Of Waterfalls and Rainbows

Let me start by saying that moving isn't easy. Going through 25 years worth of stuff, throwing things away, packing other things in boxes is hard work. Deciding what to keep and what to get rid of becomes exhausting. Loading up my Honda Accord with boxes until there's only room for me to drive it so I can transport it all to our new home gets overwhelming. So we've decided that we need to commit to working a chunk of the day and then taking a bit of a break to adventure. We certainly don't intend to travel every day. Some days, our adventure will be to the couch for movies. But yesterday, we went on a road trip. After getting a bunch of work done in the morning, getting some boxes packed, taking a car load of boxes over, and filling a couple trash bags, we loaded up in the car to head south. The forecast isn't looking good for days. Yesterday was no exception. The forecast looked a little sketchy. But it looked better a little further south. We left with blue sky and white clouds but could see heavy rain in the distance. We drove through several downpours but made it to Logansport, IN to find beautiful weather. It was so well worth the drive! So, last summer we kind of stumbled upon a beautiful little county park in Cass County. France Park is a lovely little spot in Logansport. They have very nice camping areas, a beautiful lake, fun hiking trails and a stunning waterfall. The waterfall was what attracted us to this park in the first place. But since that first visit, we've been exploring the park a little more each time. I've hiked quite a bit and found that they actually have 3 waterfalls. The largest one is very impressive. The smaller two are tucked back in the woods, accessible by winding trails through the woods. It's a beautiful hike along the creek. The main lake has a nice little beach and is surrounded by beautiful rock walls. The lake was made in an abandoned quarry and the water is so clear. But there's also another lake we found hidden back in the woods. It's usually a great place to see lots of birds and geese. Yesterday we realized it was home to hundreds of water lilies and dozens of spiders, ladybugs and dragonflies. What a beautiful sight!

When we finished at the park, we decided to head to Peru, IN for a late lunch. We recently found a place called Harvey Hinklemeyers. They serve pizza, subs and sandwiches. Their sandwiches are huge and the prices aren't bad. Besides, they have tater tots on their menu so they can't be bad! We liked it enough the first time we went, we wanted to go back again. So, we had a nice late lunch and headed on our way. We drove around Peru a bit to see if there were any parks along the Wabash River. We couldn't find any with a view of the river so we headed north. Drew is great at looking on the map as I'm driving and he finds places to check out along the way. Yesterday was no exception. We headed towards Bourbon, IN. It was a little out of the way but the park we found was a nice little park. It's caled The Wall Historic Park. It was a stone wall built in the 1930s as part of the New Deal. It consists of a stone wall and concrete steps that lead down to the river. The wall has fallen apart quite a bit over the years. But the view of the river was very nice. There's a little trail that goes along the river a little way. Continuing my day of wildlife views, I saw a couple beautiful frogs along the path. While this was a cute little park, I think the highlight of the drive there was turning down a narrow country road and seeing a beautiful rainbow! It's not often you can clearly see every color of the rainbow. But we could on this one. When we stopped to take pictures, it looked as if God has just plopped the end of His rainbow ribbon down in front of a grove of trees. It was so pretty! While we had no plans of driving through heavy rain, seeing menacing skies in the distance or even being on the remote country road, God reminded us that He always has a plan for us. The rainbow was His sign of a promise to never again flood the whole earth. But His promises go so much further than that. He promises to always walk with us through every circumstance of life and to carry us when we need it. The minute we saw that perfect rainbow, I knew there was a reason we went that way. It went far beyond going to see a little park way off the beaten path. It had much more to do with the fact that God knew I needed that reminder that He is with me through the good, bad, easy and hard times of life.