G.O. Team Santo Domingo

This post has nothing to do with camping, but I wanted to do a blog entry on my recent trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Last month (June 10-22), I got to be part of a G.O. Team from our church to Santo Domingo. "G.O." stands for gospel outreach. I'll share a few of the pictures I took in the blog. If you want to see more, they are in this online photo album: Santo Domingo - 2015

Our trip began with a short 4-hour van ride down to Atlanta, GA. Our non-stop flight to Santo Domingo departed from Atlanta on the morning of June 11th, so we drove down the night before and spent the night in a hotel near the airport.

After challenges with the morning shuttle to the airport, we boarded the plane with just minutes to spare.

Arrival

After a quick 3-hour flight, we landed in Santo Domingo and were greeted at the airport by Charlie and Darla, our long-term mission partners in the area.

After loading our luggage in the back of Charlie's truck, Darla treated us to a scenic drive along the coast on our way into the city.

We arrived at our home away from home for the next 10 days: A Free Methodist Church in Santo Domingo, about 5 minutes away from our church congregation Cántico Nuevo (New Song) -  Santo Domingo. The 3rd floor of the facility has mission team housing with a kitchen, dining area, and several rooms with bunks. 

This was the view from the dining area.

There were different fruit trees planted all around the church building. This is one of the mango trees that was growing just outside the dining area.

After getting settled, we headed to the El Cafe community to lead the Thursday evening community gathering for a newly launched Cántico Nuevo congregation in the area. Before the gathering began, we broke up into two teams and walked the streets, inviting people to the meeting. A couple of the boys from our team engaged some of the local kids in a 2-on-2 pick-up basket ball game (we lost).

For the gathering, we led a few songs in worship, then I shared a short message (translated by Erick) in which I explained the gospel and gave an encouraging word to the congregation. After I spoke, Charlie gave a call for salvation and two people responded. We then had a time of prayer where we prayed for various people. It was a powerful and encouraging start to our trip.

Day 1-2: Evangelism and Leadership Seminar

For the first part of the day, we headed to the local university to engage people in gospel conversations using the God Test.

Luke, Blake, and Erick talking with some students on the Library steps.

During our team prayer time that morning, Aaron had a vision of him speaking with a dark-skinned man in a black shirt. Near the end of our time at the University, these two young men walked past, and Aaron's vision became a reality. They weren't even students at the university, but were just passing through. Scott and Aaron got to talk with them both about the gospel and living fully for The Lord.

Charlie conversing with a young man who was shining shoes.

Friday evening and all day Saturday, we hosted a leadership seminar for leaders in Cántico Nuevo and another church in the Las Palmas community.

Several of us shared our testimony. Felicia shared about how she has been transformed by the Love of God and the power of living in a life-giving community of faith.

This was Jessica's first time sharing her testimony before a group of people. She did a great job.

I had the opportunity to give an example from my own life of God's faithfulness to His Word and how following the ways of God leads to blessing and fulfillment.

Scott Weaver, our executive pastor, led 4 sessions over the course of the conference. He took us through Ephesians and talked about the family that grows together.

Everyone from the conference left encouraged and better equipped to lead the people in their congregations.

Day 3: Sunday Services

On Sunday morning, we got to join our family at Cántico Nuevo - Santo Domingo. It was a great service. The worship team led some familiar songs in Spanish and English (which we appreciated) and Pastor Scott brought the message.

Throughout his message, Scott invited various members of our team up to give a testimony that would help to illustrate his message points.

That evening, we had the privilege of worshipping with some of our Haitian brothers and sisters at a Haitian Foursquare church in the Los Alcarrizos community. 

Here are some of the kids waiting in the church foyer.

These two led a powerful time of worship. There were no instruments, no lights, no lyrics projected on the screen...

But that didn't prevent the congregation from passionately praising and worshipping their God and Savior. We could all learn a lesson from them.

Here is your Haitian family saying "Hi" to you.

The church building was packed full, and not everyone could fit inside, but that didn't stop one little girl from being a part of the service.

After Pastor Scott's message, we all had the opportunity to pray for and over everyone.

We definitely got to experience a taste of heaven, worshipping with our Haitian family - an experience we won't soon forget.

Day 4: Sightseeing and Couples Event

Monday was our day to do some sightseeing and souvenir shopping. While we were waiting to be picked up, some of our team decided to walk the neighborhood and meet some of our neighbors.

Next to the church where we were staying was a small business.

Here are some of our team members sharing the gospel with the store clerk.

After we were picked up, Darla gave us her bus tour of the Colonial District. Here are some of the sights that we got to experience:

Columbus Lighthouse

The lighthouse was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Discovery of America. The monument was funded by the Latin American states and is built in the shape of a cross to represent the Christianization of America.

Fortaleza Ozama

The Fortress is a sixteenth century castle built by the Spanish at the entrance of Santo Domingo on the Ozama River. It is the oldest formal military construction of European origin in the Americas. Construction began in 1502 and was completed in 1505. The castle served as a prison until the 1960s, when it was opened to the public.

Alcázar de Colón

The Alcazar is the oldest Viceregal residence in the Americas. The palace was built under Diego Colón (Columbus), the son of Christopher Columbus, when he became Viceroy of La Española in 1509. It was from this building that many of the Spanish expeditions of conquest and exploration of the new world were planned.

Catedral de Santa María la Menor

This is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. It was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1504. Construction began in 1512 and was consecrated in 1541. Sir Francis Drake used the cathedral as his headquarters when he captured Santo Domingo in 1546.

We all stopped for a brown-bag lunch in Columbus Park, beside the cathedral. While we were eating, a young boy came up to us begging for money. Almost like the story of Peter and John in the Bible: silver and gold, we did not have - but what we had, we freely gave him...

Erick sat for a while and talked with him and shared the gospel with him. After hearing the good news, the boy freely received the gift of salvation... and got some free lunch as well.

After lunch, we took a self-guided tour of the inside of the cathedral. This is a view from the back of the nave.

This is a stained glass window in one of the side alcoves: Jesus being ministered to by an angel in the Garden of Gethsemane, while the disciples are sleeping.

After our tour of the cathedral, we headed to one of the gift shops to haggle with the shop owners and pick up some cheap souvenirs.

After sight-seeing and souvenirs, it was time to head to Cántico Nuevo for a couples gathering. Several ladies from the congregations involved went all out to decorate the church for the event. Caterers brought in food, while everyone on our team served the couples. After dinner, Scott and Nancy Weaver led an informal discussion about Christ-centered marriages. Again, another powerful time of encouraging and equipping believers to live a submitted and sanctified life graced by God.

Day 5: Painting at Las Palmas

On Tuesday, our main assignment was painting the main gathering room of New Hope (Nueva Esperanza) Christian Church in Las Palmas. The pastor of New Hope is a woman who used to be a spiritist before she came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now she pastors a powerful and life-giving church.

This is the community of Las Palmas. When Neuva Esperanza first began meeting, the met in the little green house on the left side of the picture.

This is where the church meets now... across the street from the little green house. Before the church occupied this building, it was a raucous night club that would have loud music blaring while the church was trying to have service. Eventually the nightclub shut down, and Nueva Esperanza moved in. Now it is a thriving ministry center in the heart of the community.

Here we are, taking a lunch break before applying the 2nd coat of paint.

While we were there, Winter and Erick got to have a conversation with the Youth Pastor of the church.

Day 6: Children's Hospital, Rehab Center and Las Palmas

Wednesday was scheduled to be our busiest day. First stop that morning was a Children's Hospital.

The first place we went was the surgical waiting room. In this room, were the families and friends of children that were in surgery. We broke up into small groups and began praying for the different families. Pictured above is a family whose child was hit by a car and was in surgery.

While we were waiting to go into another room, Erick and Blake prayed for a father and his child that was standing out in the hall.

Soon after, we went to one of the surgery recovery rooms. Again, we broke up into small groups and went bed to bed, giving out small gifts and balloon animals, and praying for the kids and their families.

It was so great seeing the children's faces light up when we came to their bed to talk with them.

After we made our way through the recovery room, Erick and Felicia were given the opportunity to pray for kids in the oncology ward.

While Erick and Felicia where ministering to the kids in the oncology ward, one of the security guards invited us to come down to the waiting area. Once we got there, it became a free-for-all with balloon animals and bubbles everywhere.

After lunch, we headed to another part of town to minister at a drug and alcohol rehab facility. One of the leaders of the facility is a member of Cántico Nuevo. After we were introduced, we presented a short drama that we had prepared. It was amazing to see the impact the drama had on the men. Most were in tears by the time we finished. Next, Erick gave his testimony of how he was once an alcoholic until Jesus saved him and freed him from his addictions. After Erick finished, I took a few minutes to explain the full message of the Gospel and then gave a call for salvation. Four men raised their hands and responded. I then led them in a prayer, and then opened it up for them to receive additional prayer from our team. During that time, one of the men also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful time!

After we finished at the drug and rehab facility, we headed over to Las Palmas to participate in their Wednesday night bible study. For the service, we led worship and then Winter gave a very encouraging message on walking in faith. It was great worshipping with another dynamic part of our extended church family.

Day 7: Evangelism

On Thursday, we headed back to the University to engage more people in gospel conversations. It's amazing to think that the university was founded in the early 1500s. In fact, the entrance to the campus says that it was the first university in the Americas.

The first person we met on Thursday was Claudia. She was a pleasure to talk with. After we got to know her a little, we shared Jesus with her - and she gave her life to the Lord.

We then spoke to the young man in the background. Blake felt that he was asking God for something. We found out that he is a strong Christian and actually was asking God to move in his life. We were able to prophesy and pray over him. He was visibly impacted. Before we left our conversation, we gave him a copy of the God Test and encouraged him to use it to share the gospel.

Then we met Genesis. At first she was very skeptical about Christianity and especially about church. She talked about how Christians were more concerned about outward appearances and wondered if it was even possible to know the truth about God. We shared the full gospel message with her as well, and before we knew it, she was ready to give her life to Christ.

After a few more hours at the university, we headed "home" to prepare for the upcoming Youth Retreat - but not before stopping at a street vendor and trying some fresh coconut.

Day 8-9: Youth Retreat

On Friday, we headed up into the mountains north of the city for a Youth Retreat. Participating in the youth retreat with students and young adults from Las Palmas, Cántico Nuevo - Santo Domingo, and Cántico Nuevo - Santiago.

Once everyone arrived, Luke explained how camp was going to work (with a little help from Juan Carlos). And a big part of camp was, of course, the games!

After all the rules were explained, the team leaders got ready to assemble their teams. From left to right: Las Vacas (cows), Los Chivos (goats), Los Gatos (cats), Los Perros (dogs) and Los Caballos (horses).

The first game of camp was a relay race with 3 stations. Each team would send a member to complete the challenge at a station and then run back to send another member. At the first station, the team member had to put Vaseline on their nose, then move cotton balls from one bowl to another, using their sticky nose.

At station 2, the team member had to "hike" a football through a hoop.

And at the third station, they had to shoot cups off a ledge using a marshmallow blow gun.

Once the team completed all the challenges, the entire team had to run and find their colors, and then run back to the meeting place. First team back with their colors on won.

After the games, and after dinner, Winter gave a solid teaching on the Holy Spirit. At the end of her message, Winter invited people to come forward to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. One by one, people responded, and we had a powerful closing to the service.

The next morning began with another game!

One by one, team members had to blow up balloons and form a long chain. First team to finish with all their members in the chain - without dropping any balloons - won.

The theme of the retreat was "Caminando Como Jesús" (Walk Like Jesus). For the second session, Luke gave a stirring message on how the Holy Spirit has helped him walk like Jesus.

After lunch was the last and final game. Teams had to form a long chain between a pool of water and an empty bucket. The first team member had to pick up a saturated sponge with his feet, then pass it to the team member behind him. The sponge would continue to get passed from team member to team member...

...until the last team member got the sponge and squeezed it into the bucket.

The sponge wound then go to the start of the line and the whole process would start over again. The first team to fill the bucket to the red line won.

After the final game, everyone gathered for a message from Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos is currently the head of the Foursquare Church in the Dominican Republic. After his message, we had a powerful time of anointing all of the youth with oil and praying over them.

Day 10: Sunday Service and Resort

Sunday morning, we joined our Cántico Nuevo family for church service. This Sunday, we had a blended worship team made up of people from New Song Nashville and Cántico Nuevo Santo Domingo. It was great worshipping together once more.

After service, we headed to a resort in nearby Boca Chica for our last night on the island.

At the resort, some of our team enjoyed a few games of sand volleyball.

And while they were playing volleyball, I managed to capture a picture of a rainbow.

Departure

After a great night sleep in an air-conditioned hotel room, I woke up early to try and capture a caribbean sunrise.

After breakfast and a nice final debrief with Charlie, Darla, Juan Carlos, and his wife Licelot - we headed off to the airport.

We arrived in Atlanta around 5:00pm. After making it through customs and picking up our luggage, we loaded the van and headed for home.

A little after 11:00pm, we pulled into the New Song parking lot to a crowd of happy family and friends. We were home!

Backpacking in Savage Gulf

Aaron loves to backpack. He keeps telling us that he has a goal of hiking the entire Appalachian trail one day. For Christmas this past year, I got him a backpack and told him that we would go backpacking this Spring. As a celebration of completing his first year of High School, I took him and a couple of his friends on a short overnight backpacking adventure to Savage Gulf.

Savage Gulf State Natural Area is located on the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and is made up of three main river gorges, locally known as "Gulfs."

Our plan was to hike the Big Creek section of Savage Gulf and camp at the Alum Gap campground. We would hike out on the 4-mile Big Creek Gulf Trail, and return the next day on the 3.2-mile Big Creek Rim Trail. To access the Big Creek trails, you park and check in at the Stone Door Ranger Station near Beersheba Springs, TN and hike the 1-mile trail to Stone Door, which is also the trail-head for the Big Creek trail system.

Scenic overlook on the way to Stone Door.

Here is the crew. From left to right: Aaron, Nick, and Josiah. This was Josiah's first backpacking adventure.

Nick enjoying the view at the Stone Door overlook.

Looking over the edge of the cliff into the 750 feet deep Big Creek Gulf.

A view of the cliff's edge into the gulf.

A lonely pine tree set against the vast hardwood forest. 

The Stone Door was used for centuries by Native Americans as a passage way from the top of the plateau into the gorges below. The "door" is a large crack in the limestone, 10 feet wide by 100 feet deep. In order to get to the Big Creek Gulf Trail, we had to descend through the Stone Door.

Descending through the Stone Door.

Big Creek Gulf Trail is a rough, challenging trail that leads through the gorge below and to the west of Stone Door, ending at Alum Gap campground.

On our way to the bottom of Big Creek Gulf. Just past this point, we ran across a small Copperhead snake on the trail. We waited until it slithered off the trail and made sure to give it a wide birth. 

After nearly an hour of slowly negotiating the narrow and rocky trail, we finally made it to the bottom of the gulf and found a nice clearing to stop and have lunch. 

Big Creek flows both above and below ground. Dry streambeds are very common in areas where the creek flows underground. But about 3 miles in, we finally heard running water and found the Blue Hole Sink, where Big Creek flows under a large slab of limestone and disappears.

Big Creek, just before it flows underground.

The rushing water of Big Creek

Some hikers left behind a small "monument" at the mouth of the sink.

Just past Blue Hole Sink, the trail began ascending back to the top of the plateau. And when I say ascend, I mean straight up - for almost a mile. Without a backpack, the ascent would be challenging. With a backpack, it was near torturous. I would have taken pictures, but I was too busy gulping in air and praying that I would make it to the top.

We did make it to the top, and were rewarded by a sign pointing us to the campground: our stop for the night. Alum Gap has about 11-12 sites, with the middle 4-5 sites actually on the ridge. We picked out a site on the ridge and spent the next hour or so setting up camp. Just below our site, there was a rock ledge with a great view of the gulf.

The boys relaxing on the rock ledge.

After we set up camp, we decided to take a quick hike over to Greeter Falls, about 1.5 miles away. The first mile of the Greeter trail is an easy plateau top walk with the last half-mile a moderate hike down into the gorge.

Some Mountain Laurel in bloom along the Greeter Trail.

Greeter Falls, on Firescald Creek, plummets over a 50-foot edge into a cold, clear plunge pool.

The boys decided to negotiate the edge of the plunge pool and see how close they could get to the falls.

The boys at the base of the falls

After enjoying a half-hour or so at the falls, we headed back to camp to prepare for dinner.

 At the Greeter Trail trailhead, is a small brooke that serves as the water supply for the Alum Gap camp. During the spring, there is plenty of water, and it's only a few hundred yards from camp. On our way back, we stopped and filled up all of our water bottles with enough water for our meals and our hike out the next day.

After a filling meal of freeze-dried food and a small campfire, we called it a night. The next morning, we all woke up around 7:00am, struck camp, had a quick breakfast, and headed back to the truck via the Big Creek Rim Trail. Unlike, the Big Creek Gulf Trail, the Rim Trail is an easy trail that follows the edge of the plateau above Big Creek Gulf; and offers numerous scenic views.

On our way out along the Big Creek Rim Trail.

All in all, it was a challenging yet fun excursion. The boys enjoyed it so much, they want to make it a yearly event. We'll see.

Burgess Falls State Park

On April 26th, after our weekend camping trip at Rock Island State Park, we decided to swing by Burgess Falls State Park on our way home. Burgess Falls is a day-use park, so no camping is available. The park is located on the Falling Water River and is known for its four waterfalls, the last of which is pretty impressive.

Since we were on our way home from camping, we were towing our trailer. Thankfully, Burgess Falls does have a few extra-long parking spaces in their overflow parking lot that were just long enough to fit my truck and our 26' trailer. They are pull-in spaces, not pull-through spaces - so if you are arriving with a trailer, be prepared to back out of the space when you leave.

From the main parking area, park visitors can access a 1.5 mile round trip trail that runs along the Falling Water River and takes you past all four waterfalls. That main trail is well-traveled and not too strenuous. At the observation deck of the final and largest of the falls, there is a spur trail that descends to the base of the falls. That trail is rather strenuous: the first half being mostly steep stairs, and the last half climbing down steep and sometimes slippery rocks. If you are adventurous enough to take the spur trail, you will be rewarded with some spectacular vantages of the falls.

The first falls you come to from the main parking lot are the 20' Cascades.

Just below the cascades are the 30' Upper Falls.

Further down the trail and over a bridge are the 80' Middle Falls.

Here is a closer-up view of the Middle Falls.

At the end of the trail is an observation deck where you can view the 136' Lower Falls.

Right by the observation deck is a spur trail that takes you to the base of the falls. This is a view of the Lower Falls about half-way down the trail to the base - just before it starts to get really strenuous.

Aaron at the base of the falls.

At the base of the falls. I had mist all over my lens, so
the picture is a little blurry.

View from the top of the falls. I like how the water droplets look like they are leaping into the gorge below.

Rock Island State Park

Spring time is here in Tennessee, and I've been itching to get the RV out of storage and go on our first family camping trip of the year. I love camping in our Tennessee State Parks. While KOAs and  Good Sam RV Parks are nice, when I go camping, I want to get somewhat away from civilization and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Several of the state parks here in Tennessee actually have some really nice campgrounds, and Rock Island State Park is no exception.

Rock Island State Park is located on the headwaters of Center Hill Lake at the confluence of the Caney Fork, Collins, and Rocky Rivers. In fact, Rock Island is not actually an island, but a peninsula that exists between the Caney Fork and Collins Rivers. In 1917, a hydroelectric plant and dam was built by the Tennessee Electric Power Company just downstream from the Caney/Collins confluence. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) took over operations in the 1940s, and in 1966, leased a portion of their property to the State of Tennessee for park development. While Rock Island State Park is well off the beaten path, the presence of the TVA is very noticeable, with a large power station and large power cables sometimes dominating the landscape. Rock Island has several hiking trails, picnic areas, boating and fishing opportunities, and a 50 site RV-friendly campground.

All sites in the main campground have water and electric hookups, and 4 (sites 31-34) have sewer hookups. The park boasts having free wi-fi available at the campground - and they do - but the wi-fi is spotty at best. The campground looks like it has just undergone an extensive renovation, and the wi-fi is part of the newness of that renovation. While talking with the campground hosts, I learned that they are actively working out the bugs in their wi-fi system. All of the sites are paved with asphalt and tent-appropriate sites have sizable dirt pads in addition to the paved parking area.

We pulled into camp late Friday afternoon and set up camp in site #34 - the last of the sewer equipped sites.

Site #34 at Rock Island State Park campground
Equipped with water, electric, sewer, fire ring, and picnic table/patio. 

The park office and check-in site closes at 4:00 pm, and we arrived a little after 5:00. Thankfully, we had reservations and were able to pull right in.

Tennessee requires campers to burn only locally harvested wood in order to prevent wood-born parasites from entering the forest ecology. Because of that, State Parks typically sell locally harvested firewood for campers to buy. For some reason, Rock Island does not offer that service. I looked around for a place to buy firewood and couldn't find any. When I asked the campground host, he told me I could buy some at Taylor's Corner Market in the nearby town of Rock Island. Since it was near dusk, he offered to give me a few of his personal stash - which was definitely going above and beyond, in my opinion.

Leading up to our weekend, all of the weather forecasts were calling for 90%-100% chance of rain that Saturday with a high likelihood of severe weather. Leading up to our trip, I said several prayers asking for mercy in the weather department; and we were all hopeful that we would get enough breaks in the rain to explore the park and take in the scenery. As we turned in for the night that Friday night, it began to rain, which didn't offer much hope.

To our surprise, when we awoke Saturday morning, all of the rain had blown over and the forecast for the day had completely changed. There were chances of rain in the morning and evening - but for the bulk of the day, rain chances were minimal. My prayers were answered!

A little mound of moss along the Moonshine Trail.

While the rest of the family showered and got ready for the day, I decided to do a little exploring on my own. At the campground, there is a short half-mile trail called the Moonshine Trail. The trail meanders through the woods, past the base of an old moonshine still - hense the name.

A millipede I found along the way

The trail was definitely a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I had the whole trail to myself... well myself and a few curious squirrels and an interesting insect or two.

Once I returned to camp, I found that a few family members had actually ventured outside and were enjoying the beautiful day as they read their daily devotions.

Daily reading in the great outdoors

Angel resting by the fire ring (she doesn't read).

While our eldest child was still getting ready, Aaron and I decided to go on a little adventure of our own. We hopped on our bikes and headed into the park to find some places to explore. We quickly found the Eagle Trail - a 0.7 mile trail that runs along the Caney Fork between two picnic areas. At the end of the Eagle Trail was the Blue Hole Trail, which is a steep, wet, and rugged half-mile trail that descends to the edge of the Caney Fork, along a couple of small, yet picturesque waterfalls.

Small waterfall hidden away at the end of a spur off the Eagle Trail.

A lot of water was flowing down the gorge as we descended the Blue Hole trail.

One of the waterfalls at the end of the Blue Hole trail.

Another waterfall at the end of the Blue Hole trail. As we hiked beneath these falls, I was thankful for waterproof hiking boots.

Poison ivy - and lots of it. Don't touch!

Along the banks of the Caney Fork River. These are the headwaters of Center Hill Lake.

After hiking back to our bikes, we rode back to camp and met up with Lea and Haley, and had a quick lunch.

After lunch, we all decided to go exploring the park as a family. The main draw of the park is Great Falls, just downstream from the Great Falls TVA Power Station. In order to see the falls, you have to go to the other side of the Caney Fork. The quickest way to the other side of the river is across the dam, but currently the dam is closed to vehicle and foot traffic. With the dam closed, we had to leave the park, cross the bridge on the other side of Rock Island, and re-enter the park on Powerhouse Road.

Great Falls, standing right across the river from the Great Falls Power Station. 

Great Falls from the same viewpoint

We walked west along the trail that runs along side the Caney Fork. This is Great Falls from the west side of the falls. From here, you can see the main falls, plus a series of cascades.

Great Falls, directly across the river from the falls.

After seeing the falls, we drove back to the Warren County side of the river to see a few more of the park's attractions.

This Spring House "Castle" used to serve as the Rock Island community water supply. The spring is still active, but the spring house is no longer functional

Some smaller falls upstream of Great Falls near the Old Mill parking lot. There is a trail from the parking lot that goes down into the gorge for a close-up view of Great Falls. Because of all the recent rains, the trail was closed. When water is released from the dam, this entire gorge becomes so flooded, that these falls are no longer visible.

After getting our fill of the park, we headed back to the campsite for dinner and our last night at the park. After dinner, we ended our evening with the obligatory campfire.

Sitting around the campfire

And almost as if on cue, as soon as we went in the camper for the night, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. As I lay in bed, listening to the rain - I couldn't help but thank the Lord for sparing us from the rain and giving us a beautiful day to enjoy just a small part of His amazing creation.