We interupt this Halloween post to bring you Hemmed-In Hollow Take 2.....

Yesterday we went to Hemmed-In Hollow for take number 2. 

We were gonna go last week, but it didn't work out,

so we headed out this weekend,

and it ended up being just beautiful and the trees were.....

S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.

Absolutely stunning!!!!!

*****

So we started with going down the Bench Trail.

The one we didn't know was even there and in the dark, we couldn't tell that there were two.

We just didn't look around because we thought there was only one.

While we didn't see a copperhead, we did hear a rattler.

Yeah, I'm over snakes!!!  :)

So this is the trail we went down.....

 And this is the one we should have went down.

Yes in the light it is completely obvious,

but in the dark, it looks MUCH different.

Now isn't that the truth?!!

We walked down this small trail and decided to check out the cabin that was on it that we didn't get to see that night.

 And boy was it worth it.

It is so cute!!!!!

And the sun shining behind it was just beautiful!!

Side view.....

Isn't it gorgeous?!!

 This is the loft on the inside and that tree in the middle of the little cabin was the way they made it up to the loft.  Isn't that interesting?!!

Here is my gorgeous man standing by the tree.

Beautiful!!

Hey, how's it going?  =)

Then we headed back to the trail and this is what you see.

The sign.

Hmmmm....  Do you see the Bench Trail?

Yep, right on that sign, but just past that sign is another sign, and that is the one we saw and read in the dark and it doesn't have the Bench Trail on it.

It was good to go back and see where we made the wrong turn.



Then down the mountain we went.

My Mr. Winslow tried to get a picture of the rocks we had to climb down,

but pictures just don't do it justice.

But we had just climbed backwards down this part of the mountain.

I love this kind of hike.

And then this is where we rested and picnicked.

The company, delicious.

The view, breathtaking.

 This is the rock we ate lunch on.



Now I have more stories and more pictures, but blogger is driving me crazy with the whole picture loading process, so I'll stop for now.

We had an absolutely fabulous time.

We met the sweetest people on the BIGGEST horses =)

We found new spots and new spots to discover.

So stay tuned.....

I have more pics to share of Take Two =)

And also lots of Halloween fun!!!!!

Love you ~~ Have a Blessed day ~~



Random Friday ~~ And they grow up!!

So it is very possible that I am feeling very nostalgic this morning ~~

I have been looking at home movies and remembering.....

I love sweet memories.....

That's probably why I love to Scrapbook so much!!

I love to put those pretty memories, tucked into pretty packages.

Yes, I am a girl.

A.Girly.Girl.

anyway.....

As I was going through pics, I had this huge need to share a few on my blog.

I have so many I need to scan into my computer, so I can share pics when Dak was a little.....

Oh.my.stars.

***** 

And speaking of Dak.....

I love him.

*****

And speaking of kids I love.....

Leggs.....I love you.

*****

This is my sweet Sir Cuteness, being well, sweet and cute =)

He is holding the first cucumber of the season in '09.

He loved cucumbers and still does, and LOVES to pick.

He LOVES the garden.

Yes we may have ourselves an outdoor lover on our hands.

YES please!!!  =)

OH MY ~~ LOVE ME SOME CURLS!!!!!

Dak and Sir Cuteness on one of MANY trampoline excursions. 

Oh how I love these two!!!!!

Oh.my.stars.

Look at those cheeks. 

My little football player in the makin' =)

I know.....very random.....

But I am feeling nostalgic and SO tender hearted today.

I LOVE MY FAMILY SO!!!!!

I AM A WELL-BLESSED WOMAN!!!!!



And they dressed up and laughed and giggled and shook their sillies out.....

And that is EXACTLY what we did yesterday at the Library Halloween Party!!!

Sir Cuteness asked me to be a Princess,

So of course I HAD to oblige =)

Here is me and Sir Cuteness at the Library.

He is THE SWEETEST THING!!!

I LOVE this picture!!!

He was looking at the mirror on the wall up high.....

SO CUTE!!

In addition to laughing, giggling and shaking our sillies out.....

we also did puzzles.

He is getting SO good!!!!!

There were So many cute costumes!!

Look at this wee little lady bug.....

SO cute!!!!! 

 Sir Cuteness LOVED this tube!!

 My cute little bee.....

 I had to show you this cute picture.....

I mean seriously,

I just love a mama's pregnant bellie.....

She was SO cute!!!!!

 And Miss Adrian was also a bumble bee.

And they had a therapy bull dog there, also dressed up like a bumble bee.....

Sir Cuteness LOVED that!!!!!

Can you see this book?

It was a pop-up book on steroids!!!

I'd never seen anything like it.....

SO GREAT!

 She told us some really great stories.....

 Then we went to Granny's and surprised her with our costumes.....

 Oh.my.stars.

 So when Sir Cuteness requested me to be a Princess,

I went to my neighbor, who has the most amazing clothes.....

Very Princess like.....

I knew she could help a sista' out.....

and help she did!!

Isn't this lovely?!!

This dress is ALL lace and the navy blue coat you saw in previous pictures,

was a beautiful cape that she let me borrow.

It was just beautiful and warm =)

If you follow me on FB, then you probably saw that I was REALLY overthinking my Princess hair.

It was a Halloween Party for 5 year olds and under for crying out loud.....

Yep WAY over thought it =)

 My tiara came from Leggs and my necklace from my mama.

I thought it topped off my outfit....

I mean seriously, what is a Princess without her jewels =)



We had the BEST time!!!

Our Library really knows how to through a party =)

I kept thinking about our resident blog Princess RJ!!!

I wished you could have Belled it up and went with us ~~ now wouldn't that have been a hoot?!

Have a Super Blessed day ~~

A Year in the Life.....

Of my knee!!!

Saturday marked the one year anniversary of my left knee replacement.

Yep me and this girl has had quite a year.

It has not been easy, but I do not regret having this surgery.

I know it was the right decision for me, given all my knee arthitic issues through the years.

So I thought I'd show you just a few pics of then and now.....

then.....

This was just about 2 weeks or so after surgery. 

Look at that girl.

All the scabs are from the nasty blisters I got from surgery and medicine reactions.

ICKY!!

 This was my reality for quite a long time.

Me and my walker.

I was thankful for it and it helped me get stronger and stronger.

 And here I am almost a year later.....

Who'd have thought I'd be hiking in one of the toughest hikes in our area and getting lost

and hiking 12 miles in 13 hours up and down moutains, bluffs, through tarantulas and copper heads EEK ~~ and making it pretty well considering :)

I didn't even swell very much the days following that journey.

If I only had one thing to say to sum up this past year it would be:

GOD IS GOOD!!!!!

Please hear that, because NO MATTER WHAT my God knows EXACTLY all we go through on this earth and He understands our pain, because He walked it.

God knows, He understands, and He NEVER left my side this whole year.

 I am certainly not done with my recovery.

I still have more work to do.

Sometimes I still get frustrated.

I have gained weight in this last year because of the limited exercise,

but let me just say,

God has really done a work in my life in this regard.

My weight has been an issue for me for practically my whole life, and right now, I just know it is okay.

I'm really okay with it,

And that is such a Blessing!!!

So that is where my knee is right now.

Still not always easy.  It still hurts every day, but I'm moving on.

God is so good and He loves me.

This I know.

He sees me.

This I know.

So I press on toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus!!!

Amen?  Amen.

I love you all ~~ Have a Super Blessed day ~~

Random Friday ~~

Well Good Beautiful Friday Morning to Y'all!!!!!

Yep, still here.

I know I haven't posted ALL WEEK,

and I don't even have a really good reason why.....

other than I've been really busy.....

Lots of things going on.....

Anyway.....

All is well and I am back to writing and VLOG-ing =)

So here we go.....

*****

Okay so I feel I MUST start with Sir Cuteness.....

This boy is a one-of-a-kind, kind of Cuteness.

Sir Cuteness has been on fortified iron vitamins for a long time.

I keep hoping they will take the boy off those awful, black liquid, craziness

and give him some tasty gummy chewables or something,

but so far, it's been all black, disgusting liquid.

So I thought I'd get smart this week and sneak them in his morning apple juice with breakfast.

I made sure that I was on the other side of the kitchen, so he couldn't see me,

and I put them in there, shook it up and brought it to him like normal.

He took a drink, and then another, and boy was I in trouble =)

He said, "Gamma, I told you not to put that black stuff in my juice!!" 

(insert very mean, very cute, but very mean looking face =)

(Oh and also insert, he didn't tell me, he didn't even know =)

So I laughed and told him I couldn't get anything past him.....

still mean, little ole cute face, now with hands on hips =)

And he said he didn't want it.

I explained to him he was going to have to drink it, either in the juice or just out of the dropper

(with me chasing him down of course, because that is what it had come to!)

So he decided juice was better.....SCORE!!!  =)

Then at lunch time he said, "Gamma, I need some juice, but this time NO black stuff!!"  =)

Oh how I love this boy!!!!!

*****

So the last three weeks of the month, one day of the week, our library has story time for littles.

So Sir Cuteness and I have started going over and "Shaking Our Sillies" out, among other things =)

Well after we do that, and the "Hokey Pokey" and read a few stories and a craft and play on the flannel board and talk to Miss Adrian, we play in the kid's area in the Library itself.

So we had headed out, and he started playing.  There were lots of Littles around because of Story Time, so he was having fun watching them and even interacting a little bit.

Well there was this one little boy about a year or a year and a half younger than Sir Cuteness.

Well Sir Cuteness had a little chunky car he was playing with that came out of the bin, and this little boy came over and picked it up. 

Sir Cuteness looked at him and then at me and said, "He has my car." 

I assured him it would be okay and he could play with something else,

when Sir Cuteness walked over to the bins, grabbed out a monkey glove (for 5 Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed) and headed over to this little boy.

He went right over to him and very gently and sweetly said,

"Here is your Monkey Glove."

(Ummm.....Okay.)

The little boy lays down the car, grabs the Monkey Glove, looks at his mama and starts playing.

Sir Cuteness grabs the car and comes over to me and starts playing once again like nothing ever happened.

The mama looks at me and said,

"That was brilliant!!" 

Insert BIG smile!!!

To which I smiled back and said,

"I'm sorry!"

To which she said,

"No really.  That was brilliant.  That's the best thing I've seen ALL day!!" 

Insert another BIG SMILE!!!

And no children were crying or snatching toys or anything.

Way to figure it out Sir Cuteness.

You and your awesome reasoning skills.

Insert BIG SMILE!!!!!  =)

*****

So in other news:

Mr. Winslow and I will be headed back down to Hemmed-In Hollow tomorrow.

*****

And in other news:

I started a new four week Bible study this week through "The Women's Bible Cafe".

It is Beth Moore's "Loving Well".

Oh can I just tell you.....

This is SO good!!!

Let me just give you a quote from the book:

"No one has ever seen God, but when we love beyond our abilities, people will see Him in us."

Amen.

If you are in need of a shorter study to do before Beth Moore's James study comes out in November,

this may be the one for you.

Love.

You download the video's for $4.99 ea from Lifeway and watch one a week

and work in the journal.

It is so personal and relevant.

I am LOVING it so far!!!

*****

In other news:

My washer is broke.

I'm headed back to the laundry mat this morning.

It is costing a FORTUNE to go to the laundry mat.

$1.25 for ONE load to wash.

.25 for 8 MINUTES of drying time.

I had 5 loads and spent $10.50.

I've over it.

Anyway.....

*****

In other news:

I get to see my college babes today.

Dak and I are gonna have coffee at Hebrews.....

(Y'all really need to come to MO just for Hebrews,

and why your here, stop by and see me =)

Anyway.....

And then we're gonna head over to get him some Dorm Snacks.

Boy needs to eat and he's out of snackage.

So I'm gonna help a brother out!  =)

I love him so!!!!

My heart is so tender towards him and I can't wait to get a little time with him today.

And then after I take him back (he doesn't have classes on Friday),

I'm gonna pick up Leggs.

And we are going shopping.

Can I get a WOOT-WOOT?!!

She needs a pretty new dress for a wedding she is singing in tomorrow.

So happy to oblige!!

Then she is coming back home with me and we get to hang out this evening.

YAY for College Babe Time!!

*****

In other news:

Yesterday, I did a Vlog for you on a project I started Wednesday evening and completed Thursday afternoon.  It was quick and easy and I LOVE the finished project,

well almost finished project.....

Well, I hope y'all have a Blessed and Beautiful weekend!!

I love you so ~~

Ephesians 3:16 "I pray that out of His glorious riches, you will be strengthened in power through His Spirit in your inner being."

Beauty in the Hidden ..... Part 5 ..... Our Rescue!!!

Now I'm going to back up for just a minute and tell you something that happened last week. Something that was a game changer for us and something that we didn't know at the time, but something that would help us make it out of this very bad situation.




My husband works in Springfield, MO, but he works for a company out of Springdale, AR. They have a Springfield shop as well, and that is where my Mr. Winslow works. They bought him a cell phone last week, for work and not just any cell phone but an iPhone. And they bought him an AT&T plan, because AT&T gets out better in AR and that is where the Corporate Offices and main plant are, so that is what they went with. They used to be Verizon, but it didn't work as well in AR. AMAZING!!




It was the iPhone that got out for us when we were hidden deep in the woods. Dick called 911, and a very nice lady answered. He told her our predictament and if there was anyway they could put us in touch with a Park Ranger to figure out how to get back to that .8 mile marker. Somehow we knew if we got there that some how we may be able to find our way out of there.




Now you may be wondering about our kids at this point, and if they were wondering where we were. Well, of course, they were. Dak called us about 8:00 PM and said that he had called the house and we weren't home. He wondered where we were. I told him that we were lost in the woods. He asked me what that meant. =). (You see this just isn't something that ever happens to us.....we are experienced hikers..... sigh.). We couldn't stay on the phone and he said later that our connection wasn't good. (My phone.) He couldn't really figure out what was going on. So he came over to our house and told Chase that we were lost. It is funny to me now, but Chase told him that "Dad doesn't get lost. She's messing with you." Well Dak knew that wasn't the case, so he called a mom of one of his friends and told her that we were lost in the woods and he was worried, but she told him that we'd be fine and not to worry. So he went back to his dorm.




Well in the meantime, Chase started trying to get ahold of us. When we set there hidden deep in the woods, Dick called Chase (on the iPhone) to see if he could find a map of Hemmed-In Hollow online to help figure out of where we were. (No we didn't have a map. Another mistake.)




Dick went ahead and just called 911 and the lady got a Park Ranger to call us back. While he was talking to him he put Dick on hold because he had another call. He got back on the phone and told us that Chase was on the other line and had told him "My dad and stepmom are lost in Hemmed-In Hollow.... YOU HAVE TO GET THEM OUT OF THERE!!!" =) Warmed my heart and made me smile =) I love that boy!!!




Well he had another Park Ranger call us that knew the area better than he did. So pretty soon another Ranger called us and thankfully Dick knew where we must have made the wrong turn this time, and so could tell him exactly where we had turned when we got to the .8 mile marker, but it was so dark. Well the Ranger asked him several questions about our location and we really couldn't tell him very much, but he thought he had a pretty good idea where we were. Dick asked him if there was anyway that we could take a turn somewhere and meet back to the trail we needed without going all the way back.




We couldn't.




We had walked 2 HOURS in the wrong direction and now we had to turn around and go back.




The Park Ranger was so nice. When Dick explained our situation and my health challenges, the Park Ranger said he would meet us at the .8 mile marker with water HALLELUJAH!! and he would walk us out.




So now we had a plan. So now we just needed to get back to that .8 mile marker and the promise of water. But that was another 2 HOUR walk. So we started back at 10:30 PM.

Before we headed back, we wrapped up in each other and prayed. It was beautiful. We prayed for courage. We prayed for help. We KNEW that God was with us NO MATTER the outcome. WE LOVE HIM SO!!!

So after we prayed, we took off back up the trail.

We walked, ever so slowly.....
At first our pace was quicker, because we knew that someone who knew the way out of there would be there with water to meet us.

But then..... it didn't take long for our weariness, our thirst, and our pain to catch up with us and I had to stop..... again. I tried to make my stops shorter, but still I had to stop.

Well we are walking....

and walking.....

AND walking.....

When all of the sudden Dick yells: STOP!!!!!
Me: What?!!
Dick: COPPERHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you kidding me? A COPPERHEAD?

So I jumped behind my man and stepped several steps backward in case he needed room to jump back.
Dick bent down, ever so gently and picked up a rock, and hit that COPPERHEAD in the head. It didn't kill him, but he did scurry away quickly into the woods.

Now we were REALLY ready to get out of there.

Dick told me then that he had been looking out for them, because they are really on the move this time of year.

What?

I decided, in this case, that ignorance is bliss. =) I'm REALLY glad that he didn't tell me that tid bit of information before we saw the COPPERHEAD!! It is the kind of thing this girl didn't need to know =)

So we kept going
and going......and going.

And then finally we heard something.

Yes it was the rescuer, the Park Ranger and he was equipped with flashlights, sweatshirts, and sweet, sweet WATER!!! We were SO thankful to see him!!

He was so nice. We asked him if they had to do this much and he said all the time. We were so surprised. He said that people get turned around all the time out there. And they have lots of injuries, etc.

Oh and the trail we were on?

It was called the Benchmark trail and it is not very well marked. obviously.
And it is the LONGEST trail in the whole place.

WHAT?!! And it pretty much goes nowhere.

CRAZY!!

Well he got us back out of the deep woods. (Remember COPPERHEADS!!!!!)
And then back to the .8 mile marker where we could sit a while and drink our sweet beautiful water.

I asked our Park Ranger his name and he said it was Billy. I told him that our grandson would love this story and love the fact that we had been rescued by Park Ranger Billy. He loved that =)

When it was time to get going, he warned me that it was only .8 miles out of there, but it was a very rough .8 miles, with LOTS of rock stairs.

So we started out of there.

It was VERY rough. I had to stop some more, and if it hadn't been for the adreline, I just might have had to be carried out of there. It was so tough. But we kept going and .....

Ta -Da!!! We made it!!

Back to our car.

WE WERE NEVER SO HAPPY TO SEE THAT SILVER ALERO IN OUR LIVES!!!!!

The Ranger was SO nice and came over and talked to me to make sure I was okay, before he took our information. Dick tried to pay him, but he said, "No sir. This is my job!" Such a nice guy and very good Ranger.

Well now we were going home.

It was 1:30 AM when we got to our car.

We had been out there for 13 hours and had hiked up some very tough terrain for 12 MILES!!! WOW!!

Well, we were so happy and headed the 2 hour trip home.

*****

So we are now recovering nicely and so thankful that we made it home safely.

As far as injuries go, of course we were very dehydrated, but we are fine with that now. Dick had lots of scrapes and bites, but was fine and his heart is getting back to a good rhythm.

Me? Well I had lots of scrapes and scratches, but the worst part was my big toe on my left foot. The nail is completely BLACK!! It hurts REALLY bad!!! We are not sure I won't end up at the doctor to have the nail taken off, but we'll see. I hit my toe so many times that it pushed the nail back into my foot. EEK!! Yep OUCH!!!!! My hips are still pretty sore, and now my left knee is starting to really hurt (4 days later =) but considering, it did REALLY well!!

Well there you have it. Our Hemmed-In Hollow adventure!!

And yes, we are already planning a trip back. Dick was researching really good back packs last night =). Ones with bladders :)... Built in water bottles. The call them bladders. Hahahaha that cracks me up!!

Thank you all for your concern for us and all the sweet comments over the last several days......

We love you so ~~

Now onto the next adventure =)

*****

Father,
Thank you for seeing us in the dark, when no one else knew for sure where we were, You knew. You were loving us and teaching us every step of the way and we are so very thankful Father. Continue to help us and teach us through this experience. We love you so Abba ~~ Amen.

Beauty in the Hidden ..... Part 4 ..... More of Our Story.....

So let's keep going..... =)
Well we climbed up the side of that mountain and got on the right trail, finally.

We hiked for quite a while, up very tough terrain, so thirsty, so tired, my hips hurt SO bad, Dick's heart had started giving him problems (he has problems with arthymia), so we kept having to stop, but we were making progress.

I kept saying my memory verses and Dick kept reminding me Spirit over flesh, Spirit over flesh.  I knew the finish line was in sight somehow and we'd be thirsty and tired, but make it out fine. 

Well, we finally got to the .8 mile marker at about 8:00 PM.  We were so excited.  Mr. Winslow told me we'd made it.  We were only .8 miles to the car and we could do this.  Well, I knew it was a tough .8 miles, but I also knew that by 9:00 PM or so, we'd be to the car and headed to the first station we could find with water!! 

So we started down the trail and we went up for a while, through a lot of brush and more thorns and stickers and lots of unevenness with all the rocks.  I kept twisting my ankle and stumping my toe.  It was SO dark, because we were now back in pretty much total tree cover.  We would see the moon when there would be an opening in the trees, but for the most part it was totally dark.  We only had our cell phones for lights.  Ridiculous on our part.  Crazy. 

Well, we walked.....

and walked.....

and walked some more.....

Until we started wondering if this was the right trail.  But we couldn't be on the wrong trail, again, because there were only two choices.  The one that lead back where we had made the wrong turn at the very beginning of the day, and it wasn't that one, and the other one that lead to the Compton Trail Head and our car.  It HAD to be that one!!!

So we kept moving.....  Ever so slowly.....

We hurt SO BAD!!  And I mean we were SO thirsty, I can't even explain how thirsty we were.  I will try to put this dehydration thing into a little bit of perspective.  I went to the bathroom when we left the house that morning at about 10:00 AM and here it was well after 9:00 PM and I still had not and didn't need to go.  We were so very thirsty and thankfully my dear man realized we were in real trouble. 

After we had walked and walked down this trail and it appeared that we were not getting to the car, suddenly Dick said, "Honey, right up there.  We've made it."  I was SO happy!!!  And then we got "right up there" and it was just the moon shining on that spot looking like it would open into the parking lot.  We walked a little more and then I had to stop again.

So we stopped and Mr. Winslow sat with me and said, "Can we call 911 out here?"  I knew when he said that, we were really in trouble.  You have to understand, there is no way my man would have even suggested such a thing if we could have gotten out of there by ourselves.

He knew I was NOT doing well and he felt so bad.  He kept apologizing to me.  Let me make this very clear, it was NOT necessary!!  I trust this man explicity.  I would follow him anywhere.  I know that he loves me like Christ loves the church, and when you are loved this way you gladly and completely commit and submit to your husband.  I did not one time get upset with him, nor did he with me.  We strode hand in hand knowing that we were in this thing together.  NO matter the outcome, we were together and would have it no other way.

Neither one of us were scared at all, but we sure were tired and thirsty and hurting.  But there was peace.  As we set hidden deep in the woods, I had this beautiful sense of peace and knowing that God could see us.  He knew EXACTLY where we were.  We were hidden, but we were hidden in Him.  No better place to be.

I asked my husband if we could just curl up and go to sleep for the night.  He said if we had water, we would have, but we didn't have and he said we couldn't stay there for the night without it.  So we were back to the 911 option.

To be cont'd..... =)

Beauty in the Hidden ..... Part 3 ..... And now it gets very interesting.....

After we left Granny's we started back on the trail.

Here is another just beautiful spot.

I love the Buffalo River.

It is so beautiful.

So we went by the river for a way and came upon this fishing pole just leaning against this tree.
For some reason I found it funny =)

And then I saw a campsite just a few hundred feet away =) 

We had stopped to get sand and dirt out of our shoes and we were off again.

Up the path we went.....

Past some beautiful bluffs and rocks.....

And then across this creek bed.....

Looking around.....

Trying to find the path we were to be on....

We walked and walked and came across some campers and they told us we needed to go back the way we came.....

So back we went.....

Getting nowhere.....

Went across this creek bed.....

Again.....

And then Dick just almost stepped on this bad boy.....

A TARANTULA!!!

As we went back across these rocks again I told Dick this creek bed was of the devil.....

I am telling you, this was some tough walking.....

So we headed up to the falls trail, knowing that there was a trail that went around it up to the top to the .8 mile marker that we knew and out to the car.

So we started to the falls.....

we walked.....

and walked.....

and walked.....

and walked.....

and came across some more campers who said it dead ended by the falls and we'd have to turn around,

but Dick was sure that there was a trail that went around the side of the falls.

Let me reiterate that we had been here before and Dick more times than I.

He knew there was another trail around the side.

So he decided that he would walk on ahead of me, because by this time, I had greatly slowed us down.

So I was just kind of walking at a slow pace and Dick had gone ahead, I was trying to keep him in sight, but I just couldn't walk fast enough.  So I just went at my pace and thought he'd find me on the path and wouldn't have to walk so far to catch up with me.

So the trail got smaller and a little non-path like =)

And then I came across a huge tree.....fallen on the path.....

this tree was So big that I couldn't go under it, because I can't crawl on these knees,

and it was so big that I couldn't get over it because if I had I'd had to jump off the tree to get down.

*sigh*

So I figured I better get back to the path I knew was a path and wait for Dick.

I didn't like being seperated and decided that had been a bad idea.

So I sat down on a tree root on the path I knew was a path and prayed.

And then I waited .....

I wasn't scared..... I knew Mr. Winslow would move heaven and earth to find me....

God gave me peace.....

It was about 5:00 and in the woods we knew it would start getting dark soon.....

So I waited for Dick.....

And pretty soon here he came.....

What a beautiful sight!! 

I was so happy to see him.....

He said he'd even tried to call me..... but our cell phones had no signal down under the mountain.....

But when he got to me he said, "This is very bad news....."

It was a dead end.

Again.

So we headed back down the falls trail.

A very long way back down the falls trail.....

So when we got back down to the place where the above fishing pole is, we saw some campers building a fire for night fall.....

We asked which way to go and they told us what they thought,

so we headed in another direction and then came across some other campers and talked to them and they told us to go back by the campers we'd just asked and take that path.....

Ok.

So now we just weren't sure......but we knew this for sure.....

we were lost.

And it was going to get dark.

So we went by those campers and on that path for quite a while and then came to a huge tree in the middle of the path.  At this point Dick said, "I cannot believe this!" 

So we went around the tree and this is where we ended up.

Yes this was not good.....

It was full of stickers and poison ivy, oak and probably any other type of deep wood poison....

Then we looked up the hill and there was the path we were to be on and so to get to it we had to climb out of this place. 

no path.

just stickers, thorns, poison, mosiquotos and remember we'd already seen a tarantula.....

EEK!

So here is my Mr. Winslow, climbing out of here.  If you look closely you can see the top of this thing where the trail is, it was way up there.....

So when he got up there he hollered down that this is where we needed to be and I was going to have to climb up there.....

Ummm.....okay.....

So I headed through all this craziness to Dick.....

When you got to the top it was like sand and you literally had to crawl your way up,

digging your nails and everything else for that matter into the sand and dirt to get on up to the path.

Dick saw I was in trouble, so he climbed down a little ways and grabbed a tree, and handed me his hand.....

So I took it and held on for dear life and as I grabbed onto a little tree with my other hand,

Dick said THAT'S POISON!!! 

terrific.

So yes I put my hand in poison and we had nothing to clean it off with.....

terrific.

Well, Dick pulled me up and then I saw what he was holding onto.

a twig people.  a twig.

He corrected me and told me it was a sapling.

It was a twig.

God was holding onto that tree, that Dick was holding onto, and I was holding onto him.

If not, that tree would have given way, and me Dick and the tree would have made our way back down the thorny, poisoning mountainside the hard way!

 

So now we are on the right path.....

Out of water, but happy we had found this path.....

And then Dick started seeing familiar sights.....

I was SO happy!

And he saw the Falls Path that he knew was there. 

He was so frustrated.

If we could have found that, we could have saved ourselves.....

MILES.

anyway.....

About this time I looked up and saw the moon.

It was almost full.

Again I saw God's provision for us. 

So we walked.....

and walked.....

and walked.....

And then had to start climbing......

and by this time we are well out of the little water we'd had.  

We were thirsty and bone tired.  

but happy to be getting out of here,

but let me tell you.....

the climb was CRAZY!!!!!

We found a rythm though.  

Mr. Winslow had my hand and everytime we came to a rock stair we had to climb up,

he'd go up first and then pull me up.....

so tiring for him I know, but my legs and hips were just spent and we still had a very long way to go.

We were not at our .8 mile marker yet.....

It was going to be awhile.....

much longer than we knew at the time......

before we would get to the car.....

a very long, adventerous time.....

So yes,  I must put you on hold again.....

But let me kind of set the stage for you.....

It is now about 7:30 PM and we had been hiking since 12:30 PM, and we had been out of water for a very long time.

We were so tired and thirsty.

And hurting.

And we were still walking.....

We kept saying to each other:

Spirit over flesh, Spirit over flesh.

We knew God was with us.

He never left us.

And this story is about to take a very hard turn.....

We never left His sight.

To be cont'd.....

Beauty in the HIdden ..... Part 2..... Hiking to Granny Henderson's and then.....

So the very first time, I went to Hemmed-In Hollow, (many years ago) Mr. Winslow had a secret he was keeping.....

Yes this adorable guy right here was keeping a wonderful secret.....

Now my pics are out of order, so I will have to just tell you the beautiful secret he was keeping was

this little old cabin out in the middle of these beautiful woods.

I have a thing for little cabins.....especially really old ones that are all run down.

I imagine Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas dinners and beautiful family time.

Cards being played around the table, wrapped in blankets in front of the stove in the middle of winter.....

Yes I have a vivid imagine..... =)

Here is where Granny Henderson cooked....

 And these stairs.....

Get out of town!!!

 And here is sweet Granny Henderson.....

Her and her husband moved into this cabin in 1912 and Granny lived there until 1979. 

Her husband died in 1956, so she lived there for 23 years alone.

She had no electricity and no plumbing, but she was happy.

She finally had to move, because the park board moved into the area and pretty much forced her out.

She only lived a few months after she moved out.

So sad.

She was resourceful and beautiful.

We read her story everytime we come.

We love this old cabin.

I alwas feel so nostalgic every time I come here.

It is a hike. I mean a SERIOUS hike to get here, but it is SO worth.

I will never forget the first time my Mr. Winslow brought me here.....

 He knew my love of old houses and so he hid my eyes and guided me down the path to Granny's house.

Then he pulled his hands away from my eyes and said:  "Ta-Da!!"

It took my breathe away.

And still catches me off guard.

I mean it is seriously in the middle of what some people say is nowhere,

but I say it is right in the middle of somewhere,

somewhere beautiful.

Now here I am just before we got to Granny's.....

My man and I.....

I love him so.....

I trust him completely.....

We are even closer now.....

Things are about to get interesting.....

Here is the side of the Granny's house.....

And this is one of my favorite parts of Granny's house.....

I LOVE the top part of this house.....

This was a really wonderful house and cream of the crop for the day.....

I would say Granny's Mr. Henderson really wanted to make a beautiful, solid house for her.....

Oh let me tell you, he did. 

Thank you Grandpa Henderson!

*****

So this is where our journey starts to get really interesting. 

Seriously interesting.....

Hold on.....

To be cont'd.....