You've met The Tribe before, as well as Twyla, Jonathan's mom. A week ago we all made a little road trip down to Virginia. It wasn't even so much a girls' weekend as it was weekend to just get away, for everybody to have their own personal little retreat and to spend some time taking a break and talking to Jesus. I do believe this little patch of earth where we stayed is one of my very favorite places now. There is just such a sense of calm, such a sense of God's presence. It makes it hard to leave. And the fact there is no cell phone reception boosts its appeal even more in my estimation. The grass was just starting to turn bright green and there was a slight hint of leaves budding on the branches. The creek was flowing rapidly and the weather was absolutely outstanding. It really is a little slice of heaven.
We drove down late after work on Friday. We made a few wrong turns in the dark, but we eventually got there. The burning lights of the cabin were a welcome sign in the pitch black. There were a lot of holes in the floor of heaven on those nights we were down there, crystal clear skies with stars poking out everywhere. You could hear the sound of the rushing water down at the creek. Bliss.
When we got there Friday night, I think we all crashed shortly thereafter, but we made plans to head to Cascade Falls the next morning in order to hike to the waterfalls. The sunrise Saturday morning had matched the bliss of Friday night's stars and it was a perfect day to go hiking. We also discovered everyone else had the same idea when we got to the falls, but we were not deterred. Now, I think you know I don't harbor an overwhelming love toward hiking. I will argue, though, there really is something in me that feels deliciously alive on little adventures like this. I do genuinely like being outdoors and I do enjoy some solid physical exertion every now and then - I just don't want to go overboard on that exertion. My philosophy is contradictory to the phrase "no pain, no gain." I say "no pain, no pain." Sounds like a solid outlook to me.
So, off we go. Twyla stayed at the trail head as Jill, Alex and I set off on our excursion. Alex enjoys rock climbing and so on occasion, we made pit stops so she could get out her climbing shoes and traverse a few boulders. The photos below basically outline how the day went. Since I am behind the camera, imagine Jill is representative of me.
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| Alex climbing. |
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| Jill [Courtney] sitting and watching Alex climb. |
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Alex climbing some more.
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| Alex still climbing. |
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| Jill [Courtney] still sitting and watching Alex climb. |
We finally made it to the falls and it really was a pretty spectacular sight. According to the goodness of God, we had this perfect 70-degree day with sunshine that felt amazing on the skin, especially after feeling like I hadn't legitimately seen the sun in about 6 months. It was enough sun though to give me a decent sunburn on my forehead, nose and ears. I had these unfortunate tan lines about half-way up my lower arm from only having my sleeves pulled up so far and I had just the top of my forehead burnt due to the fact that my head had been down most of the day staring at the ground, making sure I didn't fall flat on my face. But if burnt skin is what I have to suffer in order to see God's beauty for a few hours and to enjoy the sun, I'll take it.  |
| I'm not sure what the funny story was, but I love this picture of Alex laughing. |
Alright, now here comes the part that is now funny in hindsight. I wasn't really laughing or having much of a sense of humor at the time. And probably still not really laughing about the fall out, but we'll get to that.
We're all four piled into my car to head home. Another day of great weather. We enjoy solid conversation along the way, stellar music, and Jill and Alex caught a cat nap or two. We are nearly home, maybe 40 minutes from Columbus, just south of Circleville. I pull up to a traffic light on Route 23. I feel the car lurch and come to a halt and then everything shuts off. Well, this can't be good, I thought. I put my hazards on, put it into park and turn the keys off. I try starting it again and pop it into gear. Kills the engine immediately. Cars are piling up behind me in traffic. I give it another whirl. Still nothing. Few more attempts. Nothing. Numerous cars are now going around as I'm nearly sitting in the intersection.
At this point, it's obvious we aren't going anywhere. So then Twyla launches into action and you would have thought we were having a Chinese fire drill. I pop it into neutral and out piles Jill, Alex and Twyla, all while Jill is scrambling to get her flip flops on before any of us get hit by oncoming traffic. Out they go and off they start pushing my car into the abandoned BP parking lot.
In the next twenty minutes, I felt like half the town of Circleville showed up. I was just waiting for the circus tents and elephants to arrive by the time it was all said and done. Out of nowhere comes this girl named Misty or Missy, I can't remember which. I really don't know where she came from. I never actually saw her appear from anywhere. One minute she wasn't there and the next she pops the hood and starts looking at my engine. Then appears James, the owner of Captain D's seafood restaurant just down the road. He looks at the engine. Misty/Missy disappears, not to be seen again. James now calls his friend Tommy, who is apparently the scroungiest guy you'll ever meet but knows his cars inside and out. So then Tommy rolls up in his beat up SUV of sorts, along with three other guys we don't know, most of them in bib overalls with cut-off shirts and a lot of tattoos. Then Harley from AAA comes rolling in because I had called for a tow. Turns out Harley knows Tommy, James and just about everybody else that is standing around at this point, so they all start shooting the breeze. I found out later that Jill had jokingly mentioned to Alex, "I think there are more people here than teeth." There was probably a lot of truth in that statement.
I am now officially feeling overwhelmed and I really just want everybody to leave. Mind you, I haven't showered since sometime on Saturday. I'm wearing my pajama bottoms that I've had since freshman year of college. I'm sporting a My Little Pony t-shirt. Zero makeup on and my hair pulled back in a mess of a ponytail. I am not immediately finding the humor in the situation, considering I had just had my car in the shop days prior specifically for this reason since I was nearing 100,000 miles on my car. I am not a happy camper. At one point Jill says, with a sweet smile on her face, "Should I take a picture to capture the moment?" I must have given her a look that clearly said no.
Tommy wasn't able to do anything so we loaded it up and AAA towed it back to the mechanic shop. Twyla's husband, Tim, arrives as do my parents and we all finally head home, albeit not quite according to the schedule we had planned. I fully realize this is totally a first-world-problem of sorts. It's just a car and nobody was hurt. It could have been a lot worse. And there were a lot of pluses to the situation: 1) How often do I hoof it all over the country in my car by myself and the one time when it actually breaks down, I'm not only not alone, but have in fact three other people with me to help. 2) It was a gorgeous day, so at least we weren't standing in the rain. 3) We were close to home. We could have been in Virginia when it happened. 4) Help was readily available in the form of family and a small band of people who were going out of their way to help.
The downside to the situation is that I have to get a new transmission. But I'll get over it after I cry a few times about the price tag. But what's a new transmission compared to a sunburn, an invigorating 4-mile hike for which my body paid the price, lazy days spent sunbathing on the deck of my new favorite spot on earth, some amazing company, and some sweet time spent with Jesus, right?
Besides, driving the big white boat of a family van for a few days while your car is in the shop keeps you humble.
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| Alex, me and Jill. Twyla was behind the camera, so unfortunately we don't have a group shot! Thanks to these gals I maintained some form of a sense of humor while Tommy/James/Missy/Misty/Harley all looked at my car and each declared it officially dead. |
