well......

We walked inside.

A man was playing the piano in the chapel.....alone

No traffic.
No itinerary.
No rushing to the next stop.
No 159 steps.
No giant bolts in our tire.
No swinging bridges.

Just stillness.

A Prayer Room.

And God.

I sat in that little chapel and felt His presence deeply next to me.

And I found myself thinking about this entire crazy route we had taken to get there.

Maybe that’s how life works sometimes.

We make our plans.
We choose our route.
We know where we think we’re headed.

And then come the detours.

The celebrations.
The flat tires.
The rainstorms.
The mountains.
The people we love.

The unexpected Acts of Kindness shown to us.

The prayers hanging from trees.
The laughter.

And somewhere along the way, you realize…

God wasn’t just waiting for you at the destination.

He was traveling with you the whole time.

And then, finally, we drove into Charlotte and arrived at the Billy Graham Library.

Wayne’s dream.

Fulfilled.

And after learning more about the extraordinary life of Billy Graham—the millions of people he spoke to, the presidents he knew, the countries he traveled, and the enormous influence of his ministry—I was struck by something beautifully simple: