The Great Outdoors

This past weekend we all went on a hike in Woodstock, NY ~ in the Catskills Mountains. When I picked our hike location I knew it would be a bit of a challenge for the girls (5 miles round trip), but there's no time like the present to get them accustomed to longer, more challenging hikes. We chose to hike Overlook Mountain ~ one of the big perks of the hike is that about halfway up the mountain you will encounter the Mountain House ruins.

The Mountain House opened in 1871 and could accommodate about 300 guests back in the day. The hotel ruins are located at 2,920' ~ here's a link of photos someone has snapped on a foggy day up on the mountain. Apparently the hotel burned down twice ~ rebuilt ~ then fell prey to the stock market crash. in the 1920's.

We couldn't have picked a more perfect day for a walk in the woods. The temps were in the mid 60's with sun peaking out from behind the clouds now and again. We all made it to the summit and enjoyed some amazing views ~ and a yummy lunch. After we were refueled, Skyler proceeded to skip down the mountain with her walking stick ~ leading us the whole way down to the trail head.

I know ~ some of you are probably rolling your eyes and yelling at me for going on a 5 mile hike not even four months after my detethering ~ but truthfully ~ the adrenaline is the best drug out there. I have been plagued with headaches and neck pain for a couple of weeks straight now ~ it's really breaking me down again. But ~ that said~ my focus in on getting stronger ~ living stronger. The sermon in church yesterday was speaking directly to me ~ again ~ wait on God and his direction for your life ~ oi! Why is that so hard to do?