Dialing It Up

Angie, Daniel, Miranda (our neighbor), and I are cozy...tucked safely away in a log cabin in the Ozarks. This is one of my favorite places on earth! I'm a big fan of God's handywork - mountains, valleys, landscapes - you know, things that you usually only get to see in pictures.

For the weekend, we've been hanging out at Red Rock Retreat in Newton County, Arkansas. Today, we hiked on the Lost Valley Trail that takes you to Eden Falls and Eden Falls Cave. The water wasn't flowing like we'd hoped, but God made sure that we knew He was in control by making another waterfall...out of the sky. It started raining about the time we entered Eden Falls Cave, which is located at the end of the hiking trail. Needless to say, we got to see plenty of water...up close and personal.

We took Duke and Scooter along on the trail. It was a good thirty minute drive to the trail from the cabin. After we arrived at Lost Valley, we realized that dogs weren't allowed on the trail. Oh well, we broke the rules and took the dogs. I mean, c'mon...Scooter is a guide-dog. He's better behaved than most of the humans we passed.

Earlier today, we visited with our host, Sandy Swayne, and fed carrots to her horses. Plus, we visited with her dog, Monk. Monk is one of the coolest dogs I've ever known. He's a one-third German shepherd, one-third malamute, and one-third wolf. I've got some great photos but I won't be able to offer them to you until next week.

"Why?", you ask?

Because we're on dial-up service at the cabin. I'm not complaining, really, I'm not. There's little to no mobile service up here. I'm lucky to make or receive one cell phone call per day. But at the cabin, Sandy has dial-up service available. I actually sent an appraisal report last night...old school. It took 30 minutes to upload to the site. I guess I'm spoiled. It usually takes me about 10 seconds to upload.

Oh well, like I said, I'm perfectly content to sit by a crackling fire, in a log cabin, with the Ozark Mountains surrounding me, and dial it up. Shoot, my dad had to sit by a candlelight and write with a #2 pencil on a Big Chief tablet in order to communicate like this.

Yep, dial-up is just fine if you ask me.