~ Senior Camping Trip ~

We were blessed by the most amazing weather while camping with my son and his friends. Three sets of parents came as senior sponsors. There was no agenda, just free time to rest and fellowship (and eat)!

These are some of our best friends...I just love this photo

blooming prickly pear and butterfly

After breakfast 'round the campfire

Time for...

I'm on fireman's belay. It's tough work, but someone's gotta do it (grin).


~and after a long day of playing hard, there is cappuccino to be found!
We only had time to do this three times all week, so it was a treat.

God's Creation

Some of our campers and the youth leader

Stone Door -The path to the rock climbing area, and down from the rappelling area.

Greeter Falls-Where we washed our hair and swam on Wednesday, after two days of backpacking twelve miles. The falls measure at eighty feet! The water was cold and invigorating!

* In Tennessee *

Rappelling
Climbing 'round on rocks
My son, Audubon
Making new friends, deepening connections

Me (on left) and Dana (pretty new to our church in Tx...lived in Nashville for 15 years), washing our legs and feet in the creek after a LONG backpacking/hike. We backpacked about seven miles that day. At night, we slept under tarps and stars.


For more information for your youth group... check out Confrontation Point Ministries. I could not recommend a program more highly than this!

What: One week wilderness trip for church youth groups in Appalachia
Goal: Group Spiritual Growth & Leadership development


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Scattered to three winds

Summer seems to be like this every year...a variety of summer camps or camping, mission trips and photography trips for us AND our children. Hubby and I sometimes go along (but not at the same time) as chaperones. These next two weeks are no exception. I'm sure many of you have similar activities in the summertime, and so it goes for families with growing, active children. It is my favorite type of homeschooling, where we can learn through travel and hands-on experience, alongside others who can teach us new and exciting skills.

Our oldest son (16.5 yo), AnselAdams, will be going on a solar car race trip from Austin, TX, through the Mohave Desert, all the way to the coast of Southern California. He will be helping with photography, along with dh's school's photography teacher, and he will also be one of the two videographers. This is going to be another excellent opportunity for him, in preparation for a possible future career in photo journalism.

As I mentioned earlier this week, our 12 yo son, JJAudubon, and I will both be going on a back country adventure of (weather permitting) rock climbing, rappelling, whitewater rafting, hiking and camping, plus non-commercial cave exploration! We ran errands tonight to pick up some essential supplies for our upcoming adventures. Just having the right equipment and some clothing (from the bargain racks) with "cool-max technology" gets me all motivated, and lifts my confidence in our ability to accomplish what is before us.


"We don't quit hiking because we grow old. We grow old because we quit hiking."
~Finis Mitchell, Author, Wind River resident, explorer,
trout stocker, Wyoming state congressman

Backcountry Adventure

Our 12-year-old child #3 (whom I call Audubon, because he loves the outdoors and animals) and I are going on a backcountry adventure in about nine days with his Jr. High church group. I am one of two female chaperones for the girls, and I'm really looking forward to this trip! We are going to the mountains in Tennessee.

This is one of the reasons that I am walking, working out and stretching again. The family and I have been camping since my hand surgeries last year, but I haven't been rappelling, climbing, caving, whitewater rafting and backpacking/hiking hard-core for a few years. In fact, on the last school trip (with hubby) that I chaperoned, I hurt my knee coming down the mountain, and had to rig a knee brace out of tube socks for half of the trip. That was pretty funny, but it worked! The last two trips we went on were not difficult camping conditions at all. Well, with the exception of a lot of rain.

More about our trip in future posts!


" May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. "

~Edward Abbey

#2 Heart-Stopping Moment

The worst, heart-stopping moment of our camping trip was when our youngest son fell into the campfire.

The second worst was watching our oldest son slide a-la "Legolas-on-the stairs-at-Helms-Deep" down the large hillside. He was climbing with his buddy, Brian, while we and Brian's parents looked on from our canoes. I happened to turn and look at the boys, just as "AnselAdams" came sailing down the steep, tree-covered slope, flipping toward the end. He landed in such a way that a small stick poked him in his nostril. After a good dusting-off, he was basically fine, nothing broken. Yes, boys are adventurers and explorers!

Here are the boys a little later, relaxing with their camp guitars. Ds "Ansel" is on the right.

~ The Lord's Protection ~

The most important, heart-stopping incident of our spring break camping trip was the moment that our little Androcles (as I am fond of calling him) fell face-first into the campfire, which overflowed with white-hot and golden embers of several days’ camping under three or four large logs, fully aflame.

How he came off that pile with not even a singed hair on his head or face, nor any blister on his hand, with which he tried in vain to catch himself, only God and A’s guardian angel know. He had fallen face-first, near the middle of the flames, and his head bounced off of the logs.

I pray that he learned a valuable lesson that night, not that he is invincible and can continue to be a clown, but that the Lord had His hand of protection on him for a reason…a reason that only the Lord is privy to right now.

He *was* horsing around with his older brother. He was not paying careful attention to the slippery rocks at the edge of the fire pit.

I was held still and calm in that moment of shock; a strong sense of "delay" came over me, which prompted me to choose not to lecture him on and on after realizing he was perfectly safe. I withheld extraneous comments, loved on him, and told him that it is a miracle that he had not melted a significant portion of his body in the accident.

I stand amazed, am humbled and grateful.

I sing a song that I sang in church a couple of times when my children were smaller:

I'm Amazed

I'm amazed at all You've done for me,
Who am I, that You'd bless me so?
I stand in awe of all your wondrous deeds,
You've dealt with me so graciously.

Broken by all the times I've failed,
and the days I've hung my head in shame,
Time and again, I'm driven to my knees,
And I've found Your true compassion there for me.

I'm amazed at all You've done for me,
Who am I, that You'd bless me so?
I stand in awe of all Your wondrous deeds,
You've dealt with me...so graciously,

You've dealt with me...so graciously....

Camping!

The first day and a half were lovely; perfect camping, hiking, and canoeing weather. My friend Judy and I were able to sit in hammocks and swing for a while, then sit near the campfire and read, while our husbands made dinner. All the children helped set up their own tents, then wandered down by the river to go exploring.



Our second day was reserved for canoeing on the river, the edge of Broken Bow Lake. If you look closely enough at the above picture, you can see the redbuds blooming. We journeyed up one quiet tributary near the end of the floating path, where lots of old water turtles have lived for years. The water was so clear, I could see the turtles, and one trout, in the water's depths. Up the ridge above the turtle area, there is a small waterfall that our older boys explored.



Minutes after leaving "Turtles' Cove," as we dubbed it, smoke poured our way from the direction of the Lake, which is not directly visible from the canoeing and kayaking area. Our son and I both got some tremendous pictures of what seemed to be a large forest fire.



Within minutes, the whole river was clouded over by smoke. We found out later that the park authorities were doing a controlled burn but were caught quite off guard when the wind suddenly shifted, causing visibility on the lake to go down to almost zero. It traveled quicly through the little valley, where we were canoeing on the river. It was only a little alarming.






The smoke spread quickly



Here are some of the beautiful cliffs near the end of the float trip. Eagles are said to nest here, but most of them move out toward the end of February. We were pretty sure we saw one eagle flying about on our last day.

The last day and a half of our trip was spent trying to stay dry and warm. We bought an extra large tarp to string up above our site, giving us a large area to sit and eat under, in dryness. The guys kept our fire going throughout all of Saturday, in spite of the rain. By Saturday night, we had a gorgeous, warm, roaring fire which kept us warm. The rain had subsided briefly at that point. Once we went to sleep, the showers picked up again. We had a special time of worship around the campfire all planned out, but were unable to go through with it.

The conclusion we came to the next day was that it was time to pack up and go home. We decided to wait and see if the downpour would stop before attempting to break camp, by going into town for breakfast. We stumbled onto an internet cafe', surprisingly enough, where a nice lady made us capuccinos and let us spend some time on two computers. There were games and places to sit in a nice sitting/reading room area. Hubby played yatzee with his friend, JB, and the boys played chess.

The rain let up, we all packed up and stopped at Applebee's for dinner, before returning home. Loads of laundry later, it is sunny back here at home, and I think I am rested and ready to begin spring cleaning!