Mountain Getaway-Part I

I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep. God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke. GOD guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. Psalm 121 (The Message)

Tomorrow, we leave on another vacation. I say “another” like we travel all the time, but that is not true. Husband only gets two weeks vacation a year while, I, as a long time government employee get more than I can use in one year. At least and still make sure my job gets done. Now that our kids are grown and the start of school does not dictate the end of summer, we have found that we like saving a week until mid September when the roads are open, the temperatures cooler and accommodations cheaper. We are headed to Asheville to see Vicki and Rich for a few days. Then, we will leave our truck at their place and motorcycle ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway for most of the week. We will visit Blowing Rock, Grandfather Mountain, and Linville Falls and ride a road off the Parkway that is supposed to be better than the Dragon’s Tail. We will head to Waynesville and Cherokee, a favorite area since I was a little girl and my grandparents summered in the mountains. We will finish in Flat Rock staying at a lodge where husband and I traveled on our first road trip almost thirty years ago. A ride down memory lane. We will never be more than three hours away from Asheville, but there is so much to see and do that we will be busy the entire time. We want to finish riding the southern portion of the parkway, so that if next summer we can make it back to Virginia again, we will finish the northern portion. It would be fun to be able to say we have ridden it from start to finish. We just don’t have to tell anyone it took us three years to do it! We are all packed and ready. Tomorrow, we hope to get on the road by mid afternoon so that we can get through a section of our path that is a nightmare at rush hour. Two Interstates come together and then, a few miles later, a third one joins in making it gridlock from about 4 in the afternoon until 6:30 or 7. Unless you can be through it by 4, there is no need to leave the house because you will spend all your time sitting in a massive parking lot called a road. The only thing that helps while you are waiting and twiddling your thumbs is to think about where you are headed. Vacation! Freedom! Rest! Life is so much like a road trip. There are portions that require patience and time to resolve. Others breeze along with lovely views and happy occasions. Sorrow and tragedy, joy and excitement. It is all a part of life on this earth. But, what keeps us going is the knowledge of what lies at the end of the road. We have hope because someday, we will be in Heaven and because God walks with us until we get there.