Musings from Vacation, Part 1

After a long day in the air and in four airports (Baltimore, Detroit, Salt Lake City and Oakland), we finally arrived in California, complete with luggage. We had tight connections and delayed flights - in Salt Lake City we had 15 minutes from the time we deplaned at one end of the airport until our connection was scheduled to depart from the other end - and due to overbooking our carry-on luggage wouldn't fit in the cabin and had to be checked through, and we had not time to buy meals in the airports and no meals were served on the planes, but we made it. I will never again wonder about Paula bringing "just-in-case" food in her purse.

On the shuttle to the airport we met a very friendly Southwest Airlines pilot who was staying in the same motel. He warned us not to try to walk to a restaurant, so we ordered a pizza and shared it and conversation with him. He seemed very interested when we told him of the healings that we saw in the revival services last week, and said he would love to see something like that - he has had very little experience with church. We will be praying for him.

Due to the three hour time difference, Paula and I went to bed around 7:30pm and awoke at 4:30am. The RV folks won't pick us up until around 10:00am, so we have had several hours to just sit in the room. That could sound very dull, but in fact it's very nice. Between reading, napping, and surfing the net, we are finding it very relaxing already, and we aren't even out of the motel! There really is something to be said for getting away from everyday responsibilities - I guess that's the main "musing" for today. I tried a "stay-cation" for two weeks in June, taking vacation time but staying at home, and while it was nice, it really wasn't what we needed. This two weeks in the mountains and along the Pacific coast, away from all normal responsibilities, promise to be wonderful. I guess God really knew what he was doing when he commanded us to take a rest day every week, and set up all those mandatory annual feasts in the Old Testament. They were basically big community barbeques when nobody worked and everybody ate. Some of them even required people to go to other cities or camp in tents for several days. A great idea from our loving God!

More the next time we have internet access. Blessings from vacation!