When obstacles get put in your way, build around them…

We just got home from vacation and I’m still knee deep in laundry and cleaning. We had a relaxing time in the mountains with good weather surrounded by a river, lake and a pool. What more could someone ask for.

Well…

On our last day there we decided that we should go find a creek to swim in. That might sound weird to you but my husband kayaks so going to rivers and creeks has been a regular part of our marriage. So my hubby got out his kayak guidebook and looked up a creek that was nearby that had a waterfall and what he assumed would be a pool at the bottom that we could swim in.

Kind of like this one that we swam in earlier in the week, only bigger.

So we followed the directions and drove across a bridge, over the river and around the lake, which took us up on a forestry trunk road where mostly loggers go to cut down trees. After 30 minutes we ended up here.


It was nice but still no waterfall. While hubby studied the book the kids I had to bid our time by throwing sticks on one side of the bridge and seeing whose came out first.

Finally we decided that we had come too far so we back tracked a kilometer or two (about a mile) and found a trail in the forest. So while hubby went to check it out we stood by the car and covered ourselves in deet so we wouldn’t get bitten in mosquitoes. Sound fun yet?

By the time he came back we could see dark clouds and hear thunder in the distance. He urged us to follow him to the waterfall he found. I have to say it was gorgeous and probably not seen by many. Here it is.


But as you can see it was too high up to get down to the pool at the bottom. Besides it was now starting to rain. We quickly took our photos and began running back to our van. When we cleared the forest, the skies opened up and we made a mad dash up the gravel road and hopped in. All the while the kids were laughing while they were complaining about being wet. (We all had our swimsuits on)

Although we weren’t able to swim we did get to see a great and wondrous waterfall. Now this isn’t the end of my tale.

We drove out of the storm and came around a road only to find something that wasn’t there when we drove up. A tree. Lightening had struck a tree and it had fallen across the road. What are the chances of that happening? Having only a van and not a 4x4 we did what we had to do. We walked into the bushes and found logs to build up around the tree trunk and then placed rocks in between so we could drive over the tree. By now the storm had caught up to us and we are doing it in the rain. I ducked into the vehicle to take this photo.Finally when we were satisfied that it was going to be okay. We reversed the van and drove over the tree. Even though we heard some serious scraping sounds, there was no damage but we had a great story to tell.

In fact when we got home and the grandparents asked how our trip went, all three kids said, “Tell them about the tree in the road.”

So like I said when an obstacle gets put in your way, just build around it.