Hiking Expedition

Yesterday Theresa, Cheryl and I went on a hike to Cliff Cave County Park which is about 20 minutes from home. It was a beautiful hike of about 5 miles near the Mississippi river. Little did we know that our hiking expedition would be more than we anticipated... Note: most parks in the area have been flooded due to the rains and overflow from the Mississippi. Cliff Cave was no exception but it wasn't THAT bad. We enjoyed seeing some unique birds, flowers, houses, caked earth and trees along the way. The greenery was refreshing and the environment serene. Further down our path, we got a taste of the effects of the flood. Some sections were pretty muddy and swampy (that was our intro into the hike!). We also came across some big dead fish that may have been washed to land from the floods. This area was filled with all sorts of smells too as you can imagine - from swampy waters to wild flowers! The last leg of our hike was the greatest surprise for us. Parts of the path were under water (hence the frown in our pictures)! At this point, we literally had to decide: should we go back (almost 3+ miles) or head to the finish line...mmmm. Well, we decided to forge ahead, besides we were almost coming to the end of our hiking path. All in all, we talked about many things on our leisurely hike and the different experiences on our hiking path certainly added to the flavor of our reflection. For instance, life is full of "unforseen" twists and turns. The question is how we go about them. Should we turn back or keep forging on? We certainly came home grateful for a refreshing hiking experience...and a few life lessons on the side :-)

God bless you,

Jackie.