Lines by Lee

I thought I would take a break from my series of columns from the Proverbs to reflect on my recently completed hurricane-shortened, mask-wearing vacation. I can still remember the vacations of my childhood. Neither of my parents grew up in a home where they could go to another state for a getaway. However, from the time I could remember they made sure their family of seven would have vacations to remember. I recall my Dad carrying me out to the family station wagon in the wee early hours of the morning so we could get a jump on our excursion. There were a few trips to Florida, Myrtle Beach, Ocean City, the Great Smoky Mountains and rural New York, including Watkins Glen. Perhaps your father threatened to stop the car if the kids did not stop fighting. I know of at least on occasion where my Dad actually did stop the car. It must have been one of my siblings acting up.

I realize not everyone can afford a vacation. For those that can, even if on a tight budget it can be well worth it because of the break from the routines of life and the creation of family memories. It is also good to experience different locations to remind one that God creates beauty in different places in different ways.

My wife and I have taken our sons to some of the same places of my youth. It gave me the opportunity to reminisce with them while creating new memories. Last winter I told my oldest son that he could chose the vacation location (within reason) since he was graduating. That sounded great to him and he landed on Southern California. Then the pandemic hit. As I consulted with a friend in Los Angeles and read about the virus it became apparent in May that we would not be able to make that trip. He also considered New York City. After much consideration and research, we decided on a very familiar destination for our family – Virginia Beach.

Before the trip to the beach my younger son had his last summer league basketball game in addition to football practice. With him not wanting to miss either, the three of us set out for a 30-hour trip that took us to Watkins Glen, N.Y. No, it is not on the way to Virginia. I had not been to Watkins Glen since my childhood and I knew my wife and son would love to hike there. After confirming that it was open during the pandemic we were on our way.

As we traveled northeast, we were amazed at how beautiful the mountains were and how many millions of trees we saw. Those restroom hand dryers that are meant to save trees are not a bad thing. It is good to care for the environment. However, from what I observed we are in no danger of having a tree shortage anytime soon. Coins maybe - but not trees. As I gazed at the majestic mountain ranges, I could not help but be in awe of God's powerful, beautiful design and some of the "mountains" verses. "You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength" (Psalm 65:6). The mountains we saw are different than the Rockies, Sierra Nevada's, Himalayas, or Alps. They have one thing in common. A powerful God spoke them into existence one day. "I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine" (Psalm 50:11). That is a lot of birds, animals, and knowledge!

If you never saw Watkins Glen it is a river gorge that contains 19 waterfalls within about a two-mile stretch. It formed beautiful rocky topography over millions of years. (Just making sure you were paying attention). God can certainly use time to create his amazing designs but a powerful God can do in dozens or hundreds of years what scientists think took millions. We drove with blue skies for several hours to get to our destination and then it poured. But once we got there the Lord stopped the rain so we could do part one of our walk with only our shoes getting wet.

Masks were to be worn while hiking the Watkins Glen trails. Most people had them on. I noticed that when I smiled at little kids as usual, they had no idea that I was smiling. My wife and son got in their steps as we explored together. I imagined my parents in their younger days keeping track of five of us.

Day two was hot and humid but the sun allowed us to see the area in a different light. We finally made it to a certain point where we thought we could descend to a more scenic portion of the glen but it was closed for construction. We did our best to take it in stride as we posed for pictures and looked forward to arriving back at the car so we could rest our feet. We made it back in time to see the basketball games. The last one was so bad it made me wish I stayed in New York.

The next morning, we were off to historic Williamsburg (to eat and shop). Staying one night there would allow us to get to the beach early since we would only be staying three nights. Our lodging in Virginia came without cost to us thanks to the generosity of several family members. We are blessed to be loved!

While my wife and youngest went shopping my oldest and I hit historic Williamsburg. We had walked for about 15 minutes and could see our destination maybe a quarter of a mile away. Suddenly we heard something. Then we felt it. The heavy rain hit with little warning. We took cover and never did make it to where we wanted to go. Once again, we kept it in perspective and waited out the rain until we could walk back to the vehicle. More vacation memories.

Deciding on where to eat and what we would order is always interesting. It is amazing how diverse the tastes of people in the same family can be. I am also well aware of how gluttonous I can be. God create food for our sustenance and pleasure, but at times I take in way too much. In less than a week I probably ate the best pizza, milkshake, omelet, and stromboli I ever had. Now I have to go on more hikes to burn the calories.

We were able to check in a few hours early in Virginia Beach. The masked girl at the front desk greeted me with something like, "Welcome to our hotel. A hurricane is coming so you may have to evacuate." I had heard about a storm brewing but thought it was far enough away that it would not impact our trip. I thought wrong.

I tossed the Frisbee with my sons. We did a lot of swimming (with jellyfish) and beach and boardwalk strolling. We did even more tracking of the weather websites and channels. We saw dolphins and seagulls and lots of people on the beach who were clearly weary of the pandemic.

We made the decision on our second night there that we better leave late afternoon the next day, cutting short our family vacation. The predictions of the storm track did not look promising for our location or our trip home if we decided to stay. The next morning, we woke up to clear blue skies. We got some donuts and put on our sunscreen for our last few hours at the beach. As we were about to leave our 11th floor room I looked out and spotted a massive grayish black sight. It was not a dolphin. I was a scary looking cloud. Soon we heard the whistles of lifeguards up and down the coast. Not only did people have to get out of the water, they had to clear the beach itself. The rains came again. This was unrelated to the hurricane but gave us a glimpse of what could be. We packed our things and headed north.

Despite the circumstances we enjoyed being together as a family on our abbreviated vacation. I learned long ago that Christians must deal well with disappointments because life is full of them. Likewise, it is full of blessings if we open our eyes to them. It is no wonder Scripture says, "Do everything without complaining and arguing" (Philippians 2:14). That is definitely a good family vacation verse. I better wrap this up so I can plan my next vacation. I feel like I need one!