Post-Backpacking Trip

Our backpacking trip was TONS of fun! We woke up early Saturday morning to head to Panther's Creek. We arrived around 9:30 and began hiking about 10:00. We arrived to our campsite 45 minutes later and began to setup camp. After camp was setup we decided to go for a walk to explore what was around, and we ended up hiking to Panther Creek Falls.

Our home in the wilderness!

Jamie relaxing in the hammocks Ben brought along!
We didn't get to spend as much time in them as we wanted because they got wet!

On the way to the falls we saw a big snake climbing up a tree. It was about 6 feet long. Ben and Thomas said that it was not poisonious, but I was not going close to it. From that point on I was checking the trees before I grabbed a hold of them and looking up to make sure I didn't see anymore snakes. I was afraid one might decide to drop out of a tree onto me.

At the falls on Saturday we saw a group of nine people, 4 adults and 5 children, who had managed to carry in 2 large coolers, a big plastic storage container, a duffel bag, and a screened in covering. I still cannot figure out how they brought in all of that stuff on a strenuous 3.5 mile hike.

Panther Creek Falls

Saturday night Jaime and Thomas put steak, mushrooms, squash, onions, and zucchini in tin foil packets and put them on hot coals in the fire. It tasted great. Before we could get dinner cooked the bottom fell out and it began to pour. Thomas and Ben quickly engineered a shelter near the fire to keep us dry. We were so glad that Ben decided to bring that piece of plastic along with him. The rain slowed down a bit and Ben built another fire for making s'mores. Then the boys went fishing and Ben brought back the only trout caught the entire weekend. He cleaned it and we cooked it on the fire as soon as he brought it back. Talk about fresh fish! It was delicious! It began to rain again and we decided to settle into our tents for the night.

This is a picture of the shelter that Thomas and Ben engineered.
Its design slowly evolved throughout the weekend getting better and better.

On Sunday we got up and tried to catch some trout for breakfast, but we were unsuccessful. We ate instant grits and bacon instead. After breakfast we had our own worship service. I read scripture, Ben gave the devotion, Jamie led songs, and Thomas prayed. It was a great time of worship!

Here I am trying my hand at fishing!

After this we gathered up our things for a day hike and hiked back to the falls where we swam, fished, and climbed on the rocks. We had a lot of fun. The boys continued to try to catch trout on the way back to our campsite, but came back with nothing. We had ramen noodles with chicken and fresh green beans for dinner that night! It was my first time eating ramen noodles and I was not a big fan of them. While we were cooking dinner we heard a tree fall near our campsite. It was pretty frightening. After dinner, it began to rain again and we all huddled up under our shelter. Once again Ben had to build another fire for us to have s'more and cook our Jiffy Pop over.

Ben putting his fire-making skills to work!

After settling into bed for the night we heard another tree fall. I was freaked out and worried that a tree might fall on our tent in the middle of the night, but it didn't and we were all okay.
Monday morning we left our campsite aroud 9:45 to hike back to the car and head back to Macon.

Jamie, Thomas, Ben, and Rachel

It was a great trip with great friends. I'm looking forward to going again!

Finally, in the last post I asked you to guess which backpack belonged to which person. You will find the answer under the picture posted below.

Jamie, Rachel, Thomas, Ben.

Pre Backpacking Trip

Ben and I, accompanied by Jamie and Thomas, plan to leave Macon at 6 am tomorrow for my first backpacking trip. We will be going to Panther Creek which is located between Toccoa and Tallulah Gorge. This evening we have been packing our bags and weighing them to see whose pack is the heaviest. Ben won the award for the heaviest pack weighing in at 45 lbs. Jamie won the award for the lightest pack weighing in at 23 lbs. Mine weighs 30 lbs. Below is a picture of our packs. See if you can guess which pack belongs to each person! I'll tell you the answer in my post backpacking trip udate!

I am looking forward to the trip though I am a little concerned about the weather. The forecast calls for a 40% chance of rain tomorrow and Sunday and a 30% chance of rain for Monday. Ben thinks we will be okay and says this may keep the trail from being so crowded. We'll just have to wait and see. If we get too wet the back up plan is to head to the cabin in Cleveland. I think this weekend is certainly going to be an adventure.

Goodbye School, Hello Summer

My semester came to a close this week and I am very grateful that it is over. It was certainly a long tough semester. My summer officially began yesterday with visiting Hospice patients with my mentor. It was a good day of visits and I noticed a couple of themes in the conversations we had with patients. The first was that three of the patients and their families that we visited all said that keeping busy is what has kept them going. This made me realize that it is okay for me to keep busy; however, I need not be overwhelmed with anxiety when I am not busy. This is something I have to really work on this summer though I don't think I will have a lot of down time until midsummer.

The beginning of my summer is very busy. I plan to be a counselor at children's overnight camp June 1-4. When I return I have a couple of days before Julia and I fly to see Christina in Virgina. I am really looking forward to this trip and the opportunity to hang out with the girls and get to meet baby Emmalee for the first time. When we return from VA I have a week off before Ben and I head to El Salvador on a mission trip with the church. We will be building houses with the Fuller Center for Housing. After that trip my brother and I head to Houston, TX for CBF National General Assembly July 1-4. Then my summer begins to slow down a bit. The only other trip we have planned for the summer is to go to Wilmington, NC for vacation July 17-21. After this I'm free until August 24, when classes start again. It looks like I'm going to have a busy summer between traveling and volunteering at Hearltand Hospice.

I think it will be a good summer!

So Much

There is so much going on in my life right now that I can't even begin to tell about everything. My semester is coming to a close. I will officially be finished with my second year of seminary on May 19th. Then a summer of traveling and volunteering will begin. I am a little apprehensive about this summer because I am afraid of having too much time on my hands. I don't like being bored and I don't like for a day to pass without me being productive. I guess I will need to come up with some projects.

Ben heads to Pennsylvania on Tuesday. It is his first time traveling for work. He's a little apprehensive about the flight because he hasn't flown since he was eight years old. While he is away my BFF will be coming to stay with me for a couple of nights. I look forward to her and Reagan coming and getting to spend some quality time with them.

I am continuing to volunteer at hospice. This past Wednesday I visited two patients with my mentor and then attended a funeral. it was a really hot day. After the funeral was over one of the funeral home attendants passed out. I think it was because he got too hot, but I also think he has some heart problems going on too.

That's pretty much all the excitement going on with us.