Matthew 10:14 – 14) And whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.
Wednesday 09/15/10 - It is sunny and hot in this beautiful Colorado so we take a hike to Bierstadt Lake (see photo) which is a steep climb of 1.5 miles. The weather has been unusually hot in Colorado and other states in the east for this time of year and the rocky ground that we tread is dry and gray. We reach the lake and sit and take in the beauty of the clean rippling water and amazing bold mountains. As we look up and there dotted amongst the trees are bright yellow Aspens, one here and one there and some in clumps. Eventually we start to walk down and meet Linda who is taking her time walking down this steep mountain and it is about time that I learn how to slow down coming down so I do, Terry goes on a little ahead and Linda and I talk. She admits that she is angry at GOD at the moment as her husband just passed away. They used to come up here and hike and look for rocks and fossils (her husband’s hobby). Linda said that this is a trial for her to see if she can come here on her own and enjoy it even though her husband has gone on. Totally understandable I told her, and asked her if she could give the LORD a chance of being her husband and hand all of her trials and tribulations over to HIM ? She says she will try, I handed her my information and I hope that she does stay in touch she seems so lonely right now, please pray for her that she seeks and finds the LORD JESUS and falls in love with HIM, and that the LORD puts many good friends around her. We take another hike around Sprague Lake this time a level walk around a beautiful lake, the lake glistens as the tiny stars from the sunlight bounce and bob on the clean clear water, a young man standing waist high in the water is fishing, this is beautiful sunny Colorado on a quiet Wednesday afternoon. We stop to eat at a picnic table by a stream and a family of wild turkeys run by I always fear for all of the animals safety, and have become very sad as the talk around here is that the herd (Elk) has been thinned out, that means somehow they get rid of them as they eat all of the vegetation, I feel deeply sad and long for the LORD’S return to put ALL things back in order where the Lion will lay down with the Lamb. When the LORD created the earth and the animals for Adam to have dominion over HE did not give them to Adam for food, but when the LORD was sorry that HE had made man Genesis 6:6 and after the flood HE told Noah to begin eating the animals Genesis 9:2,3 - we are now fallen. Back at the campground we meet Rich who is in the next campground to us, he is from California and tells us how he and his brother are fraternal twins and how his story is the story of Cain and Abel, he being Cain, his brother is a well known missionary and Anglican priest. Rich went to Calvery Chapel school in Costa Mesa and knows everyone’s favorite Pastor in Southern California Pastor Chuck Smith ( I had a very vivid dream of Pastor Chuck recently). Rich said that he has been drinking wild turkey today, so I told him that I just saw a family of wild turkeys and was he expecting to act like one? Although a great personality we knew Rich had some problems he told us that he had a bear come around his tent to bother him, and no-one has seen a bear here at all, although they are here we never see them, he went on to tell us a lot about himself and we asked him if he believed that JESUS died on the cross for his sins- he hummed and haa’d a lot. Terry confirmed what I said which was that JESUS has been given those from the Father and no one can pluck them out of HIS hand, and told Rich this. We stayed with Rich a long while and he mentioned that he has been protected by his angel as he should have died several times and when I said that JESUS was his protector he said “No, this angel is stronger than JESUS” I rebuked that comment in the name of JESUS there is None stronger than HE, but Terry and I right then knew what angel he may be referring to. We left the campsite and did our laundry chatted with many and by the time we got back the campground was dark and we notice we have new neighbors on the other side of us that we haven’t met as they are already in their little camper shell and in bed, so Terry and I go off to bed. At midnight we hear a loud noise and it is Rich fighting with his tent, ( he probably is fighting with the imaginary bear) he is very drunk and we hear him mocking the Name of JESUS and saying things that sound like “Bit.., Father Son, and he was very upset, we heard the cork coming out of his booze bottle several times, he fought and toiled with his tent and ranted and raved, all the while we were trying to call 911 but unbeknownst to us Verizon only works in the town so we had no service, we didn’t want to get out of the tent as Rich was far too drunk and disturbed . It is very scary because he comes right by our tent as the flashlight shone on our fortress and we both are thinking he may fall on us (me being nearer him) also he is a strong 43 yr old. This went on for an hour and we feel (and hope) that our new neighbors was hearing all of this also. Suddenly at 1:15am Rich starts singing a John Denver record that Terry and I always play ‘My bags are packed, I’m ready to go’ and he jumps in his car, music ‘BLARING’ and takes off – phew!!! But he is so very drunk maybe he will kill someone? Will he kill an innocent family traveling at night? Will he kill someone getting off of work? Will he kill an animal? Will he kill himself? The enemy was at work and all the while we prayed to JESUS asking for divine intervention and for angels to be parked outside of our tent and we know that they were, Rich came so close but never touched our fortress, we praise the LORD and truly pray for Rich, there is something about him and we know that the LORD wants him.
Thursday 09/16/10 - Happy B’day to Lee (Terry’s dad) who would be 92 today if he was on this side. The new neighbors got up very early and left before we had a chance to speak to them, they were probably scared after last night, and probably thought that it was me and Terry in a drunken stupor. We talked to the rangers at the rangers station and come to find out Rich had left his medication with his psychiatrists number on them, they called the psychiatrist number, and the rest is all confidential, but here we are thinking so he is on serious medication and drinking a bottle of wild turkey and it’s not called wild turkey for no reason he was acting like one – very dangerous stuff. We told the rangers where he was heading and they are trying to make contact with the National Parks there (we hope). We continue to pray for Rich and his 82 yr old mother who lives in beautiful ‘San Juan Capistrano’ she must be so very upset to see one twin in ministry and the other cursing GOD – please pray that Rich gives his life to JESUS before he loses it and ends up in hell – the Bible say’s “GOD does not strive with man forever”. We take a hike 7.5 miles to Mills Lake and there are even more yellow Aspen, day by day more turn yellow and orange and red. Orange ferns line the borders of the pathway and a water fall pours over the rocks so white and clean and a trickling stream continues on through the mountain. Lake Mills is clear and clean surrounded by the big, bold, dark monarchs of Colorado. We sit and take it all in for a while then decide to see Loch Lake (see photo) not quite a mile away, the sky is rich in color and pretty white puffy clouds adorn this brilliant blue sky. We spoke with a number of people one guy Greg a realtor from Southern Cal and Terry talked to him about his life with JESUS versus before JESUS but no bites. Eventually we get back to the gorgeous town of Estes park and drive by the Serengeti where the Thompson River runs freely and we take a drive to see if the ‘bugle boys’ are around, they have thinned the herd out and it is obvious and terribly sad we can hear the bugling but the Elk seem to stay back on the Serengeti now –I am very sad. The sky is peach and blue as the sun dims and we head back to our fortress and pray for a peaceful night remembering Rich in our prayers and we thank our Heavenly FATHER for all answered and unanswered prayer.
Friday 09/17/10 – 6 months today we left home for our journey and here we are heading home soon. We pack up the fortress say farewell to some neighbors and meet lovely Mary Anne who stayed in the next campground to us last night. We chat and she is a beautiful believer in JESUS and a ‘Psychiatric Nurse’ “Oh! How we needed you the other night” we said jokingly (with regard to Rich). We gave Mary Anne our website and would love to hear from her she is from Montana now living in Denver, and she confirms that there is 300 days of sunshine in Denver per year along with the snow. We get our coffee and say farewell to beautiful Estes Park and drive back towards Grand Junction as we will head into Utah the next day. As we drive I am reading Genesis 26, 27 to Terry and a massive rock from a great big uncovered semi comes straight for our faces and heads and hits the windshield but the LORD protects us, and it bounces off of our chariot. Actually it is very bad and is a hole with at least five circling cracks, so we must get it fixed tomorrow. Yellow Aspens line the roads as they bid us farewell they are bright shining like the sun –Daniel 12:3 3) Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. We drive through several little towns like ‘Black Hawk’ with its gorgeous brick buildings and here we see a casino this must be Indian country as the casino’s are a landmark for Indian owned land. We drive on and notice the yellow Aspen filling the slopes of the mountains, yellow, and lime green, rivers and bridges and a railroad track sits on the side of the mountain, we pass ‘Copper Mountains’ a ski resort and are in awe at this land of castles and cathedrals. We are driving through familiar territory as we drive past Vail, through Glenwood Springs again in the land of spectacular red rock cathedrals and castles. We drive back through the tunnels in the rocks - long white ‘lit-up’ tunnels which open up to amazing humungous rugged rocks filled with tall pines, I can almost smell the pine in the heat. Bright yellow wildflowers still basking in the sun, and refreshing white water running down the Colorado River with a Kayaker or two paddling their way up stream taking advantage of the weather in this beautiful Colorado. No end to the monuments at each turn in the road we are in awe at another and one more as we approach the Glenwood Springs and Aspen area(s). We smell the sulphur that comes from the hot springs that this area is well known for, and we see red rust, burnt orange Amazon hills on our left and opposite red rock and green trees all wearing their Autumn colors. We arrive in Battlement Mesa and stay at a hotel where we bask in the luxury, swim in the indoor pool and use the spa, and here we are ending another wonderful day in paradise and as the day comes to a close, we thank the LORD for everything HE is.
Saturday 09/18/10 – A gorgeous sunny morning as we drive to Grand Junction to get our wind shield fixed. Michelle is from California and chats with us she is a Christian and talks to us about Calvery Chapel in Chino where her brother attends and all of these Pastors I have listened to since 1986, awesome Bible teachers. The scenery today is very dry desert with mesa rocks and the heat outside is getting stronger as we head into the desert, and within no time we are bidding farewell to Colorado and saying ‘hello’ to Utah and heading to ‘Arches National Park’ the land of the red rock formations. As we drive onwards into Utah we feel the 90+ heat and see the coral and salmon looking cathedrals with green trees and we watch the refreshing Colorado river running through the land giving us a little relief from the heat – surely we are in the desert a different kind of paradise. There is a bicycle marathon and we drive by thousands of bikers the whole way into the park, they stop at ‘aid’ stations for water as they ride their marathons and we drive on seeing the very bright yellow daisies along the side of the road and as we drive around a bend into the shade the coolness is evident and bikers are congregating here, and these enormous monarchs of old, these pink monuments give them shade. We look ahead and in the distance a thinner upright finger looking monuments all in a row looking like something that may be in a movie like the “Lord of the rings’ it reminds me of “The Valley of the Gods’ in Utah. These are now an extreme version of anything that we have been seeing we are in a red rocky sandstone paradise with pink cathedrals and castles that sit against an electric blue sky.. A little later in the afternoon the colors begin to change on these sculptures and as the sun dims slightly one can see the colors of these monuments change and get a little richer and deeper in tone. We go to town ‘Moab’ and get all our necessaries then back to pitch the fortress it is around now that the sun begins to sink into the evening sky and we take a drive in the cooler night air. Bats have come out of their caves and are looking for their evening meal feasting on the insects ( a good thing). The moon is not quite half but bright in the darkening sky and Venus shows up twinkling and twinkling - oh big star/planet you are so much bigger and brighter than the rest, and we see that the desert comes alive at night. The moon shines on the pink monuments (see photo) while wrenched, crooked, short bare trees create a black silhouette against a dimming blue and orange sky, a layer of orange on the horizon and blue sky above it. The sound of crickets and heat bugs chirp in the cool night air and even they seem to dwindle as we sit in the dark night surrounded by these enormous towers and the moon is bright the sky is covered with stars as we listen to the sound of stillness. These surroundings are so very surreal it is like being placed into a ‘Salvadore Dali’ painting, I believe he was the father of Surrealism? Terry and I just sit outside our fortress tonight and watch the stars, and they move, one shoots across the sky to another and fades quickly, so here we sit in the cool night air surrounded by amazing towers and arches and spires and we thank YOU LORD for the last part of our journey and the last part of paradise – truly a desert paradise. And I say to Terry “ I feel that you are Fred and I Wilma Flintstone living in the town of Bedrock, and Terry yells “WILMA” – hee hee.
Sunday 09/19/10 - The heat is not too much YET, so we start a 6 mile hike from our camp ground, and it is packed at the trail head seems that our campground is full and people are coming out for the day to walk through this amazing land. We begin our hike walking on the red clay floor then for a short while we walk on red soft sand. We walk amongst the tall towers the parallel spires and what is known as the fins. Fins are shaped like the fin on a shark and in some cases the rock has fallen out of the center and has left arch like shapes (see photo), hence the name ‘Arches National Monument’. We climb up and over, crouch down and under and walk all the way to ‘Double Arch’ a structure that looks like the figure 8 it has two holes (arches) and we stand in awe staring up at this dramatic monstrosity. We climb higher than some dare too (Terry and I climb like cats) and we stand and look out on this sandstone desert and out in the distance is a vast spectacular view of all these different shapes and sizes of pure mysterious architecture that comes from the Mighty Hand of GOD. Little did I know that when I was standing in one of the arches and admiring the spectacular view there were many people miles down looking up and taking photo’s of the arch and I thought that they were all waving at me so I was waving back and saying to Terry “they are so friendly here” and then Terry says “ Carole, they are waving you away they are trying to take a photo, without you in it”- oops! We talk to many people and there are many from Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic, and they are in total awe, as we are, of not only the scenery but the weather they all comment on the wonderful heat (not me). Many short hikes veer off in different directions we walk to ‘dark angel’ (don’t like this name so I changed it to’ angel of light’) a tall spire that is partly black in color stands tall above other structures here. We sit in the shade, peel an orange, and sit in awe at this very unusual Handiwork from the LORD HIMSELF. Again we look out over the desert at the city of spires all standing parallel in order as if on duty. All shapes and sizes are found here, a fold here and a split there, circular shapes here and wafer thin there. Gnarled trees without leaves look black against the electric blue sky an amazing spectacle with the La Sal Mountain range way off in the distance far off enough that we see no detail only black jagged shapes against the afternoon sky. We hike Partition Rock, Navajo rock, Landscape Rock all with their own forms and all too spectacular for words and we find that even the camera is not giving the full story (who says a camera never lies, it lies all the time). This red sandstone clay covers the earth and in some spots we find dark green short trees thriving in this heat, it has taken many years to get to this size because of the harsh environment. Yellow desert flowers, purple Asters and tiny yellow stars look so delicate but they are harsh to the touch they must protect themselves in this wind and heat. We meet Mari-Ella and her husband Matt a wonderful couple who met in Italy and married, Mari-Ella comes from not too far from where my mum came from and where my sister lives and Matt from Michigan with French and Italian background. We chat for a while and Matt’s family are all born again he has the knowledge of the LORD and being born again and seemed to want it left at that, we gave all our information and would love to see them in California, a great young couple our kids ages. Utah shares these monuments with three other neighboring states, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico but each seem to have their own distinct features. Here at Arches we see the spires that are parallel to each other, arches and fins. At the visitors center we watch a movie on the Red Rock Sandstone and the narrator explains that a lot of cowboys traveled through here and it was a hiding place for Butch Cassidy, Billy the kid and others at one time they knew if they hid here no-one would be able to find them, many people have remarked about me wearing my bandana, I guess I fit in with the history of the place – all in good humor. Sunset is at 7:21pm this evening and after dinner we take a drive watching the colors change in the dimming light. The moon is three quarters and looks bright in the dark sky, the towers , monuments, castles, cathedrals, sphinx structures shine in the cool evening air – yes a different kind of paradise.
Monday 09/20/10 – A trickling sound on the fortress makes us wonder if it could possibly be rain? Slightly, it is a drop of desert rain a little late as the rainy season is July and August in this desert. Brenda (our hostess at the park) walks by and stops to chat, she is from Boise, Idaho and she and her husband stay here for almost 3 months each year. Her husband and his friend (both from Tennessee) drive up and stop to chat. Dwight tells us that people from Idaho hate California and we soon find out that we are dealing with very unhappy, angry individuals. Of course Christianity became a topic and I told them that in my opinion they were rather myopic, they look at man rather than JESUS. Terry wonders why JESUS always gets all the blame and I answer ‘yes, and especially when they are sitting in the Devils Garden’ and I mean this literally this campsite is called “The Devil’s Garden’. No wonder the attack. Please pray for these individuals Tom, Dwight and Brenda, very sad people – Matthew 10: 14 (emphasis on the DUST - read above). Just before we leave the campground for our hikes we see Dascha a lovely Czech girl that I have seen at least 5 times now, we always stop to talk to each other and now our husbands meet. They are a lovely young couple and Dascha says that she will check out our website and read the newsletter and find us on face book. We take a hike at ‘Park Ave’ (see photo) where we have a geology lesson from Dean a young graduate park ranger. He explains that there are two kind of rocky clay soil that forms these towers, one being porous and the other non porous, one sits on the other and a line then forms between them where the water seeps out causing the structures to have lines formed all around them, some of the spires have a succession of white lines around them, not that this desert gets much water but when it does it stores it. Dean explained that the juniper tree has survived in this desert for hundreds of years yet are still small because their growth is thwarted by the harsh environment, and while all the plants and trees survive by keeping water in their root system, the Juniper actually will stop the water flow to one of its limbs (branch) the branch falls off, and now having less to feed it can bring the water supply to its heart (root) and survive longer. This hike takes us to the sun baked valley floor and as we walk in this city of roman ruins, towers, sphinx like structures we are awestruck once again and the morning sun is hot. A number of people recognize us and comment on why my mask is not on - remember I am the bandito with the bandana covering my face most of the day to protect my skin. We drive to ‘Dead Horse Point ‘ (see photo) today, not too fond of the names they choose, however, unfortunately there is a reason for this name, legend has it that in the 1899’s cowboys used Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses, with the sheer drops on either side they thought this would be a perfect horse trap. The FOOLS left the horses corralled on the waterless point and they died of thirst. Wouldn’t you think that humans may have more sense than that? GOD gave us dominion over the animals to care for them and here we are being so cruel and careless. As we drive we notice the barren land looking like southern Colorado. We see yellow flowers thriving here though and white dry desert brush in clumps – this is very harsh land and every plant or tree here has to fight for its survival taking them longer to flourish and grow big, most are small 15 feet is the highest for a tree. We take a hike across the top of a mesa there is no-one around, we are alone out here in this heated desert and we look down into the cavity of the earth and see canyon upon canyon. Look who else we see it is Dascha and her husband, this must be the 5th time we’ve bumped into her so we chat a while again and go on our separate ways. Dascha promises to stay in touch. We head to ‘Canyon Land State Park’ (see photo) where we see much of the same scenery. Harsh environment and deep red rock canyons layers of rock have been created by wind-blown sand dunes and sediment from freshwater lakes and the once ocean (the flood). Our day is coming to a close so on our way back we actually went out to eat (very rare for us) and hung around the campground watching the gorgeous sun set and the moon rise. We had left our fortress window flaps open all day and the wind was strong blowing gritty red dust into our lovely fortress, our bed is covered with it and even when I floss my teeth the grit is present– we clean it all.
Tuesday 09/21/10 - Thank the LORD for a cooler night and a wonderful nights sleep. Off we go to the town of Moab this morning is a little cooler yet the sun is shining and the red rock turns an orange color, ah the mystery of these monuments in this desert land. The La Sal mountains in the distance have a mist on them and it seems winter hits even here reaching only a high of 50 in the coldest months. Again we pass by the cities of spires sitting up on a high place resembling a walled city. Although quite early there are many visitors already they are here before the afternoon sun scorches them they are all mesmerized by what they see – a magical land full of GOD’S Own sculptures – GOD’S Art Gallery. The Mighty Sculptor has created a dome here and a spirel there, round top and elongated tall in structure and short in structure all of this comes from HIS Hand the Mighty creator of heaven and earth who can question HIM? And why? As we near the exit of the park we see again, and never tire of seeing, what I call the roman ruins, parts of castles, towers and cathedrals, pillars and posts. Outside of the park and in Moab we eat our cereal in the car before grabbing a cup of coffee and working on the computer. Terry has finalized all of our reservations and cannot get any at Zion Nat’l park, the campground is full, so we’ll stop and hike there and drive on - looks like we will be home on Wednesday 9/29 here is the LORD again finishing on the day of the week that we started making it complete and 7 is the number of completion in the Bible. We drive back to Arches and take a mile hike of ‘The Windows’ it is spectacular there is a north and south window (arches in the rock) and the magnitude is hard to describe, maybe the photo will help, although as I said photo’s are not doing these sculptures justice. A drive to Needles Point takes us out into the more green less rocky desert, unusual looking rocks are still present but not so plentiful and not so red. Yet a little further we begin to see very red clay floors again and red rock there are one or two pyramid shapes dotted on the landscape but nothing like Arches National Park. I notice a mountain range in the distance with a white top and dark bottom it is wider than tall and as I look at it I am reminded of a bald headed eagle with its wings spread out possibly in flight. Our drive back takes us through the hot dry desert and we reach Moab late afternoon. We do our wash and groceries and oil change and head back to our fortress at bedrock and become Fred and Wilma - but before we go back we try to catch the sunset at ‘Delicate Arch’ (see photo at end of narrative) and thank GOD we didn’t miss this one. We left this one until the end as it is one of the more popular spots, needless to say it is packed with people, many of them from Europe and the Orient. Such a beautiful row of sculpture is this ‘Delicate Arch’. Delicate in comparison with many of the other towers and domes in the park this row of shapes and towering spires, pinnacles, and balanced rocks are perched atop seemingly inadequate bases - spectacular. Many people have hiked up to the arch to get a photo of the arch and the full moon which is now rising in the dimming light; we don’t have time to get to the top so we take a hike around and up a way to get a shot of this isolated remnant which stands on the brink of a canyon with the dramatic La Sal Mountains as a backdrop. Another day, another week is at an end and we look at our fortress covered in red dust and we know that we have one more week before we rejoice in seeing our beautiful family and baby Jude who I hear is running all over ( like his daddy and brother) and looking gorgeous (like his daddy and brother) pray that he lets us kiss him up and hug him forever, and our gorgeous sons and their gorgeous wives whom we cherish and our baby Angela and Jeremiah who will soon be one flesh (Biblical). And of course our beautiful animals who have waited patiently for our return and we know that jag’s has been very sad, we are close by darling jag’s - we have prayed for all of our families everywhere continually. Angela’s wedding will take place in just over a month and we will see our baby become her mother hee hee I always told her it would happen and it is right before her eyes, she even cleaned the house the other day ( that is a milestone in itself). Well, for those of you who are still with us, we will see you next week for one more installment then we will see what the LORD has for us and you also - thank you for being with us on this most incredible journey with and for JESUS.
