Our Adventure Vacation, Part 2

Okay, so maybe I was a little dramatic in the previous post. 

The truth is, our three-day bicycle tour of the Skyline Drive was really, really tough. There were times when we were absolutely miserable. But there were also spectacular, really fun times. And now that I am a few days post-adventure, I can say that it was a good trip for us and definitely worth the effort (although we agreed that we would do everything in our power NOT to plan such a crazy trip again!)

Anyway, here is a photo from the first day, I think it is at about mile 3.

We came to the first overlook a little further up the mountain. Our house is down there somewhere!

The second day was a special gift from God to us. We had a low-key morning, and we didn't hit the road until around 11am. We had spent the night at the Skyland Lodge, which was also the highest point on the entire Skyline Drive:

Here I am, freezing and exhausted as we arrived at the Lodge the night before, just as the sun was setting

Here I am the next morning, a little bit more rested and sort of ready to start our second day

We were pleasantly surprised with a much more relaxed bike ride that day also. Within a couple hours, we had already reached our destination for lunch: Big Meadows.

They served us food, and we saw many other cyclists that day. I enjoyed sitting there, but I was also so tired that I could have fallen asleep at the table. I pretty much did.

We enjoyed having the time and good enough weather to stop and explore the overlooks. Our favorite one had a little stone staircase that led to a short hike with a beautiful view:

I asked Ellis not to get my nerdy, "sweatpants tucked into men's hiking socks" look in the frame of this picture. I guess he missed that memo.

It felt really awesome when we saw all of the super stylish cyclists in their professional looking outfits ride past us!

Not long later, we arrived at our campsite at Lewis Mountain:

It turned out that my back wheel had a warped tire on it, which had made my ride a little more difficult than it needed to be. Ellis spent a long time replacing the tire and fixing my wheel for me at the campsite. It was just one of the many ways that he took really good care of me on the trip. 

He also made a really great fire for me, which we ended up being very thankful for the next morning!

The weather report was calling for rain, wind, and bad storms the next day. At one point, I was loading gear into the tent when a wave of dread and foreboding suddenly washed over me.

We had enjoyed a wonderful day, but I was so exhausted and so afraid of what the next day might bring. We were going to have to cover even more miles than ever, and the weather was predicted to be even worse than what we had battled the day before.

I walked up the long path to the camp store on the other side of the campground, and the heavy darkness seemed to grow worse around my heart. I realized I needed the Lord, and I called out to Him for help. I began saying some verses from Psalm 19 - the first passage of scripture that came to my mind - and I felt my heart change immediately. The tone of the trip changed for me in that moment, as I knew that I would need to be thinking truthfully about God and focusing my heart on Him to get through the rest of our adventure well.

That evening the temperature dropped dramatically as we crawled into our tent and huddled together in our sleeping bags for warmth. I was so tired, but I remember thinking about a few lines from the Hymn that we sang at our wedding, Great is Thy Faithfulness:

"Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow," and, "morning by morning, new mercies I see."

I am realizing that I have struggled greatly for much of life with terrible anxiety about "tomorrow." God has been teaching me to focus my thoughts on Him and what is true, and excellent and good about hard changes or events in the future instead of being paralyzed with dread (or ignoring the difficult or painful challenge, which is the other thing I am good at doing). Believe it or not, it actually makes a huge difference to start thanking God for what you know to be true about Him in the midst of confusing or scary times.

So, before I nodded off that night in the tent, I told God that I knew that tomorrow was probably going to be really hard, but that I would be looking for Him and His provision, and that I was trusting that whatever happened was okay because it was from Him.

Little did I know how much I would need that preparation in my heart to face the challenges that lay ahead for us on our last day!

I Would Prefer Child Birth to This

That pretty much describes our day yesterday. We survived our first day of a three-day "date vacation," as Ellis calls it, of biking the skyline Drive.

He we are at the entrance to the Drive, just starting out on our adventure and unaware of the challenges we would soon face. 

As we checked in at the park entrance, one of the two park rangers had an ominous look on his face. The weather forecast was calling for really strong winds and very cold temperatures. The other ranger said, "it looks like the wind is in your favor for now!" And the other ranger said, with his ominous expression, "there's nothing in your favor up here." And then he added, be sure not to bike too close together." He explained that the wind was so strong that we would likely be blown over, and he didn't want us to crash into each other. 

And on that fine note, we were off!

Because it is early in the season, there is only one campground and a couple lodges open, so we've had to plan on biking much longer distances than we would like. 

Here is an elevation and mileage map of what we did yesterday. We started from our doorstep in Front Royal (the lowest point on the Drive) and ended at the Skyland Lodge (the highest point on the drive).

Each pedal stroke has to move over 210 lbs. of weight (our bikes, our gear & ourselves). It didn't take long for the pain to set in. Here I was at mile 10, literally unable to stand when we stopped for a short break. I don't remember ever feeling that terrible...and we still had over 30 miles to go. 

 

We biked for about 12 hours yesterday, only stopping for 10 minute breaks because we were unsure if we would make it to the lodge at Skyland by nightfall. 

At one point, the wind was blowing me so hard that I was pretty much going backwards. I decided I could walk faster than than what I was able to pedal, and I got off my bike. A few seconds later, a black bear emerged from the woods 10 feet away from me! If I were on my bike, I probably would have fallen off from the shock. Thankfully, the bear turned around and lumbered back into the woods.

We ended up reaching our destination just as the sun was setting. We were so glad! When we checked into our rooms, the people told us that the winds were 40 mph that day. 

When we reflected on the day together, we remarked how we would never, ever, ever, chose to do a day like that again. But there were definitely times of beautiful scenery and unforgettable memories.

Today's forecast is looking a little better, and much less windy. Our mileage is much better also (about 17 miles and less extreme climbs/elevation changes). Right now we are packing up and getting ready to head for our next stop, which will be a campground. It is currently cloudy and just above freezing. I am hoping that the sun will emerge soon! Who knows what adventure/torture awaits us today. If nothing else, I am sure it will be memorable, as always!

Nail Salon with Grandma

"I can't wait to show Daddy my nails."

Diaper Changin' Davey

Trying to change Davey's diaper is the worst thing ever right now. He is either throwing a full-body tantrum, or laughing and wiggling around hysterically. Either way, a poopy diaper is no fun. Here is yesterday after I finished changing him, still in a laughing mood:

Flowers

We've had a few days of what actually seems to be Spring weather. On Saturday the kids and I were outside cleaning up the yard, and I felt it was time for some flowers. It makes me sad that we won't have a vegetable garden this year, and I wasn't planning on any flowers either, since I am not sure how much longer we will be in our house. 

But something about the weather and that drab, unwelcoming stone porch of ours changed my mind. We have a quaint and very inexpensive little nursery a couple blocks away, so I thought, "Hey, why not?" Ellis kept Davey for me while I piled Mac and Corrie in the car and headed over to the Springtime Nursery. 

I enjoyed sharing the experience of getting new flowers with Mac and Corrie. I asked them each to pick out a few flowers, and it was sweet to see the different flowers they picked according to their own personalities and preferences. Mac picked flowers I would have never chosen, full of dramatic shapes and colors. Corrie picked softer, gentler looking varieties. 

We got home and the kids helped me carry them all out to the porch. They decided to arrange them for me...all in a bunch in front of the door. 

A little bit later we got to work on the little flower bed next to the porch. It did not take long for quite a transformation to take place!

We also have a few small pots of pansies on our front porch, along with a pot of strawberries and a small blueberry bush that is starting to bud. It isn't much, compared to what we had in the past, but it is lovely to me. 

I sat outside yesterday morning before the kids were up, and it was wonderful to look at the flowers and see the sun peeking over the mountains as the bird sang. I have also realized how much I enjoy the simple task of watering flowers. It feels good, and when I see the flowers, I think of my children. 

This makes me think of the bigger picture of our life right now. As we sit in our season of waiting to find out where we will live and what we will do next, I continue to be comforted by the truth that God knows what is best for us.

Our situation may look different than what we hoped for or wanted, but I know that if we are trusting Him, God will help us to see that He has given us something lovely.

"Faith says not, 'I see that is good for me, God must have sent it,' but 'God sent it, and so it must be good for me.'" -Phillip Brooks

Corrie Ruth Johns

Corrie has been napping in our room for a while now...ever since I moved her and Mac into the same room at night to make space for Davey. I have had my fair share of surprises since letting Corrie "sleep" in our bed for a few hours during the day. Poor girl has had more than her fair share of spankings from all of the crazy shenanigans she invents instead of going to sleep.

One night I collapsed into bed exhausted, but something didn't seem right when my head hit the pillow. What in the world?! My pillow case was stuffed full of Winnie the Pooh books.

Another day I noticed all of my jewelry (really only one bracelet and two earrings) was missing. Later I found about 20 hairbands stuffed in various places all over the bed. After that, I found my bracelet and missing earrings inside one of Corrie's socks. The earrings were poked through the sock a few times and bent and almost impossible to remove.

Another afternoon I opened the door around 4pm and told Corrie it was time to wake up. I became busy taking care of Davey and Mac and then started dinner. Around 5pm I thought, Hey, where's Corrie? I went back to the bedroom to see that she was still sitting in there like a little queen on a throne, just enjoying herself and eating a very crumbly granola bar! Corrie?! What are you doing in here still? Are you...EATING?! She just laughed.

Today I put on a long-sleeved shirt before getting dinner ready. As I put my arm into my shirt, I pushed an entire arm's worth of balled up toilet paper out of the sleeve.

Yep, that's Corrie!

Breakfast

I think it's safe to say that at least three of the four people in this video are morning people