Vacation Stop 1

I promised some vacation posts . . .

Our first stop was Shenandoah National Park. We decided that in this Covid time, this would be a largely outdoor vacation - lots of hiking and stuff. 

When we entered the park, we turned off at the first overlook and found a hiking trail up to a place called Mary's rock. A very good beginning. Pretty much uphill the whole way (and so downhill the whole way back!), but with a great view at the end.

On the way up.

At the top. Those roads you see? That's pretty close to where we started.  :-)

My wife told me about a cool app called "Map My Walk" (they also have one for biking called "Map My Ride") - so I tried it out on our hikes. Here's some of the data from this one:

These apps are from UnderArmour and track you on GPS. I haven't used the bike one yet, but am looking forward to it!

Another Visitor

Apparently, the chairs on our front porch are REALLY comfortable! Just a day or two after our other resting visitor (see previous post for that), we had another napper . . .

Now I wonder who will be next?  :-)

Back from Vacation

Back after a little R & R. Vacation. Or holiday if you're British. Walkabout if your Australian. I'll post some pictures and tell you what we did in the days to come. But all in all, a good detox from most technology for me. No computer, no iPad, though I did have my phone - though I tried not to use it very much. 

But this morning, our first morning "back at it," we had a welcome back from one of the neighborhood foxes. I've posted about them before. Here's one of the little fellas this morning:

He's just chillin' in one of the chairs on our front porch. :-)  Not sure if it's just plain comfy, or a good vantage point to watch for chipmunks! (They have a hole in the garden right under the plants in front on him.) He looked a little tired though, maybe from hunting all night. Maybe he'll get a little nap.

In Case You Ever Wondered . . .

I case you ever wondered what I would look like with hoops! (C'mon, I know that you were!) We took this picture while moving my daughter into a new apartment in Richmond on Saturday. It's almost twice the size of her old student apartment next to VCU. Her cat, Bronx, wasn't too sure he'd like it, but I think he's getting used to it . . .  :-)

Ordination

Ordination of Brett Witmer (one of our adopted seminarians)

at Bethel Lutheran Church, Sutherland, IA

(He's the guy with the big smile in the middle!)

Installation

Rev. Daniel Broaddus

Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church

Edgerton, Ohio

While I was there for the installation, I found out that this church and some of the others in the area were started by Friedrich Wyneken (one of the fathers of the LCMS) himself, who served as a circuit rider in that area. Pretty cool. Nice little church. Nice people. Very well kept. 

Just a Thought . . .

Are we so afraid of death that we are now afraid of life?

Jesus died and rose again not just to give us life later, but life now.

Set free from the fear of death, we can now live.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

~ John 10:10b