High Knob overlook - worth the drive

We arrived at the park about an hour before check-in, but our site was open so we got an early start loading in. The cabin (#9) was awesome. It was sparse, comfortable and functional. The deck faced away from the access road, so we had a lot of privacy. Two bath houses were close by. One of them had a unisex layout for families, so you could lock the door and have the place to yourself.

And here’s where the play-by-play will end, because: it rained every day. Possible titles of this vacation journal include:

            Water World
            A River Runs Through It
            Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink
            Five Feet High and Rising (that’s my favorite)

Worlds End State Park… the name is accurate enough because it looked like the Great Flood was on its way (it was, but we got to see it *before* it had a pretty name like “The Flood of ‘06”). Audra thought we’d have to build an ark. This was our first trip with a video camera, which was good because I was able to get footage of various woodland creatures that we’d have to later locate to put on the ark.

The results of the video experiment may be posted later, but I’m not sure. I’ve watched part of it and let’s just say that I’m no Spielberg (yet).

Normally a rained out vacation would annoy the would-be nature-lover/vacationer, but not us. We had plenty of books (part of my goal for the week anyway), and were able to get lots of sleep (a mutual goal) - except for the first morning when Audra’s alarm clock went off. We just took each day as it came. Other than feeling a bit achy due to lack of movement, it was quite nice. It was – in its own glorious way – unremarkable. So it is better to list the highlights and move on to the real adventure.

Looking at my list retreat planning list, I was able to do most of the things I wanted. It was a good time for me to just unwind and work some things out in my head. One thing that was not possible was a long hike, mostly due to the weather. For the bits of time that were available for hiking, we either did other stuff we wanted to do, or I used the time to read – which was one of my top priorities. Looking at everything in total:

            Zazen every morning on the deck
            Started and finished The Divine Comedy
            Learned 7 new blues songs (you’ll need to wait to find out which ones)
            Wrote 2 new songs
            Practiced 10 Johnny Cash songs
            Pastel artwork on some rocks
            Writing and idea/project organization
            Drafted a letter to my uncle
            Learned some more about my minidisc recorder, and the video camera
            Found some foley for Murder in the Magnolias

Nature highlights included seeing a large turtle up close, something that I haven’t seen (in the wild) since I was a child. Other perks: Almost complete quiet - except for the djembe drumming (mine) and the rabid screaming campfire songs one night (not mine); No cell phones; No email; No TV; Lots of time to read; Lots of time to think; Not too many people; the scenic overlooks at High Knob and Canyon Vista.

Continued...