Our week long camping trip was one for the memory book, just not for nice reasons. In addition to the tragic loss of our loyal pet, it was rainy and windy and we were sort of attacked by a grizzly bear.
That was one of the two most terrifying moments of my life. We were driving our little 4x4 down a densely wooded mountain trail, followed by my brother on a dirt bike and my parents, and two of our kids, in their ATV. We suddenly saw ahead of us a standing grizzly that whoofed down on all fours and charged us. It ducked into the side brush, and leaped out behind our 4x4, swiping the rear bumper with it's teeth and paw as it darted back into the forest. My parent's ATV conveniently had mechanical problems at that very moment, so there we all were, sitting ducks for a very angry bear. It is only by the grace of God that we made it out unscathed - and we praise Him for it. The ATV brakes unjammed and we were on our way again, rather quickly. You see, we had unknowingly threatened this Momma's cub, and she was some upset. It was a very tense situation, to understate things, and we were extremely vulnerable.
For those who aren't familiar with grizzly bears, they are shy animals, but very aggressive when provoked . A threatened grizzly is a formidable beast. They can accelerate faster than a dirt bike and run faster than a horse. A normal rifle hit will only irritate this bear and make it angrier. It seldom surrenders.
I've always said we live in a very safe area: no earthquakes, tornadoes, rattlesnakes or scorpions. Just bears, and you can see them coming. I've changed my tune now. The attack happened so fast there was no time to think up a defense. Only the protection of God separated us from that bear.
We do live in a pretty neat place though. Several days later we drove to this little known faraway spot, known as Moses' Rock, or Hole In the Wall. An underground river pops out from beneath this sheer rock face. The water is clear, cold and soooo refreshing. (And the mosquitoes are huge.)
All to soon it was time to load up our motory stuff, buckle up the kids and wave good-bye to all the family. We were there for our annual July 1st Campout, even though we had to leave on July 1st. We drove 7 hours home with only one brief pee break. Amazing!
So, all-in-all, I think each of the Journey's would say the week sucked, but we still have something to praise God for - our very lives!



I know I spelled tobogganing wrong. That's what happens when you're in a hurry to get a page done for grandma before you go up to visit her. Whoops.
Tobogganing wrong again. In a different way, even. Rats!

