Sometimes the best adventures aren’t planned — they’re the ones waiting quietly beside the road, asking us to stop and look closer. On a rainy drive home along the Calder Freeway, curiosity led me to finally pull into Organ Pipes National Park — a place I’d passed countless times but never explored. What I found was a hidden pocket of wonder just outside Melbourne: ancient basalt columns rising above Jacksons Creek, blue wrens darting through wet bushland, and that unmistakable calm that comes from slowing down and being truly present.

Tired from a long day on the road, we pulled into the KOA in Kerrville, Texas—just looking for a place to crash. What we found was bone-dry ground that laughed in the face of tent pegs and had us wondering how we'd ever sleep. But laughter led to luck, and a kind-hearted upgrade to a simple wooden cabin turned our dusty misadventure into one of the most memorable overnights of our journey. That evening, we dined high above the Guadalupe River, watching the sun dip low over the cliffs—blissfully unaware that the same river would be making headlines for very different reasons 13 years later.