Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Where the deer and the buffalo roam

Well, I am back home again. For my new readers (hope, hope), I just got back from a vacation, my first in about 3 or more years. I am a work-a-holic.

My family and I spent time in Georgia, meeting old friends and making new ones. From Georgia we ventured up to North Carolina and the Nantahala river. The river has basically class 2 rapids, perfect for an old man like me. Than did not stop however from falling out, but I still had fun. We left Georgia for Fulton, Mississippi were I have some extended family who live on a lake. I love water, so this was a lot of fun, they had a Sea-Doo. It took me three days to recover from the soreness. Did I mention I was old, like 40-ish.

All of this was a blast, but I had more fun on the drive home from Mississippi. As Jess mentioned, it's good to be able and spend time traveling with the kids. Mine span a couple of years 13, 11, 4, and 2. That's a bit. [Did I mention that my wife drove out to Georgia with them, by herself. Super-Mom.] On the way home we stopped at Yellowstone National Park.

Those not having been there, you're missing out. Within 15 minutes we had some bison within a couple feet of the van. My wife (Tiffany) had her camera, maybe I will post some pics later on. My 2 year old had so much fun, he's at the point where he is talking more, but still screams everything so we found out about anything and everything he saw: bison, ducks, trains, and motorcycles. It appears that the Hell's Angels had decided that this was also a good weekend for the site-seeing. They were having their annual gathering in Cody, WY, just outside the park.

As we were driving up to the park through the Wind River Canyon, my wife said something. 'Only God could make dirt look this good'. She wasn't kidding, it was ALL beautiful.

We decided to get out more, we are already planning the next trip down to the Redwoods in California.

As a work-a-holic I seem to also be a stress-a-holic. I actually find it difficult to just lay back and relax. I feel like my hands should be doing something. I want to offer a bit of advice that I just learned. Sit back and marvel at the wonders that God created around us. I know that sounds kind of lame or maybe just too simple to be useful. Nothing I can create or do will ever amount to much compared to what's already been done. I can relax and take in the sites of the bison or elk roaming the plains of Wyoming, the trout swimming down the Chattahoochee River, or the simple shadows of the clouds through a mountain pass. Who couldn't relax with those views.

As for me, I will spend more time traveling with the kids, finding more things to see that I didn't or don't have to stress over. Pass the iced tea please ...

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