A friend suggested we share some personal stories on the
site, so here's what we came up with. They may not make Reader's Digest, but I hope
they keep you entertained!
We all have those moments in life when we see clearly what we SHOULD do in our
brain, but we choose to ignore it. Well, one evening, I nearly let "National Park
Fever" kill me. I was on a trip to Washington, D.C., and I decided to take the short
drive out to the northern part of Shenandoah National Park after a meeting to see if I
could catch an hour or two in the park before sunset. It had rained all day, but I was
still hopeful. It took me 45 minutes to drive the first 5 miles in the traffic, but once I
hit the freeway, it was smooth sailing. The clouds started lifting, and the rain let up a
bit along the way, but as soon as I got to Front Royal, just north of the park, the clouds
began to look ominous again, and the rain began to fall lightly. As I pulled up to the
entrance, the Park Ranger said, "I have to tell you, there's a tornado warning in
Page county about 30 miles south of here, and it's moving north, are you sure you want to
go in?" I told her "well, I've driven all this way, I might as well drive in for
a few minutes and take some pictures; do you think I can just scoot down to the Thornton
Gap Entrance and out?" She looked at me and said "that's right next to Page
county."
I sat there for about 20 seconds and rationalized to myself, "I can always just
turn around and come back," so I paid my entrance fee and started uphill on Skyline
Drive. Because I didn't know how much time I would have, I stopped everywhere there was an
opening, ran out with my camera, shot a picture and ran back to the car, dodging a few big
raindrops that were beginning to fall more consistently. The clouds were still high in the
east, and the road was to the east of the ridge at this point, so the vistas weren't too
bad. I saw plenty of deer run across the road, but it was getting too dark to photograph
them. And then I crossed the ridgeline. . .
As the road
crossed to the west side of the ridge, there in front of me at eye level and about 5 miles
away was one of the nastiest clouds I have ever seen (and I've lived in the plains of
Kansas and Wyoming). It was greenish blue with hints of red, and there were spikes
sticking out of it at weird angles. I thought to myself "so THAT's what they were
worried about!" The storm was moving toward me and was about to cover the road where
I'd just come from. I took a quick picture and decided to keep going because the road in
front of me looked better than heading back and getting caught by that thing! As I drove,
I noticed a few other cars, but like smart people, they were heading OUT of the park.
Just as I was thinking things might work out pretty well, the heavens opened up, and
the deluge poured forth. In no time, the visibility went to nearly nothing, the road
turned into a little river, and I found myself creeping along at 10 miles per hour with
the windshield wipers trying frantically to keep up. Lightning flashed all around with
terrible thunderclaps right on its heels. The noise was deafening, but I didn't dare stop
lest the storm catch up. I didn't dare drive faster either because there were still deer
all about, and now I couldn't see them! My heart began to race as I flitted in-and-out of
downpours, and every time the rain let up, I began to hear loud, low-pitched vibrations
like the sound of a freight train. Was it a tornado??? Was it just the noise of the tires
throwing water into the wheel wells??? I had visions of the next day's headlines
"National Park Enthusiast Killed by Tornado in National Park." How ironic, I
thought; but then I thought "how will they even find me--does anyone know I'm
here?" In reality, a coworker knew I was there, but it wasn't very comforting at the
moment. I began to pray as I pressed farther and farther into the park, cursing my
stupidity for getting myself into this and hoping I was now making the right decision and
the worst was behind me.
Little-by-little,
the rains began to let up, and I could relax a little. By this time, I had the park to
myself. I passed the Thornton Gap Entrance Station in hopes I might find a little break in
the weather to get a couple more photos. I passed through the tunnel on Skyline Drive, and
as I emerged on the other side, all around me were whisps of white clouds mixed with the
trees and a pink sky of clouds illuminating it softly in golden light. It was beautiful,
and as I pulled into an overlook and stepped out, the cool, wet air and view of the
mountains after the rain struck me with a refreshing sense of renewal. After a long, quiet
moment, I got back in the car and decided to go just a few miles further, but
unfortunately, fog covered the road and obscured the view. As I came around a corner
looking for a place to turn around, I saw bright headlights around the bend. As I drove
around the curve, the headlights got brighter and brighter, and soon I was squinting hard
against the yellow-orange beam. But instead of headlights, I found myself staring through
the lifting fog at a beautiful setting sun framed by barely visible trees and hills. It
was absolutely breathtaking! I stopped and stood there in awe of the magnificent Creator
who had made the raging storm and now bathed his creation in the softness of this sunset.
My decisions that day were certainly not the smartest I've ever made, but I am thankful
God loves us and takes care of us even when we're stupid sometimes.
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Sorry, This Car is Full!
Yellowstone NP, Wyoming, July 1999
Most of you know that Yellowstone National Park has a large herd of bison. We
knew this too, but we didn't quite know they enjoy being lap pets! One day, seven of us
were crammed into a minivan driving through Yellowstone when we noticed a herd of bison
walking alongside the road. Like everyone else in the park, we slowed down to take a
closer look. As we slowed to a crawl, one of the bison was just walking right alongside us
about six feet away.
What an awesome experience! Six feet from a wild bison! Well, having a door and windows
between us and the wildlife seemed silly at the time, and it was blocking the view, so
somebody (I can't remember who) decided it was good idea to open the sliding door.
Brilliant! Now we had a 
clear shot of the bison and video cameras were rolling. All was well until
my mom (closest to the door) pointed out, "Lee (that's my dad), he's getting closer.
. . Lee. . . LEE. . . AAAAAAH!!!"
My mom and her sister then proceeded yelling alternating "AAAAAHHH!!"s as the
animal was now veering slowly toward the open door of the van. His eyeball loomed HUGE,
now just inches away from us, until my dad finally put on the brakes and gave him the
right-of-way. While we nearly die laughing every time we watch the video, the only photo
we got was this nice, suitable-for-framing shot of his backside!
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It was a warm May day in Alaska, so my wife and I put on our shorts and tennis
shoes and set out to Kenai Fjords. Now, the highlight of a visit to Kenai Fjords is a hike
to the face of Exit Glacier, so we left our car and set out on the nice, paved trail. It
sounded simple, but when we got halfway there, snow at least two feet deep blocked our
path. Not to be detered, I said, "come on, Honey, 
we can walk on top of the snow!" We scrambled up the snow
bank, stood on top, and gingerly made our way onto the snow. It worked! It was icy enough
that it held our weight with no problems. . . at first. After a hundred yards or so, the
steady "crunch, crunch" of our steps in the snow turned to a loud
"poof" as the snow gave way underneath me! I sank right up to my knees, which
wouldn't have been so bad except I was wearing shorts. I wasn't about to let this
situation get the best of me, so I climbed out and continued on. The rest of the hike
sounded like "crunch, crunch, poof! crunch, crunch, crunch, poof!" Angie, being
the wiser one, followed in my footsteps to avoid the problems I was having. It was slow
going, but we made it--a little wet, a little cold, but having fun nonetheless.
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While perusing the Grant Grove gift shop in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National
Parks, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between a young couple and the old Park
Ranger behind the counter. The couple, looking for tips on what trails to take and areas
to see, asked the Ranger, "we're going to the giant sequoias in Grant Grove, what can
we expect to see?"
The Ranger, being perfectly serious, looked at the couple and said matter-of-factly
"very big trees."
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