We're in Washington state, and it's our last day on the west coast. Tomorrow, we start the trek across the northern part of the U.S. so that we'll be back in time for next school year. I can't believe how quickly time has flown, and am feeling very nostalgic to be beginning the trip back tomorrow. I will miss this time on the road! Sometimes I think I'm appreciating every moment that God has given me, and sometimes I want to cling to these happy seasons too much.
As I enjoyed Mt. Rainier National Park this weekend, it occurred to me that I'm clinging to the happy touring-the-west-coast season of life a bit too much. I don't want to let this season go! It's wonderful!
We went to Mt. Rainier National Park to do a little sightseeing and hiking. Being the very tail end of June, we were handed the winter (!) hiking map and sent out on a recommended trail, which was buried in deep snow.
It was absolutely gorgeous! (Simultaneously, it was too foggy to actually see what you picture seeing of Mount Rainier. That day, we had to watch the movie in the visitor center to see the mountain the way you should see it.) Having missed winter this year, our kids were thrilled to begin the snow hike. As we started out, there were lots of people out playing in the snow and hiking a bit near the nature center.
The farther out we got, the fewer and fewer people we saw. Eventually, whenever we sporadically saw other people, they were carrying huge hiking backpacks. I figured they must be on the way back down from a serious hike up the mountain. It didn't occur to me that we might have veered off our intended path and were now on a "strenuous" trail. We kept hiking.
Not seeing the the glacier lookout that we'd intended to get to, plus having a lot of fog / rain rolling in with little visibility, I asked the two hikers heading back down where we were. Apparently, we were almost to the overnight camping area. (Tents. In snow. I guess that's why there were people with all that equipment.) One of our children was wailing loudly because of being cold. The interest in snow was wearing off.
We turned around. It was still mainly just us on our hike. After awhile, we saw another person hiking who said, "There's a bear up there!" I tried to grab the kids and run the other way. Two of our kids ran with Char to go see the bear. One of our other children was so scared of a potential bear that he started singing at the top of his lungs. "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly." Apparently, he was inspired by the snow. Either his noisy singing inspired the "bear" to run away, or the man's English was really poor, because as we continued sliding down the mountain back to the nature center, the only animal we saw looked like a really large groundhog. No major incidents to report!
Arriving back at the nature center, I looked at the hiking map. Yep, strenuous trail. Recommended that you only set out if you have ice picks to dig yourself out in case of avalanche, matches in a waterproof bag, food, compass, tent in case you get stuck on the mountain overnight, etc. Oops.
We continued on to the non-snowy areas of the park to see some waterfalls.
Back at our campsite, we have a fog-free, not-at-all dangerous view of Mt. Rainier, and we've spent the rest of our time here playing in a beautiful mountain lake.
This swimming area has logs instead of buoys, and Char and B enjoyed trying to balance on them
I never know what to expect from one week to the next, while on the road. Some moments, like our "nice and easy hike at Mt. Rainier," are not at all what I anticipated. Sometimes, I do think I know what's happening, like the fact that this adventure is wrapping up in the next six weeks. I will miss it, but God gives gifts and opportunities for a season, it seems. Nothing really lasts forever except for the eternity of heaven or hell. This life is full of change, new seasons, and surprises, one after another.
Typically, I've hated change. In my fear, I've thought that change is frightening, and could mean that you end up hanging out with a scary bear in an avalanche on a snowy mountain. But this trip has had change every week, and the change can be a blessing. You get to see this:
I have a lot to learn about trusting God, but change isn't necessarily bad. Change is something God directs. I think there's something I should learn here about gracefully letting go of one season, gracefully living life where I'm at - even if I don't understand its context, and gracefully picking up the next season when it happens. Maybe appreciate the gifts of this season, but not hold them so tightly that I'm unwilling to change seasons.
That said, change is coming for the Utter family, so anyone want to buy a fifth wheel a month and a half from now?? God's created a world of wonder out here, and we've been so blessed to see it!... for a season.
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