Yesterday was quite a day. I asked my friend Dennis if he would join me for some early morning fishing, and he agreed. Dennis is a French Prof at Valor Christian School down the hill. The weather has been fabulous - sunny, no rain to muddy the rivers. Yesterday dawned bright and clear - not a cloud in the sky, and the sky was a deep, deep blue that took your breath away. Dennis took me to a spot that he knew about down in Shawnee - about 30 minutes from the Llama Diner where we met. The water was frigid, and we were both grateful to have waders. I was skunked for the morning, but Dennis caught a 22 inch Rainbow trout - it was a monster, and I have pictures to prove it! The first picture is Dennis proudly holding his fish; the second was taken a few seconds before when the fish decided to head back downstream! We left the river around 10 and headed for "downtown" Bailey for some eggs and bacon at the "Cutthroat Cafe" - a local dive with great atmosphere and delicious food.
Dennis dropped me off at the Diner after brunch, and my plans were to meet another friend, Scott, who wanted to get my thoughts on some important business questions (not that I can be much help there!). Scott met me at the Loaf 'N Jug convenience store in his beat up 1990 Jeep, and I knew we were in for more than a business discussion. We drove back in the same direction Dennis and I had taken earlier in the morning, but Scott took a detour onto a back road, then onto a trail. I thought to myself, "This would be great to take riding a Quad... but there's no way we'll make this in a Jeep!" We made it. The pictures don't do justice to the difficulty of the terrain - a couple of times I honestly thought we would never make it up and over some of the boulders, or down through some of the holes. My hat is off to Scott's driving abilities. 1.5 bone-jarring hours later we arrived at the destination Scott had in mind - Webster Pass and Red Cone Mountain. Wow - what an incredible, breath-taking view. You can see why they call it "Red Cone" - I thought the color came from the tailings of a mine, but Scott said the bright red is the natural coloring. The picture doesn't do justice to the turquoise blue of the sky. It was worth every adjusted vertebra in my back. We did end up having a great conversation on the way up and down the mountain. We passed a guy up near the top who was setting up camp to spend a couple of days alone in the wilderness. He said he comes there every year. I asked him if he ever encounters bears when he's camping so far from anywhere; he said no, but there is some animal that he can hear walking around his campsite at night. I didn't say anything, but of course you know who that is: Bigfoot.
Oh, I almost forgot. I've had three pretty good nights the past three nights. I don't know for sure why I've slept so well: I had an intense hour of massage therapy on Wednesday, and the therapist worked deep into my lower back where I feel the effects of my Restless Legs most intensely. Daphne has also spent a week praying and fasting for me - and I believe the Lord is answering her prayers - and those of so many others. What a wonderful, unusual pleasure to wake up from a sound sleep! Is it possible we're seeing light at the end of the tunnel?
Yesterday was quite a day. I asked my friend Dennis if he would join me for some early morning fishing, and he agreed. Dennis is a French Prof at Valor Christian School down the hill. The weather has been fabulous - sunny, no rain to muddy the rivers. Yesterday dawned bright and clear - not a cloud in the sky, and the sky was a deep, deep blue that took your breath away. Dennis took me to a spot that he knew about down in Shawnee - about 30 minutes from the Llama Diner where we met. The water was frigid, and we were both grateful to have waders. I was skunked for the morning, but Dennis caught a 22 inch Rainbow trout - it was a monster, and I have pictures to prove it! The first picture is Dennis proudly holding his fish; the second was taken a few seconds before when the fish decided to head back downstream! We left the river around 10 and headed for "downtown" Bailey for some eggs and bacon at the "Cutthroat Cafe" - a local dive with great atmosphere and delicious food. 
Dennis dropped me off at the Diner after brunch, and my plans were to meet another friend, Scott, who wanted to get my thoughts on some important business questions (not that I can be much help there!). Scott met me at the Loaf 'N Jug convenience store in his beat up 1990 Jeep, and I knew we were in for more than a business discussion. We drove back in the same direction Dennis and I had taken earlier in the morning, but Scott took a detour onto a back road, then onto a trail. I thought to myself, "This would be great to take riding a Quad... but there's no way we'll make this in a Jeep!" We made it. The pictures don't do justice to the difficulty of the terrain - a couple of times I honestly thought we would never make it up and over some of the boulders, or down through some of the holes. My hat is off to Scott's driving abilities. 1.5 bone-jarring hours later we arrived at the destination Scott had in mind - Webster Pass and Red Cone Mountain. Wow - what an incredible, breath-taking view. You can see why they call it "Red Cone" - I thought the color came from the tailings of a mine, but Scott said the bright red is the natural coloring. The picture doesn't do justice to the turquoise blue of the sky. It was worth every adjusted vertebra in my back. We did end up having a great conversation on the way up and down the mountain. We passed a guy up near the top who was setting up camp to spend a couple of days alone in the wilderness. He said he comes there every year. I asked him if he ever encounters bears when he's camping so far from anywhere; he said no, but there is some animal that he can hear walking around his campsite at night. I didn't say anything, but of course you know who that is: Bigfoot.
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