Lucky to be Alive

One thing I learned from life on the road, is that I need to stop more and explore those “out of the way” places, that I tend to fly past on my way to somewhere.  I need to be less busy going somewhere and more relaxed.  Stop and smell the roses, or at least taste the coffee.

Although I no longer partake of caffeine, one of my favorite past times is to hang out in quaint little coffee houses, where I sip on a Chai Tea or a decaf Americano. Normally there is an Internet connection and I can’t check my email and catch up on my writing.

I’m a little behind today, as I’ve had over a week of experiences since I last posted.  Some of the experiences that were a big deal a week ago, are all but forgotten, such as the day from hell, where I almost hit two deer at two different times and places, while going 65 miles per hour.  Both times the deer came jetting out of nowhere and crossed the highway directly in front of me, causing me to slam on my brakes.  This resulted in things flying all over in my van and breaking my glass tea press and mason jar, I was traveling with.

That same day I was passing two slow moving vehicles going about 75 MPH and a car came up from a side road and decided to turn right onto the lane I was passing in.  So I was in route for a head on collision, before the oncoming car quickly pulled off to the side.  Whew!

My destination this day was McCall, Idaho, a little town on a big lake, but by the time I arrived it was so crazy busy, on a Tuesday afternoon, that I decided to keep moving.  The State Park was full and the downtown area was so crowded I couldn’t find a place to park.  I wasn’t in the mood for crowds and I had clients the next morning.  I needed a quieter place.

One thing I realized about myself in my travels is that I am not a crowd person.  I like the remote, out of the way places, abundant with peace and quiet.  I like to be where I can listen to the sounds of nature, walk in the forest and have a relatively quiet camp spot.

As I was driving through the Canyon in the Snake River recreation area the temperatures were in the high nineties.  I left Arizona to get away from these kinds of temperatures, I wasn’t interested in sleeping in them.  It was evening and I had been driving all day.  I was tired.  I wanted to stop for the night, but not with this heat.  So I kept driving.

Prayer seemed like the best thing I could do at this point.  Could I please have a nice ending to a long day?  Could I please celebrate that I am still alive after all the near misses somewhere nice?  I specifically requested cooler temperatures, quiet and Cell Phone reception where I could get a Wifi signal for work.

It wasn’t long before I descended into a valley and the temperatures dropped from the high nineties to the seventies.  I then saw a sign for a State Park two miles off the highway, with camping.  I made a quick turn and found myself in a beautiful quiet State Park overlooking the lake, nestled in a pine forest.  I had a phone signal.  My Wifi unit worked.  My prayers were answered.