First, a quick catch up.
I’ve discovered three things about writing while trying to see the country: It’s hard to live in the moment if you’re also trying to write about the experience. It’s nearly impossible with no WiFi and often, no cell signal. And even if you have WiFi, as we did when staying with friends, I preferred to spend every moment with them, catching up.
So in the weeks since last I wrote, we’ve been through five national parks, visited with dear friends in Phoenix, L.A., and El Dorado Hills, CA, and hung out with family in Wenatchee, WA.
I’ll write later about the national parks — Big Bend in Texas, White Sands in New Mexico, Joshua Tree in California, Crater Lake in Oregon and the Olympic forest in Washington.
We’ve driven more than 6,000 miles. At the moment we are in Idaho. Tomorrow, Utah. We were welcomed warmly in Texas, New Mexico and Los Angeles because we brought rain to places that hadn’t seen it in months. If your land is parched, send for us. We are sure to show up with a downpour. And sometimes wind and snow.
As I write, it’s the start of Holy Week, and I am reading about how, 2000 or so years ago, things did not go as Jesus’ disciples expected after His triumphant return to Jerusalem. Stories of what happened the week of the crucifixion are fascinating to me. Check out Matthew 21 and Luke 19 if you have a chance.
Here in Idaho, my carefully plotted plans for this week have been uprooted by snow, sleet, gale-force winds and temperatures in the 30s (20s tonight and Tuesday night).
We were supposed to be camping tonight at a state park in southern Idaho. Celebrating God’s provisions for our needs, here are #5things for which I am so, so grateful today:
- I thought I had made reservations to camp tonight at Bruneau Dunes State Park, because I wanted us to hike the tallest single dune structure in North America. The dune, estimated to have formed 11,000 or so years ago after the Bonneville flood in the ice age, rises 470 feet from the desert floor. But our reservation actually was at a state park 45 miles northwest. The Bruneau visitor’s center folks laughed when we said we were supposed to pitch a tent tonight. I asked if, by chance, they had a cabin available. And by the way, we have a dog. In fact, the one cabin that allows dogs was available. The cabins are very simple — we still need our sleeping bags, and the bathroom’s across the road — but it has bunk beds, a heater and electricity, along with a roof, four walls and a floor.
- Because it’s so cold and snowy, I don’t have to worry about stepping around rattlesnakes while we hike! Enough said.
- 3. We had an adventurous hike! We first let Sammy run off leash in the dog park area, then we started walking around a lake. The hike led to the bottom of the dune, so we started up, with Sammy leading the way. I stopped at a point high on the dune, thought of my dear friends Glenda and Patti and smiled. The dune reminded me of the ones at the Outer Banks of NC, where Patti lives and a place I suspect Glenda’s sweet spirit can be found.
- 4. After ascending the dune, we began worrying about the wind, which was whipping up sand across the landscape. Rather than summiting, we headed back down. The wind picked up, pelting us with sleet and sand. I was wearing four layers on top and two layers of pants, plus gloves, a headband and raincoat with hood, but it was miserable. At one point John suggested we wait in a group of trees until the wind died. He might have been joking, but I wasn’t interested in contemplating spending hours in the elements. And I REALLY didn’t want to think about calling for a rescue. Envisioning the headline in the local paper — idiot couple climbs dune, gets lost, requires rescue — we trudged on, John with the dog, me with the dog poop. I’d initially worried I wasn’t going to make 10,000 steps today, but after we tromped through the sand, making our way around the lake twice, then finally back to the truck, I earned 13,000 steps. And deposited the well-traveled dog poop in an appropriate container. So relieved and grateful to be in a cabin in dry clothes, my feet in a sleeping bag and the dog at the foot of the bunk bed.
- 5. We aren’t allowed to cook in the cabin, and with the winds still 25+ mph, we aren’t cooking outside. So cheese and crackers will be dinner. Weeks ago, we were looking for our corkscrew after buying wine in Maryhill, WA. We couldn’t find it. But a couple of hours ago, I went dumpster diving (our description for wading into the back of the truck in search of buried treasure). I found our corkscrew. We have a bottle of good wine. And now, a way to drink it in our little cabin.
Tomorrow is a new day, thanks be to God. Can’t wait to see what adventures it brings!