Day Six
Emma woke up this morning, peeked out the window, and spied
a friendly cat lounging in front of the campground store in Shell, Wyoming.
Another furry friend for our 7 year old animal lover. “Mom,” she says, “I
really think we should go in the store and ask about this kitty..maybe it
doesn’t belong to anyone.” I could see where this was headed and decided to
head her off at the pass. Reluctantly, I
spoke for Emma to ask the friendly woman at the counter what the cat’s name
might be. Looking right at Emma the woman sweetly replied, “I don’t know…you
could call her whatever you wanted.” This was not at all the direction I wanted
to go, so I changed the subject fast . What followed was a conversation with a
delightful woman named Shirley who has lived her whole life in the small town
of Greybull, WY…a place where you ride your horse to school and live off the
land and delight in the birth of baby antelope. I’m so glad to have met up with
my new friend Shirley and I’m so glad that sometimes it is through the urging
of an almost 8 year old (that was her edit) that we are right where God wants
us.
Later on, in the last leg of the
trek to get to Yellowstone, Carl noticed the temperature gage was in the red;
the motorhome had been handling the winding mountain climb very well, so we
really weren’t sure what was going on, but knew it was critical to get off the
road to let the engine cool down. As we
rounded that very bend, there was a paved pull-off area that we could easily
roll right into, complete with a small stream for those who wanted to wade a
bit. Thank you God for getting us right where we need to be. When the waders
climbed back into the motorhome, we thought we’d be on our way. Nope…she wouldn’t
start. A sinking feeling in my stomach
now, followed by an audible “Lord, help us!” Carl then gets the idea that we
need to get air to the diesel engine which is inconveniently located under our
bed, which during the day is piled high with everyone else’s mattress toppers (kind of princess and
the pea-like). I’m sure you can picture the next few moments of flying bedding
and Carl-like innovating. In the end we
were all sitting in the front of the motorhome atop some form of bedding while
gazing out the windows in a rather forlorn way. As I happened to be
situated a little higher than normal(
due to our new seating arrangements) and facing the windshield, I was the first
to see what happened next. Not just one, but five big horn sheep leapt over the
guardrail, crossed the road, and began grazing on the hillside 2o ft. in front
of our now cooling motorhome.
For the
next hour we watched with fascination the drama unfolding in front of us as
these nimble creatures scaled the rocky slope, looking occasionally right
through us with their calm stares, as if to say, “Why do you worry so much?” I
believe it was Gordon who reminded us later, after the motorhome easily
started, that we were supposed to be there to see those 5 wonderful wild
mountain sheep. Thank you God for caring
so so much for each and every one of us in all of the situations of our
lives. Did we make it to Yellowstone…..yes, we did
and the journey there made it even sweeter. Please pray for both Carl and Ian
that tomorrow they’ll feel a lot better. And now that we’re in Yellowstone,
Emma’s list includes a black bear, a few elk, and lots of bison….and one
special cat.
No comments:
Post a Comment