I so needed this day. A day of rest. Woke up before the alarm clock because the sound of clucking and gobbling was my morning wake-up. It has become a familiar sound as the sun begins to rise. So much better than the ding-a-ling-a-ding of my phone. I headed back onto the trail by 7am. My camping family were milling around, making breakfast and planning their town day. Oh, how much we all love Town Stops.

I was cruising down the trail when I entered the clouds. Yes, I climbed to the clouds today just as I crested Kelly Mountain. It was a beautiful ridge line that had low lying brush, spits of water falling from the sky above and enough mist to encourage me to break out my umbrella. Honestly it made for a great morning of hiking. Before long I met the Highway and for the first time, I road walked.

his is not my favorite thing to do. Road walking is when you have cars wising past you at 55-65 mph and you try your best to stay out of their way. Definitely this is the #2 scariest part of hiking next to hitchhiking. I made it the extra credit miles of .6 miles to Around the Bend hostel.

I haven’t been a big fan of hostels but then I’ve never been to Lisa and Gordon’s place. This couple know what a hiker needs. A clean shower, a place to do laundry and a communal area to sort your resupply box. On top of all that, they shuttle you to town and you have free run of the kitchen to make home cooked meals. Potato, Rapunzel and I made a feast of Ratatouille, Sausage, Acorn Squash and Gruyère Garlic Bread. What a feast it was. Even the Fat Cat indulged!

Much of the day was spent relaxing, using the massage gun on my aching calves, roller therapy and rest. Thank you Lord for giving me a day of pure unadulterated relaxation. What a treat. I love hiking but I also enjoy hanging out, without a 25 pound pack strapped to my back!

Better than all that was talking with my family. My father had open heart surgery last week and was released home on Monday. Just to be able to talk with my sister, as she is screening all his calls, was the best gift. Dad is recovering, starting to walk and doing a lot of sleeping. The best treatment for recovering is sleep, especially in your own bed! My sister Kari is taking care of Dad, and I’m so grateful for her servants heart. She is quite the earthly angel.

I was listening to Francis Chan this morning and he asked what’s the first thing you think about when you wake-up? So many things came to mind but truly, the most important is to thank Jesus for who he is and what he did for us. Nothing else matters if we don’t have an eternal home to go to. Without the Lord, when we come to the end of our life, how can we account for all our sin? The promise is that with Jesus, we are forgiven. We are cleansed of all the filth and messes that we conjure up, that we are made new by his mercies. What a gift that is! Thank you for loving me, and that I have the hope that I am enough. What an incredible Heavenly Father that we all have.