13 Adventures In 15 Days

Today I got to thinking about how awesome life here in Branson is. The awesome part comes as I stay open to Jesus and go through doors of adventure he presents. Here the 13 adventures I’ve had over the last 15 days.

1. Hiked to a Mountain Lion’s Kitchen Table a Second Time. Yep, the dogs and I found a place with a recently gnawed bone and a big pile of fresh big cat scat right next to it. I didn’t stay there very long. As if once wasn’t enough, the second time around I took my sister, a good friend, and 2 girls I was trying to convince to be our female sponsors for our adventure camping trip along. No one was eaten.

2. Mountain Biking at Night. I didn’t blog about this one, but I did talk about it in a recent sermon (listen to it or download it here ). Downhill, no visibility, rocky road, oak brush…. nuff said.

3. Worship Under the Stars. The night before we rafted, we were invited to join a college group for some music and worship around their campfire. It was breathtaking.

4. Whitewater Rafting. Blogged about this here.

5. Camping 15 feet from a raging river. Ditto on the last post.

6. Rock Climbing. Blogged about it here.

7. Hitch Hiking. I’m working on that blog right now. That whole day was crazy.

8. Hot Springs Swimming. Warm, fun, waiting for lost keys to show up…. oh no, I’m giving away details on the upcoming blog!

9. Horseback Riding. I helped gather a pasture of cows and calves with 2 of my favorite people on the planet: my cousin Dan and my Grandad Tanky.

10. Swashbuckling. I was Pirate Bones (the comic relief) and the game guy for our pirate-themed VBS, which was this past week. Talking in a pirate voice for 3 straight days will leave your throat trashed. It was awesome. Here’s a highlight video.

11. Standing next to 2 Kodiak Bears. They were dead. I got to visit a homestead where a friend had grown up. His father was a serious big game hunter and had an incredible trophy room. 2 Kodiak bears, a polar bear, a moose, several caribou, lots of antelope, a bull elk, and lots of knickknacks from traveling the world. That room had volumes of adventure stories to tell.

12. Wild Grass Fire Fighting. I just blogged about this here.

13. Cliff Diving. Today I made my first trip to Trinchera Falls: the local swimming hole and possible greatest kept secret on the planet. The swimming was phenomenal. There is an archaeological dig just up the creek if you want to see some ancient cave drawings. Oh yeah, and I jumped off a 25 foot cliff into the water.

Coming up in the next month: a 50-mile bike ride and adding a third little boy to the mix (in that order).

So who wants to move to Branson?

But really, location doesn’t matter if you’re open to adventures the Lord puts in your path. There will always be details to take care of and bills to pay. Take advantage of open doors and let God weave some wonderful memories for you. It’s quite a ride.

Breathtaking Fear

I really love the adventure of living here.

Today I found the most breathtaking place in our area. It took about an hour to hike up the side of a mesa, but I found it. A wide meadow. A quiet pond. Tall pines. Huge cedars. Gigantic boulders. Towering cliffs. Mountain lion dining area. All in about an area the size of a football field.

Yeah, it had to be home to at least one mountain lion. I had my 2 dogs with me, as always. They chased a few animals that were just out of my sight. One was large enough to make that scary “there’s-something-big-crashing-through-the-brush” sound.

Shortly after that I found where a few boulders created a small overhang. My dogs were hesitant to go in (I should have taken that as a warning). I peeked in and saw a fairly fresh leg bone of something and some mountain lion scat (I saw tons of bear scat on the way up there, and this was totally different). The hair stood stiff on the back of my neck.

Being in the midst of God’s beautiful, frightening, adventurous creation was almost as cool as when when my boys both tackle me at the same time.

That’s the great stuff of life. That’s the stuff that lets you know you’re really alive.