The End of the Ride

For those of you who read “Wild Ride to Idyllwild,” you may be interested in hearing “the rest of the story,” namely, the ride down the mountain!

Friday, after the usual chore of packing up the trailer, we moved it to a nearby sewer drain on the camp property that the maintenance men had uncovered for us. Unfortunately, it was an industrial drain and Bill did not have the tools to remove the cover. After quite a bit of work, the maintenance men removed the housing and the cover, and we were finally able to empty our water tanks. (Bill wanted to be certain that we did not have any excess water in the tanks. That would mean more weight, and we did not need more weight pushing us down the mountain!) The sewer problem put us about an hour behind, but we are used to dips in the road and unexpected delays.

Before this procedure was completed, there were three men from the camp – plus Bill – standing around the sewer drain. (Have you ever noticed how men like to watch other men work? Just think of the last time you passed a highway construction site! :) ) They were all very nice and asked if we would like to pray with them before we left. One of the men, during his prayer, thanked the Lord for giving us time to be refreshed beside the brook, just as Elijah had been refreshed beside a brook. I must say that I hardly consider myself in the same category as Elijah, but the time was quiet and refreshing. I appreciated these men’s prayers for our protection, and it helped to calm my nerves a little. Ever since we ascended to this mile-high village two weeks prior, as I thought about the inevitable descent, I had been asking the Lord to help me to trust him as a little child would trust his father. Bill preached from the Scripture that says “Be careful [anxious] for nothing” and I kept repeating that to myself.

So, by the time we were on the way down, I am happy to say that I was in a pretty good state of mind. When I was a kid, and we were hiking, Dad used to say that going down was harder than going up. On the way up, you can grab onto trees and rocks and support yourself. On the way down, if you start to slip and fall, there is usually not much to cling to. As our friend Warren Heath says of the steep steps at his house, “It’s not the fall that hurts; it’s the sudden stop at the bottom.” But I had equipped myself with faith in the Lord and only a couple of times, as I peered over the side of a ravine, did my faith waiver a little before I got it back in the corral.

Around and around, up and down…away we went. Our brakes were so upset with us. About three-quarters of the way down, we pulled off the road. Brake dust decorated the front rims and that “your-brakes-are-too-hot” smell was really strong. As we waited about 30 minutes for them to cool, we ate some cheese and crackers, and enjoyed the view. Hey, if you have to hang out on the side of the mountain, you might as well have a picnic!

To shorten this long story, we are now in Phoenix, which is nice and balmy this time of year. Tomorrow we will minister at an area home missions church. Our truck and RV are intact and so are we. Thank you, Jesus, and I promise that if I ever have to go to Idyllwild again, it will not be with a 33-foot RV in tow!