All The Joys of the Boondocks

Storm Update:  Today we have blue skies and the sun is shining. What a glorious sight! The flooding overnight on Roanoke Island was not quite as bad as expected but we still have many hundreds of people in our community who will be recovering for a long time. Continuing to pray for those who are still in the midst of the storm.

Last Friday, I took off on a woodsy adventure with about a dozen women from our church.  I was told that we would be going to a hunting camp and although I have never been to a hunting camp, the very name evoked pictures of great rustic-ish so I was all prepared to rough it–specially after seeing the road that took us into the camp.
 

And yep, it was rough all right.  

The first thing I saw when I got out of our car was a ferocious, maniacal bear ready to rip me to shreds and eat me for breakfast. 

It was scary, I tell you.

The next thing I noticed which further reinforced the whole back-to-nature, grungy, grimy, hunting camp vibe, was a bobcat chasing a poor little ol’ bird.  When I saw that, I knew for sure that we were in for a rough and tumble adventure.

The perception was only reinforced by other birds taking flight over our heads.

There were all manner of manly man things around . . .

. . . and there was even a sighting of a rare, never-before-seen deer on the front porch.

Once we had arrived . . . (this is about half the group)

we discovered that the local transportation options were quite limited.  No trolley, no subway, no bus, no limo, no taxi.  

Just Gators.

Bibber and I rode together in the back of one of the Gators and although we started off sitting down and holding on for dear life . . .

. . . we eventually threw caution to the wind and stood up for the rest of the trip like veteran Gator Riders.  It was so much fun.

The roads were a far cry from your usual city streets.

and we saw plenty of “local wildlife” on our journey.

I must admit to experiencing a bit of puzzlement when I saw various wooden chairs built into trees along our route. Although I am told that people with guns sit up there by the hour and wait for deer to pass by, I find it difficult to believe that anyone would do such a thing on purpose. 

Get up at 4 am?  Sit in a freezing drizzle on an uncomfortable perch? And call it fun?

I think not. 

But what would a huntin’ camp be without some huntin’ chairs, right? 

This is our fearless leader, Linda.  Her husband (and another guy) built and own the camp and she is well acquainted with every single path and trail and road that wind through their hundreds of acres in the middle of nowhere.

After our wild, through-the-woods adventure on the Gators, we repaired back to the house (AKA hunting camp) for a small bit of sustenance.  Even though I magnanimously offered to kill a deer for us to have as our afternoon repast, we eventually decided to just go ahead and have dessert instead.

Deer or dessert.     Dessert or deer. 

It was a tough call.

The inside of the “hunting camp” was lovely with lots of natural wood everywhere.

It had four bedrooms and could sleep about sixteen. 

 It even came complete with its own van named, “Miss Daisy.” 

The only picture I neglected to take was one of all the women gathered in the living room while Linda (our aforementioned leader) showed the DVD, “The Girl’s Still Got It” and then led great discussion sessions.  Linda teaches several Bible studies every week and is incredibly gifted in that area.   (And by the way, I HIGHLY recommend this DVD for any women’s Bible study groups; it’s fabulous.)

While the purpose of the camp was just to relax and have a good time, it gave it an extra special element to have those times of studying, talking and praying together as well.

Here are a few of the women I shared those times with.

While the rest of the ladies stayed through Sunday morning, I had to leave on Saturday afternoon.   I said a nostalgic goodbye to the “rustic hunting camp” . . .

. . . and then headed home along this road where I saw a total of ONE other car in forty-five minutes.

When I say we were in the boondocks, I mean we were in the boondocks!  (For any of you folks who know the area, we were just outside of Engelhard.)

It was so nice to get away . . . and so nice to come home.

I’m thankful for the blessings of friends and desserts and Bible studies and Gators . . . and especially thankful for all the joys of the boondocks.