Asking Myself These Questions

Okay, I am still trying to get a good rhythm going since returning from the mountains. That's part of my reason for not blogging for the past few days...in addition to working on getting the next issue of Pear Magazine coordinated and ready for publication.

Just what is it about the mountains? A friend of mine says she often feels like she's in a trance for a few days after her regular mountain trips. My "trance" is now nearing the end of a week. Will I get a grip?

I've had some absolute vivid dreams -- two to be exact -- about our mystical mountain trip. I awoke from my most recent dream and carried on a conversation with my husband as though the "dream" was really taking place. Two people in our party (in the dream) were pulled in another direction while we were on the river. I suddenly awoke, adamantly telling my husband that we needed to locate them. I mean, it was so REAL in my mind. In my conscious state, the "dream" was still going on. My mission was to find those two people although my dream didn't reveal who they were. I wanted my husband to help me. I insisted. He knew I was dreaming; I didn't realize it until I eventually fell asleep again and awoke the next morning in a new state of mind.

In a dream that took place a few nights prior to that one, I felt like my bed was sloped on a cliff. I awoke and got out of the bed twice to "look over the cliff" to see just how far up we were located. (That had to have been inspired by me rappelling 80 feet -- from a cliff -- during my mountain trip.) I walked to my bedroom door, and looked out, as if I was looking down the cliff. Folks, in that part, I wasn't dreaming in a state of sleep. I was awake! Whew, had I lost my mind? :-)

But dreams aside, some level of me, really hasn't been the same since coming back home. Something has changed. There's some level of an emptiness that I'm trying to "fill"....the way that "void" was "full" before the mountain trip.

Did I meet perfect nature, heaven almost, in the mountains and now I'm trying to adapt in a less natural world again? Nothing feels the same! Did my Spirit meet nature's truth?

You know, once you know "truth" it's hard to go back!

Comments are welcomed!

Love and Hugs!

Mountain Adventures Continued

Tuesday Greetings, It's the day after returning home from a fabulous mountain trip. So far, I'm feeling in somewhat of a bitter-sweet mood, however....I'm truly thankful for this recent phenomenal travel experience I had with my son and our friends, but also desiring to still be functioning, perhaps even living (for at least part of the year), in the mountains. I haven't quite adjusted, physically or mentally, to being back at sea level. I have happy and sad feelings trying to somehow co-exist. (Let's see who wins!) :-) Writing about the experience soothes me, though, so here I am remembering riding a Zip Line through through the mountain air and landing in the cool water of the lake!

Exactly a week ago, Christy, Caleb, Dalton and I joyfully, prayerfully, and giddily set off at about 8:30 a.m., in Christy's eco-friendly Hybrid car for a 9-hour journey to the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. Our destination: ACE Adventure Center. Christy had visited that area for a similar trip about 11 years ago, and this year, when wanting to create a memorable vacation for her son, she kindly invited Caleb and me to join them. She had no idea that for many months I had been deeply craving a visit to the mountains. I owe so much thanks to her for helping me to manifest such a burning desire of mine. I have now witnessed the mountains in ways I hadn't even imagined! Christy, as I told you, everyone needs a friend like you! Thank you for being in my life! Our friendship has grown even stronger and the trip is forever etched in my heart and mind.

On the way to the Appalachian Mountains, we stopped overnight in North Carolina and spent the late afternoon and night with Christy's generous friends, Deena and Andy! Heartfelt thanks to them for welcoming us into their home and making us feel so comfortable. Their neighbor who had visited ACE back in October, brought a DVD of his white water trip over so that we could get a "taste" of one of the wild activities we would be experiencing in the mountains. I was somewhat apprehensive about the white water rafting activity that Christy was gong-ho about, but saw from the video that regardless of my uncertainty about it, it was sure to be fun....even if it meant somewhat nervous fun! :-)

The next morning, we were back in the car for the final three to four hour leg of the trip to ACE. We could literally taste what was to come, especially when we started to see the mountain scenery as we drove along winding roads, traveling up and downhill often. "Mommy, can I call Daddy to tell him how awesome the mountains look?" Caleb asked. The scenery was indeed incredible. We oohed and aahed the whole way. I often let out screams of delight because this was really happening. Christy giggled at me and, at times, revealed her own ways of communicating excitement, such as rubbing her hands together in anticipation of great fun!

Eventually, we found ourselves on an even narrower winding road that reminded me of some of Bermuda's narrow, hilly roads. That road ran through a residential area with older homes lined up along it and led us to ACE's Welcome Center where we would check-in and receive the key to our log cabin, our sleeping quarters for the next five nights.

The Loft! Each time I went up to the loft, I felt as though I was climbing the stairs to a tree house! Fun!

After driving higher up the mountain and identifying our cabin, then picking out our rooms and realizing that the accommodations more than met our expectations, our first activity at ACE would be at the lake where the boys were itching to take part in the many varied activities there from riding a Zip Line high in the air down into the water, to holding on to a silver triangle (in Zip Line fashion) and swinging into the water, to sliding down a huge water slide and other slides, to climbing an iceberg, to jumping on a water trampoline, to running an obstacle course from one trampoline to another, and the list goes on.

As the boys got acclimated that first day to mountain lake life by water, Christy and I hung out on the land around the lake as we chatted to each other, other guests and relaxingly got an overall feel for the place. The majority of the folks we encountered seemed to be talking about White Water Rafting....Our all-day trip (6 1/2 hours) for Day 2.

Stay tuned for our adventure down the New River Gorge by raft. What a wild ride it was! Fortunately, I'm here to tell about it! :-)

See you tomorrow!

Penny

Team Raw's Mountain Adventures

We have safely returned from an absolutely amazing, invigorating trip to the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia where we were about 3,252 feet above sea level. There, at ACE Adventure Center, we white water rafted, rock climbed, rappelled 80 feet, hiked, slept in a log cabin, and so much more! What an incredible time we had! We have arrived home a day early because we decided not to stop overnight in South Carolina during the drive home.

This week, I will be documenting, a bit at a time, our adventures featuring my dear, adventurous friend Christy (below right), my brave and agile son Caleb (blue shirt), Christy's loving and courageous son Dalton (pictured with my son), and mountain/rock-climbing-loving me (brown shirt)!


We often referred to our group as "Team Raw" during our mountain experiences. Although not everyone in our "Team Raw" group is raw-vegan, each person has a respect for raw-veganism and agreed that it was the green smoothies that pumped us up and got us going on the day of our

rock-climbing adventure, an activity I cannot wait to blog about. (As I thought I would, I LOVE rock climbing. Absolutely love it...and so does my son pictured on left. That's me on the right near the end of rappelling 80 feet.)

I hope you'll stop by each day this week for a glimpse of our week-long mountain trip.


With a ton of Mountain Love!

Penny & Team Raw

(Trip and Team Name Created By Christy!)

Mountain Preparation

In about a month, my son and I will be embarking upon our mom-and-son mountain trip. For quite a while I've longed to visit the mountains, so when a friend suggested (without knowing about my mountain desire) that we take a summer trip with our sons to the mountains, I couldn't have been happier.

I look forward to the adventure that awaits us, and my prayer is that we'll have a safe and enjoyable time and feel so close to God and nature that we completely feel the bliss of each day. I will be documenting this experience in the July issue of Pear Magazine, an organic lifestyles magazine I edit.

Today, the day before Memorial Day, I've been putting thought into how cleansed I want to feel at the start of this upcoming trip. Then, the trip itself will hopefully take my mind, body and spirit to an even deeper form of cleansing and renewal. A few hours ago, I made a Kale/Apple/Lemon juice and wondered if I should do a juice and green smoothie fast leading up to the trip. My heart is just telling me to do some form of a mind-body-spirit cleanse before our departure.

My friend, Melissa, is currently on a two-month fresh juice fast. Perhaps I need to team-up with her for a portion of her fast. This can be quite empowering and inspiring when done as a team. Plus, Melissa naturally inspires me anyway, so I can only imagine what I can gain from her during this next month. I believe the support can be invaluable.

I'm praying and pondering.

Stay tuned!

By the way, perhaps I'll try to redeem myself with this dormant blog (until now) by posting every day for the next month. We'll see! :-) My friend, Linda, likes to keep up with the happenings in my life......so, Linda, I'll try to keep this blog more active, okay? :-)

In Health,

Penny