Hiking in the Smokies

The last few days has been spent and the next few days will be spent enjoying the blessing of family and friends and sharing our ministry. Today was spent enjoying the blessing of nature. We hiked two different trails in the Smoky Mountain National Park with its breath-taking vistas. The clean, crisp, pine-scented air was hanging all around us, with a blue-as-blue-can-be sky above us, and temperatures in the mid-seventies. The forest floor was plushly covered with a golden brown carpet of leaves. There were not too many people on the first trail and the only sounds we heard were an occasional car from the highway and the leaves crunching under our feet. I was armed with a camera around my neck and, instead of the usual Spanish-English dictionary, the trail guide. This was, by far, the easier of the two trails. Both trails had a water fall. This is not really water fall season, but both were beautiful, even though they were only partially full.

The second trail was not only more difficult, but longer as well. I could not have kept up with Marc even if I had so desired. I was busy taking in the scenery around me and, of course, taking pictures. As the trail went higher and higher, it became more rugged. Then my time was spent watching every step I took. A misstep would have surely meant a long, long fall. We were rewarded with a beautiful fall. Marc and I were glad we decided to hike that trail. As we headed back down, we were talking about how beautiful the trail and the falls were and how glad we walked the trail and how glad we were we didn't try to walk the trail with the kids when Nathan was about four. We both could picture him running and jumping along the cliff side of the trail without any comprehension why we were about to have a stroke.

Today was a beautiful, enjoyable day. Tomorrow we are on the road again as we head for Atlanta and then Mississippi on Thursday.

Terri