The Jordan River!!

 Thursday, March 6, 2014

River Jordan is chilly and cold, hallelujah
Chills the body but not the soul, hallelujah(-Michael Row the Boat Ashore)

Today was the day I took a dip into the Jordan River. On purpose. I had been looking forward to this day for several months, ever since I first saw the itinerary of this trip and saw that there would be a baptism service in the Jordan.

Wait a minute. I've aleady been baptised. Twice, in fact. But once I found out about this opportunity, I just had to, well, "jump in" at the chance.   I know I raised a few eyebrows when I told people that I was gonna do this (again).  Why is it necessary?  You know, it's not. But it's special.

Baptism is an outward sign of my faith. It is a public declaration that I absolutely believe in Jesus Christ and that He is my Lord & Savior.  It's publicly declaring faith in Christ and commitment to Him—an identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.1 It is absolutely not required for salvation -- nothing is required of us, except for our belief and God's grace. It's just a symbol that we do out of obedience. So, I suppose that my baptism in the Jordan is a symbol of a symbol. We only need be baptized once. There is nothing in the Bible about getting baptized more than once; and I suppose there's nothing there about being baptized only once, altho I know my theologian friends will correct me if I'm wronng!  People renew their wedding vows, and I'm seeing this as kinda like that. In fact, on the website of the place where we went to get baptized, they talked about rededications. I did talk w/ my pastor about getting baptised again, & he basically said that if I think it would help my faith journey, go ahead. So, ahead I went!

This baptism was even more special in that it was performed by our very, very, very good friends, Holden & Vicki Bowker. We love these people, and don't tell Charles, we really came to Israel because of them (altho we are thoroughly enjoying Charles and his teaching, and now consider him and Janet friends, as well).  When Vicki started to ask my "the question" ("do you believe...") when we were in the water, I couldn't look at her, knowing I would turn into a blubbering blubber-blub if I had.

We went to this place called Yardenit, a  place built just for Jordan River baptisms. This is what they do. We have to wear these white robes. Whatever. 

 I don't know what's up w/ my hands. I held them like that most our time there. Guess I didn't know what to do w/ them. But boy, I look all papal or something!

And down she goes! Holden told me that at that point Vicki said, "Should we let her back up?" Haha. They did.

So, what's the deal w/ the Jordan River? Why did I want to get baptized in it??  Before the service, I just told people on the tour that the Jordan River was very special to me in my devotional life, and I was gonna leave it at that, but then this guy on the tour asked me if I was gonna give my testimony. I wasn't planning on saying anything until he said that one of the best parts of baptism was hearing the testimonies.  I almost backed out, but then another gal on the tour encouraged me, saying that it might encourage others.  So, in about an hour or so, I scribbled down some notes in the bus on a pretty bumpy road, and this is what I shared the day I got baptized for the 3rd time:

I got baptised as an infant in 1963 or 1964. I'm ot sure... I wasn't good w/ dates back then.

I was baptized as an adult the year we were married in 2003.

Since that time, like you the Lord has brought me down some wonderful, glorious paths. And some... not so much.

In the spring of 2009, I went through some cahlelnging times where I clung to god more than I probably ever had at any other time in my life. 

One morning during my devotionals, I was reading Joshua 3, when Joshua led the people across the Jordan into the Promised Land... from the wilderness they had wandered around in for 40 years, to the land of their dreams.

But they had this obstacle in front of them -- a rushing, turbulent river. Now as hikers, Rich and I have faced some river fords. Most of them we crossed, but one, in Hawaii, turned me back.

I was facing a pretty big river to ford in my life in 2009, and the Lord brought me to Joshua 3.

I put myself in Joshua's sandles, facing that rushing river, trying to strike up the courage to dip my toe into the river ahead of us.

" And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” (Joshua 3:13) ...15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is besideZarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

And what came to me 5 years ago... before we saw it on Pinterest or on Facebook, was this: If God brings us to it, he'll get us through it.

If he brings me to it, He'll get me through it.

And He did, and I've depended on this several times since that morning in 2009, and I depend on it today.

1 Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-baptism.html#ixzz2vGrA8HIQ

What a Day, Part 2 -Mount of Beattitudes

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

(Written Wednesday, March 5, 2014)
It took me a while to ponder & think about why my reaction to some of the other sites we visited on Tuesday was different than that at Korazim... While we had some down time on the bus this morning, I journalled a bit...

As thrilling as Korazim was for me, spiritually, many (but not all!) of the sites we saw afterwards were pretty anti-climatic.  What follows are just my thoughts & feelings, and I in no way want to give the impression that I want anyone to agree with me. Everyone has their own experiences, and these are just mine... 

Scholars & historians believe there is a very high probably the Mount of Beattitudes is almost certainly the place where Christ taught the Sermon on the Mount, but for me, even w/ this authenticity of the location, it just didn't seem as organic or impactful.  The place was authentic, but my experience really didn't seem as authentic as it was at Korazim.  I was surprised and a little disappointed by this. I mean, the greatest sermon ever preached was preached here! Three chapters of the Matthew were taken up by the words spoken here.  Not just the Beattitudes, but the Lord's Prayer, Treasures in Heaven, teaching on anxiety, and ending w/ one of the greatest instructions I've ever had: But seek first the Kingdom of God and his rightousness, and all thee things will be added to you (Matt 6:33, the second to last verse of the Sermon on the Mount).

Why wasn't I blown away here???

Perhaps it was the crowds of people streaming in and out of the site, reminding me of crowded hikes which have transformed spectacular natural sites (like Johnson Canyon in Banff) into tourist attractions. 

This photo was actually taken at the Seven Springs, site of Peter's Restoration,
but you can see how crowded some places were...

Maybe it was the enshrinement of the place. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful place, a present day monastary with beautifully manicured grounds with gardens and benches and places for quiet contemplation and prayer. 

And a beautiful 8-sided chapel (one side per beattitude).

But to me, all this actually detracted from the meaning of the place, and the words that were taught there twenty
 centuries go, and the man who uttered them.  It was just a place -- a beautiful place, where we did recite the Lord's Prayer together, but in a strange way, the enshrinement of the place seemed to supersede and shrink the events that happened there. I know they wanted to honor & celebrate them, but for me, it was kinda like not not being able to read the story for the cover.

There will be more places like this, significant locations where memorials and churches and shrines have been built to commemorate and enshrine (for lack of a better word) these places.  But for me, I think I prefer the raw, organic places, the ones which haven't been improved or commemorated or built up. Undug, yes, but built up, not so much (altho we do appreciate the wash rooms there!). I think I can see my Savior more clearly w/o the ornamentation & clutter of the celebration of him. 

Somebody asked me, on this tour, why I describe myself as a "nature girl" (I mean, has she not seen me?). I think the way I see my Savior is kinda like the way I live my life. Simple, unadorned, it the natural state, raw, organic, pure.  

More ruins, fewer crowds, please.

On the Sea of Galilee.

An amazing experience to sail where Jesus sailed.

Wow, What a Day!!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

... and we got home in time for dinner! Actually before dinner. As we were queued up at 6:45 at our hotel, we found out the dining room opens at 7:00.  Not a big deal. But they do like to dine late in Israel. But that's neither here nor there. This is about our day. An amazing day.

In all our travels, Rich & I have found that everything we saw that was man made was not so impressive, but everything that God made was breath-taking. Today was sort of a hybrid day, as we stood amid the things that ancient man had made, celebrating the things God had made and done.  Korazim was such a place for me.

Korazim's (Chorazin) claim to fame was for being cursed, along w/ Bethsaida and Capurnaum:

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

Its crime? Basically mine: pride. Obedience to the Hebrew law to be noticed:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,  so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.  They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,  and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues (Matthew 23:1-6)

Charles Morris, host of the radio program Haven Today, told us today that when we visit Israel that it will be like reading the Bible in 3D.  Today, at Korazin, those 3D glasses were placed before my eyes as Yuval, our amazing guide,  read the above passage from Matthew 23 and showed us where the people sat in the synagogue:

And then showed us the best seat in the house, the place of honor where the Rabbi sat.

But what really got me was when Charles (or was it Yuval?) reminded us that the Bible said that Jesus taught in all the synagogues in the Galilee, so he would have been in . this . synagogue.  The synagogue probably didn't look like this when Jesus was there (there had been several restorations & renovations for hundreds of years of as this  ancient town's life), but He was here.  

 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.(Matthew 4:23)

Jesus was there! It was a powerful realization to know that He stood in the very building, a couple thousand years ago, and now I was standing there, too.  And I did not want to leave.

Not my best selfie, but I was there. Boom, in the first couple hours of our "Walk Where Jesus Walked" tour, I was there. It was a little overwhelming.

To be continued...

Israel!! Joffa & the Valley of Elah

Monday, March 3, 2014 - Tel Aviv to Galilee
Joffa, David Ben Gurion's House,  & Valley of Elah

Hello! And welcome back to my Journey!! It's been a couple of years, hasn't it?
Today is actually Tuesday, March 4, and it's been fun facebooking some friends while it is still last night, this morning. I always knew they were a little "behind the times" Hahah :-P  Our Israel tour starts in earnest today. Our last couple of days in Tel Aviv were acclimation days to get used to the time and culture (altho I still can't read Hebrew!).

Yesterday we had pretty much half a day before we picked up the rest of the group at the airport & headed north to the Galilee, so we went to Joffa in the morning. Joffa is about a km from our hotel, & a group walked there on our first day. It's the town from where Jonah departed on his ill-fated ocean voyage, trying to run from God's plan for him. Jonah's Joffa is about 15 layers underground, and there is a historic town there, but not quite Jonah's Joffa. This guy reminded us of Joffa's claim to fame...

Old Joffa is a walled city with a maze of foot alleys that run between the buildings.

This is our group entering the city

 Between some buildings

Down one of the alleys was an inocuuous looking door which looked like all the other doors in the village (only many of the doors had modern shops behind them!).  This may (or may not) have been the house of Simon the Tanner, on whose roof Peter had the vision of the unclean meat descending on a sheet (in Acts). There are several indications that this could possibly, maybe, kinda be his house, but there's no way to know for sure. At the very least, it's what his house could have looked like...

But oh wait. It says it is, so it must be! (please note my sarcasm):

Joffa is a walled city, and gave me a better understanding of what Jericho might have looked like.

After we explored the more contemporary Joffa, we toured the home of David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel & who declared its independence on May 14, 1948. A very modest 1950s house that wasn't very spectacular.

We still had some time to kill so we went to the Valley of Elah, where there is certainty that this is where the battle of David & Goliath took place. A very non-descipt, normal looking valley between two rises (they call them mountains in Israel). No signage (that I could tell), no gift shop. It was just some random looking valley in the middle of nowhere, only "they" are pretty sure that something really significant happened here.

As we were walking to the brook from where David found his five smooth stones, we ran into a bit of a road block. Since David was a shepherd, this just added a bit of authenticity to the place (and sheep poo to the bottom of everyone's shoes!). The rise behind the sheep on the right is where the good guys were.

Everyone was looking for their own five smooth stones in this dry creek bed.

Our guide is demonstrating how the sling worked.

Bonus!! This little guy was born just minutes before we got there. The presence of 24 people arriving on the scene was (understandably) upsetting for Mama Sheep, but she calmed down after we went down to the creek.

We are now in the Galilee, about 1/2 hour north of the lake. We'll be here for three more nights.  Today we will go to Capernaum, see where the Sermon on the Mount could have been preached, and cruise out into the Sea of Galilee. It's gonna be a full day!

Alligators & Birding at Brazos Bend State Park (Texas)

I have to admit that if there was one state I never thought I would hike in, it would be Texas. Well, I’m in Texas, & I would definitely not call today’s walks hikes, even tho Texas Parks & Wildlife does. They were walks, strolls, meanders thru Texas’s version of wilderness.

There is certainly a lot of horizon in Texas. Don’t come here for the mountains, ‘coz there ain’t any. Oh, I think there are some on the western edge, but we’re in Houston (& took a side-trip to Dallas earlier this week), and the only elevation gain we’ve seen is on the 3-level freeway interchanges where you can look as far as the eye can see and swear you can see Canada to the north. When we were in Whistler this summer, we encountered a couple of gals from Texas wondering where the escalator was on the gentle incline of the “easy” trail we were on. Now I know why they were struggling. There are no hills here. It’s flat-flat-flat! I think I made my point. It’s flat in this, I dubbed, the Land of the Uninterrupted Horizon.

I think hiking books for Texas are ironic. My hiking experience involves mountains, or hills, or waterfalls (which imply hills) or some sort of reason to actually wear hiking boots instead of runners. I didn’t even pack my boots for this trip. But nevertheless, we did receive a couple of Texas hiking books for Christmas, and in one of the books is actually one of the walks we took today, the 40-Acre Lake Trail at Brazos Bend State Park (near Houston) which features, among other things, a vibrant alligator habitat.

Alligators?? Now that’s not something I’ve seen on a hike or walk or meander before. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever seen one in the wild before. Maybe in Florida many years ago, but I honestly can’t remember. I remember seeing wild manatees, but I don’t remember if I saw alligators.

But we saw alligators today.

First we saw them from a distance, and then one swam under the little fishing pier at 40 Acre Lake, so we got closer-up views…

 

There were all sorts of signs & literature about “alligator etiquette” which include such information as staying 30’ away from one of these guys. But there were no signs warning the alligators to stay away from us. There were a couple on the side of the path every now & then. One was a little too close for comfort. We didn’t “shoot” him (w/ the camera), but we took pictures of this moss-covered guy:

 

I wonder if moss is itchy.

There was other wildlife there, as well. Lots & lots of birds. We probably saw about 35 different species of birds & also squirrels & turtles. Here are some of our various pictures from the day:

Carolyn & Rich looking at some micro birds.

 Snowy Egret flying over a couple of Moor Hens (?) 

Moor Hen?

A couple of turtles sunning themselves in the primordial ooze.

The path along 4 Acre Lake

Picnic lunch w/ Carolyn’s portable picnic table

Hale Lake is an oxbow, & this is the tip.  Somewhere, toward the beginning of this walk, I was really starting to miss mountains. I was craving mountains; yes, even aching for mountains. But a funny thing happened. The more I looked for at at the birds, the less I missed the mountains.

Hale Lake

 

Red Shouldered Hawk

Anhinga (nope, I never heard of it either, but he’s beautiful!)

 

Carolyn, Rich & me in the gazebo on the tip of the oxbow

This log was full of turtles, wall-to-wall, until somebody (OK, me)  somehow scared about 1/2 of them off…

Hale Lake looks like a river, but it’s not.

Haha. At the Park Headquarters.

After our 2nd walk today, the Hale Lake Loop Trail, Carolyn asked me if I felt like I got some exercise today. Um… Activity, yes. Movement, yes. Exercise, no. I have to admit, I am not a birder. I have places to go & trails to hike & summits & waterfalls to get to. I like birds & I appreciate birds. I often would like to kinda know what I’m looking at besides a generic bird or a woodpecker or some sort of hawk or maybe it’s a falcon. I know eagles and black capped chickadee-dee-dees, but not much in between. Birding is not exercise, but you know, sometimes it’s not about target heart rates and burnt calories. Sometimes it’s about slowing down to not only see the tiny micro birds in the scrub next to the path, but taking up the time to learn their names. And isn’t it interesting that it took a stroll on a path in the land of uninterrupted horizons for me to see that (probably b/c I didn’t have anything else to look at, LOL). I think I’m gonna slip the bird book that my mom gave me into my pack when we get home…

Snowshoe!!

Last night I did something I’ve been wanting to do for years. I went showshoeing.

At night.

With a group of strangers.

OK, those last two aren’t things I’ve wanted to do for years, but it was fine.

My feet in snowshoes – after the hike. If you look closely, you can see my orange Nike+ chip in my right boot (camera left), in the middle of the lace loop. Yes, I’m obsessed w/ my Nike+ chip.

Have y’all heard of meetup.com? From their website:

“Meetup is the world's largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in  local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

“Meetup's mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.”

So, inspired by some of my SparkPeople friends who have been having a blast w/ their local meetup groups, I joined a few local Vancouver groups, and I went on my first meetup last night. The Outdoor Girls went to Mt. Seymour’s SnowFit snowshoe fitness … event(?), class(?), thing: “For those looking for a great workout, don't miss SnowFit! This focused 90 minute fitness hike held on Tuesday evenings is geared for those who are looking for a beginner to intermediate fitness routine within a group setting.” It was more like 60 min. on the trail, but it was AWESOME!

It was a cool night – not overly cold, but I was glad I left my gortex shell in the snowshoe hut b/c we quickly warmed up.  We went on a fairly easy hike, by hiking standards down by Flower Lake. Since it has been such a mild winter, Flower Lake was not frozen over. It was icy w/ a layer of fresh snow on it, but not frozen over.

 (Click on the map to see it larger.)

We headed out from the snowshoe hut down the dotted Trail A (Goldie Lake Loop, in the summer), & then took a right turn on Trail I, picked up Trail H, & then left turn on Trail G & went around Flower Lake a second time. (Goldie Lake is by trail marker D on the map above)

There were about 15-20 people there, including the 7 from the meetup group. We split into two groups – the more intense work-out group, which focused on keeping a higher cardio rate by running and stuff, and the other group, the moseying group. Guess which one I was in?

Only because it was my first time on snowshoes.

I wanted to see what it was all about before I tried to get a real butt-kicking of a work-out.

And I guess the more intense group was a butt-kick, b/c twice people from that group joined ours – including girls who were there w/ people in the Cardio Core Bootcamp!

I have signed up for the March 2 SnowFit, and I think I’m gonna try the more intense level, comfortable in the knowledge that I can go back to the Moseyers if & when needed…

So, what did I think of snowshoeing??

I LOVED IT!!

Ohmygoodness, it was so much fun! It’s basically hiking – in the snow – w/ big, flat things tied to the bottom of your boots. There’s a claw-like crampon-type thing under the snowshoe to give you traction so you don’t slip around very much.

Like I said above, the night was cool (probably around the freezing mark, if not a little colder), but we quickly warmed up. I was wearing my running pants (heavier than tights) w/ my waterproof pants over. I had my long-john top, then a long-sleeve running top, & a fleece vest, which I jettisoned at our 2nd water break. My best investment – a fleece headband (under $3 at the Bargain Shop!) that covers my ears. So much better than a tuque. I lose so much heat thru my head that I get really hot in a tuque. This was perfect. I wore my old hiking boots b/c my new ones are low-tops, like runners, & they were fine.

Happy Nancy after the hike, sporting the loaner head lamp.

Y’all. Snowshoeing is easy. If you can walk, you can snowshoe. Of course we didn’t have much powder. Only 7cm, & that was the first since NOVEMBER! And the Olympics start here in 9 days? Come on!

And it was beautiful. Even at night. There was snow in the trees, every now & then sprinkling down on us to cool our red faces. Our headlamps lit the trail & the surrounds, making the trail markers and the reflective strips on everyone’s fitness clothing glow.  Every now & then we would look up & see 5 or 6 dots of light coming towards us – the other group.

And then, as we were walking back to the snowshoe hut at the end, we came to a clearing:

Ah… Nature! The Fairyland lights of Metro Vancouver on a beautiful, clear night.

Have I said how much fun this was?? I can’t wait ‘til March 2 when we do it again. And maybe I can get up there sometimes before that in the daylight.

Just Darn Pretty Stuff ~or~ Stuff that Takes My Breath Away (Uh-Huh… Rockies)

This will probably be the last of my Rockies blogs, unless there’s a public outcry demanding more… Hahaha. For somebody without a job, my to-do list is growing. Most of my projects involve pictures. For example, my grandson pointed out yesterday how our walls are painfully bare of pictures of his little sister (his self-proclaimed best friend, awwwww). I have a beautiful 72-picture photo album from Jasper (72 of my best pictures? How do narrow that down from 3700+??? I could do 72 pix just of Pyramid Lake!). I have a huge family project, a couple of calendars, maybe some scrapbooking, AND we leave in eight days for our last trip of the summer, a quickie to the Sunshine Coast.

Seriously, if anybody knows of a way to get paid to travel all around and take lots of pictures, let me know! I’ve been “volunteering” at this all summer!

Even though I already wrote a “highlights” blog, it left out a lot of really pretty stuff, most of it totally accessible to the general public. 

So, go get a cup of coffee, and maybe some popcorn or trail mix (in our honour, but not too much if you’re dieting…), put a couple more cushions on your chair, and enjoy the Rockies through our lenses.

As you know by now, Pyramid Lake pretty much tops my list. I am absolutely enchanted with Pyramid Mountain and the lake that bares its name. (8.06.09)

Alpenglow on Mt Edith Cavell from the property of Becker’s Chalets (where we stayed) (8.6.09)

Looking the other direction at Mt Tekarra (I think) (8.6.09)

You knew these were coming! First, Patricia Lake at 6:55 a.m. Who needs moons and mountains when there are colourful boats?? (Uh, I do! I do!!) (8.7.09)

And, of course, Pyramid Lake at 8:05. (Are you sick of this picture yet? Me, neither!)

Imagine what this would look like on a sunny, blue-sky day! Maligne Lake at the unphotographed Spirit Island viewpoint (8.8.09)

Maligne Lake on another day, after the Bald Hills hike. We were in a downpour; this mountain was not. (8.12.09)

  Wearing a fresh dusting of snow, Mt Kerkeslin along the Athabasca River the same August (!) evening, from Becker’s (8.12.09).

I made Rich pull over so I could shoot this panorama at the Columbia Icefields on our commute day to Banff. (8.13.09)

This was just a better day to visit the Athabasca Glacier! (8.13.09)

We took so many beautiful pictures of Bow Lake, it was hard to pick the one to share, but this truly took my breath away! (8.13.09)

Lake Minnewanka sounds like a horror movie summer camp, but it was all sunshine the day we were there. (8.15.09)

I just had to slip this one in. Of all the places around Banff to shoot my wedding photos, Johnson Lake doesn’t top my list, but these two must love it. I was very underdressed for the event! (8.15.09)

Castle Mountain and the Eisenhower Peak shine in the afternoon sun (8.16.09)

You know, there’s probably a good reason that the popular tourist spots are where they are. Lake Louise at 8:25 a.m., before the parking lot filled up, but after the small first tour bus arrived. Yup. Breathtaking. Taken darn-near the paved shoreline path. (8.17.09)

Lake Agnes, from the Teahouse (8.17.09)

Looking back at the Lake Agnes Teahouse (8.17.09)

 Moraine Lake has stolen my breath both time I’ve seen it, both cloudy, windy times. (8.18.09)

Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park, on the way home. (8.20.09)

Now this just takes my breath away!

We took over 3,700 pictures, and saw some absolutely amazing things. It seems that every step we took, we kept uttering, “Wow!” and “Man, oh man!” For whatever reason, mostly light, the pictures just don’t convey the spectacular, jaw-dropping beauty of many of the places we went. These aren’t the only “good” pictures we took, but they represent the best photographs (not necessarily the most beautiful places, altho they are all beautiful, no?).

If you want more information about anything you’ve seen on Nancy-Girl’s Journey just leave a comment (it’s easier to sign on as “Anonymous” if you don’t have a blogger ID. Just sign your comment, if you choose, so I know who you are). What the heck, leave me comments even if you don’t have a question. I love to hear from you!

A week from tomorrow, we leave to start our last trip of the summer. We’re going down to Redmond to pick up some old friends to bring them back to Canada to explore the Sunshine Coast with us. We will be visiting places we’ve been before, so I’m not sure if we’ll be taking a break from photography, but we’ll see. We’re pretty much playing tour guides on this trip, so I’m not expecting much blogging activity. Again, we’ll see.

But, unless otherwise requested, this is the last Rockies blog. The real world must take over now. This has been fun. Stay tuned for more adventures!On the Tunnel Mountain trail, above Banff, 8.15.09