Camping at the Buffalo

Spent Friday and Saturday in Arkansas at the Buffalo River. What a great time! I left early Friday morning, as the plan was to canoe on Friday and most of the group was already there. I went with the Langstons and some other friends. Lauren brought two friends from Kenya, one from Rwanda and one from Russia. I got to practice my Swahili and learned two words in Russian. (Not bad ones). With Nathan and Benson, the Kenyans.


I took my camera on the canoe trip so you could share the beauty.


My canoe partner and "rudder", Kelly.


Benson and Darlene.


Chloe and Beau, the children I enjoyed on the trip. (It wasn't cold - they were pretending)


Sweet Lauren!


Hiking up to Hemmed-in Hollow.


Tallest waterfall in Mid-America.


And freezing!


I never even wore flip flops until I turned 40. And so, I decided to wear them CANOEING and HIKING? Good job! The rocky bottom of the Buffalo makes for some beautifully clear water and some PAINFUL barefoot moving the canoe when it's stuck.


And then, yes then... we tipped. There are 52 sets of rapids on this 8 mile canoe trip. Someone had mistakenly called it a FLOAT TRIP (Kelly) - I had no idea it was as intense as it was. And this is what happened to my camera.


You know, a ZIPLOC bag could have prevented this... yeah - thought of that about twenty minutes AFTER my camera was submerged. At first, it didn't work at all. I set it out in the sun and after 24 hours the screen dried out. But, not the lense... so I have no photos of the amazing hike we did yesterday.

And then, a stroke of genious. Took it back to Sams and told them it was working but the picture was bad. Showed them. They asked if I had purchased it in the past six months and if I had the card with which I purchased it. I did. I had to go home to get the cords, etc, and when I got back, for the FIRST time the water had moved up to the actual visible lense, and the gal behind the counter said, "That's the problem. There's water in there." And I remained silent and I got a brand new camera! I am LEARNING the lesson - I DO NOT HAVE TO TELL EVERYBODY EVERYTHING. Somehow in my early years of walking with Christ, the message of TRANSPARENCY got branded into my brain that if I TRULY loved God I would be TOTALLY HONEST ABOUT EVERYTHING. This has resulted in SERIOUS PAIN AND HEARTACHE. Words cannot describe the pain - I have trusted those I shouldn't because they told me they loved God. I am actually getting tears of sorrow in my eyes right now just typing it, so I must stop. Sufice to say, I was BLESSED and I didn't lie.