WEEKEND BREAK!

After I hiked 10 miles on Thursday, May 17, Steve picked me up and we came home for a 4-day family weekend. Highlights of the weekend:

Friday: Going to granddaughter Abbie's Special Olympics practice. She's doing track and field -- running the 200 meters and a relay, and race-walking 50 meters. It was great watching her train with her teammates. She was the youngest, the others being high school kids. When she did Special Olympics Cheerleading a couple months ago, her teammates were also high school students. Abbie's got guts!!

Saturday: Son Jon's cum laude graduation from Frostburg State University with his bachelor's degree in biology. He pulled it off in 3 years while working full time and sometimes part time as well, while raising his two daughters.  It was also his daughter Sarah's 4th birthday, so after the graduation we had a great picnic at his house -- fajitas with the meat and vegetables grilled outdoors, great guacamole made by his girlfriend Daphne, birthday cake, Sarah's presents, and a lot of great talk and fun.

The picnic was delayed unexpectedly, though, when we when we had to wait and eventually take a long detour around backed-up traffic near his house. Motorcycle wreck. A motorcycle had hit a BEAR. The driver was temporarily knocked out and had a lot of road rash. The bear, a youngster, was unfortunately history.

Now that's something that doesn't happen every day.

Sunday: Church. It was a great service. Lots of spontaneous sharing, praises and prayer requests. Lots of music. A neighbor who hasn't been to church in a long time was there with his guitar and sang. Savannah, a talented 12-year-old, sang. I got the impulse to sing, although I hadn't planned to; then I realized I wanted to sing with Savannah. So as she was finishing, I started up to the altar and motioned her to stay there. We sang "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus," a capella, in harmony. No practice. Never sang together before. I could tell it sounded good. Savannah and her family are leaving our congregation, moving down south, and I'm going back out on the Trail, and I realized, I won't see her again, not this summer, anyway. I just really wanted to sing with her. I'm really glad I followed the impulse.

The rest of the day, I spent washing clothes and reorganizing my gear. It took all afternoon for just a few minor changes, but the changes make a difference in how my pack goes together, so I had to regroup some things and take out some things and it just got complicated.

Back to the Trail tomorrow. 91 miles to go before Delaware Water Gap, PA and the beginning of New Jersey.