February 25 – “The Last Hike”

We started out early after our night of total collapse and exhaustion.  Great breakfast.  Even saw another coyote as we drove to our destination … the last hike.

So, the Last Hike.  This one was to the precariously placed boulder, a huge rock barely balancing on two others.  Awesome sight to behold.  Even more so when the beholder is standing right under it.  Even more more so when you know you have completed “The Last Hike” to arrive.  Now the first mile or so of the hike was relatively easy.  And then we hit “.25 to the rock.”  Should have suspected something when the little arrow was pointing up.  Yep.  From that point on, this hike became a mountain climbing extravaganza.  I think the guy who was rating it got drunk or confused or something when he got to this spot.  He rated this hike “Easy.”  Umm.  Nope.  Straight up.  Loose rocks.  Don’t get me wrong.  As I said up-front, it was an awesome sight.  Well worth the struggle.  I’m not sure Chris would have completely agreed with me on that statement about half way back down the rock climbing part.  That’s when disaster struck.  She slipped and fell.  “Not to worry,” she assured me.  She certainly seemed OK.  She was smiling, and she did press on.  As I led the way to be the scout (read hear expendable victim) and to be available for her to lean on down the mountain, I suddenly heard those tell-tale signs behind me.  Chris fell again.  Banged up her knee and jarred her shoulder this time.  But she was ever the trooper.  She still pushed on.  Still insisted she was OK.  I really am proud of her. 

Finally we left the park and hit the road to … umm … somewhere.  This leg became the “let’s see what we can find” adventure.  We did hit the surprise location of the trip, though.  Langtry, Texas.  We saw a tiny little sign advertising Judge Roy Bean’s bar.  That was enough.  Chris turned around and we followed the signs.  Sure enough, about a mile down the road, there it was.  Judge Roy Bean’s actual bar where he dispensed justice as the Law West of the Pecos.  (We later drove across the Pecos, so we knew we were safe from his clutches here back East).  The facility that went along with the saloon/courthouse was very nicely furnished and operated by the Texas Highway Department.  They even had an incredible cactus garden out back.  Those people love their cacti.

We made our way back onto the road toward wherever.  Before long we began to think we needed to make a more north-easterly turn.  We passed a border patrol truck dragging behind him three of those huge truck tires.  Not sure what he was dredging for.  Chris guessed it was to smooth out the little dirt road so they could track footprints.  Who am I to argue with that logic?  We passed border patrol station after border patrol station.  We even had to stop at one ourselves.  The guy looked in back of the car and asked where we were headed.  But then Chris batted her pretty little eyes at him and he was smitten.  He let us through with no further questions and no hassles.

Oh, and we nearly had a wreck.  Guess I should have led with that one.  It was getting dark.  Chris had been driving around the speed limit (70), but for some reason decided to slow down to about 60.  All of a sudden a truck in the oncoming lane decided he needed to make a left turn right in front of us.  Here’s the thing, though.  There was no road for him to turn left onto.  So he tried to straighten up into our lane.  Seeing us, he decided against that strategy and ended up regaining control in a ditch.  Heart-stopping moment for sure.  Know what Chris’s first words were?  “Thank you, Jesus.”  What a girl.

Psalms 34:10 says, “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Father, we do thank you for protecting us on the road out there.  You do it all the time, even when we don’t realize it, and we really do appreciate it.  Amen.