When I opened it I thought, "Oh, that's sweet. He made me a collage of all of the things we like to do." Then he said, "Get it?" and it clicked that we were leaving Memphis on a plane to Las Vegas to see Boundary Peak, the Grand Canyon and Humphreys Peak. He had already purchased the plane tickets and reserved his mom for the week to come out and watch the kids. That gave me 4 months to stock my freezer with milk for Corban and emotionally prepare myself for leaving my little ones for almost a week. We have been looking forward to it since April. So...this is how the trip went:
Wednesday, August 18
We left super early in the morning and flew to Las Vegas, NV. The flights were thankfully uneventful which is a rarity these days. Side Note: American Airlines now makes you pay for a blanket if you want one. It was freezing on the airplane which I'm pretty sure was conspiracy so you'd buy a blanket. I needed one but refused to give in to such ridiculousness. Anyway, I resume. We got our rental car, ate lunch at a YUMMY Greek Restaurant and then drove about 4 hours to the trail head for Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada. Since we still had several hours of daylight we decided to shorten the forthcoming day's hike of 14 miles by knocking out a few miles that evening. We hiked about 4 miles up, up and up to 12,000 feet. It was very tiring on me since I was not acclimated but we set up camp in the saddle of two mountains and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. At about 3 in the morning we both woke up and Jacob happened to look out the tent. He told me to look out and I was taken aback by one of the most gorgeous things I have ever experienced. EVERY single star was in the sky and since we were so high some of them appeared to be below us. There was no way for us to capture it on camera (we tried). I felt like God sprinkled those stars out there just for us to enjoy together that morning. I couldn't help but sing "Indescribable, Uncontainable, You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name...You are AMAZING God."
Thursday, August 19
We overslept by about 30 minutes and got up around 6 to a beautiful sunrise. We continued our hike up Boundary Peak and never saw a soul. It was like the mountain was all ours on such a glorious day. We reached the top after a steep rock scramble, enjoyed a snack and headed back down. We did eventually see 2 other people but that was it. We were in the middle of NOWHERE! We picked up our tent and packs where we camped the night before and headed to the car. We drove 7 hours to a campground just outside of the Grand Canyon so we would be ready for the next day. Praise the Lord for safety during the 14 mile hike on Boundary Peak, high point #44 at 13,140' above sea level. "You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn." Psalm 18:36.
Friday, August 20
We were able to sleep in a little since we had no set schedule but to enjoy the beauty of the Grand Canyon. Side Note: I use the term "sleep in" loosely as I believe we got up around 7 which was late compared to the day before and the day to come. Anyway, I resume. We spent most of the day walking along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon marveling at such an amazing creation. I think these words describe the Grand Canyon perfectly: "The SPLENDOR of the King, clothed in MAJESTY. Let ALL the Earth rejoice." The GC was draped in God's splendor just as a mighty king might be covered in a beautiful robe. Jacob and I kept saying that we just don't understand how one could look out at something so incredible and not see Creator God's fingerprints all over it.
We even got to enjoy some unique architecture designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, a pioneer in women's architecture. Pictures of Hopi House and Lookout Studio shown.
After we finished enjoying what we could of the Grand Canyon, in the time we had (obviously we could have spent a week just exploring this one area but we had other places to be), we drove to Hart's Prairie a nice place to set up a tent and sleep before our next big hike.
Saturday, August 21
We woke up at 5:00 as planned and had a 30 minute drive to the trail head of Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona, arriving there right before 6 am. Praise the Lord that he yanked us out of bed(?) because there was a sign that read, "Road Closed 6am-11am". There was a huge cancer walk about to take place on the road that led up to the mountain and they were not letting any cars on it. It was God's protection that we got there before they closed the road. Side Note: There was a BIG Outback Steakhouse truck at the trail head as part of the cancer walk. All I could think about the entire time I was hiking is how great it would be if they were waiting for me with a sirloin in their hands when we finished hiking. They were still there when we finished but so were several thousand other people who participated in the event so we stayed away. Anyway, I resume. This part of Arizona was NOTHING like what I would have expected. The mountain was gorgeous and lush, full of tall aspens and open meadows. I would have thought it would have been dry and arid. Not the case. Our climb was refreshing and since we were now acclimated I could tell that all of my running was paying off. There were several people on the summit enjoying the 360 degree views. We are thankful for God's protection during the 10.4 mile hike on Humphreys Peak, high point #45 at 12,633' above sea level.
After we finished our hike and dined at Bun Huggers in Flagstaff we drove to Sedona, Arizona. I had heard great things about Sedona and the red rocks of the area. It was as beautiful as I hoped it would be and we enjoyed being a tourist in their town...even partaking in their $3 a scoop! ice cream in honor of Papa's birthday. That evening we grabbed a bucket of chicken and found a forest service road where we could camp. Another perfect day.
Sunday, August 22
We didn't have much planned for Sunday other than eating and heading back to Vegas for our first shower (yea, we smelled gooood) and sleeping in a king sized, fluffy bed at a Marriott. And that's pretty much all we did. We did stop by the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead on the drive and marveled at such an immense engineering feat. It was pretty impressive but the $7 parking and the pending shower kept us moving along. We enjoyed a drive by of the Las Vegas strip so I could say, "been there, done that" and slept a good night's sleep.
Monday, August 23
We woke up our earliest yet, 4:30am, to return our rental car and board our plane to Memphis. We had an amazing trip but there were 2 really special little people that I was DYING to see so getting up that early was not too bad. Thankfully the flights home went smooth and we arrived home on time. We got home during nap time but I couldn't wait any longer...I had to hold my babies so I woke them up :).
Conclusion
I am thankful for God's creation and the financial and physical ability to be able to experience what he has made. God truly does reveal and show himself to us on our many excursions in ways that we never could experience at home. I am thankful for the husband God has given me...a husband who will never stop being adventurous or never stop challenging me to try new things. I am thankful for family who supports us, even when they are sometimes fearful of the things we do. They support us by praying for us and helping out with the kids and sometimes travelling with us...THANK YOU SO MUCH SALLY for enduring a physically hard week yourself with endless hours of playing pretend and play dough and changing poopy diapers. I am thankful for beautiful children...a daughter who answered the phone each day with "I LOVE YOU MOMMY" and a son that I could hear banging pots and pans together in the background. I am thankful for friends and a church body who listen to (or read) our stories and live vicariously through them. I am truly a blessed woman...God is TOO good.
Hmmm...So what's next? We've started talking Mt. Hood & Mt. Rainier for summer 2011 which will require lots of training, lots of saving and lots of planning. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 I'll keep you updated!
