Easter Tent Hunt

What a weekend! Since everyone in my family goes to different churches now, Stace and I thought it would be cool to do a weekend in Joshua Tree and read the story of the Resurrection at the top of a rock. Her boyfriend Sean, and his friend Brian came along for the adventure.

We had to take Sean to Del Taco because we took Brian last time for the experience of a lifetime. This Del Taco has better people watching than any Walmart I've ever been to. The first quote of the trip goes to Sean.

Becca: "Sean, what are you eating?"
Sean: "An egg roll"........long silence........ "filled with caramel and cheesecake and it's friggin DELICIOUS."

We got to the parking lot and loaded up everything to hike in. We decided to do back country camping which is what I will do every time from now on. So awesome. Brian didn't get his camping gear in time, so I was given the job of carrying an extra large sleeping bag tied to my back pack. Brian had all the firewood we weren't supposed to be bringing in. Stace had the chest full of ice and Sean carried all the beer which he threatened to leave with if we pulled any shenanigans with snakes.

We got to camp and Stace and I went to put the tent up. Rewind for a second. Originally, we all had our own tents. My dad had the great idea to just take his 4-man tent to limit the load hiking in. Perfect. Thanks Pops. Except when we went to put up the tent, there were no poles. Lesson learned: Always check your gear. The boys rigged it in the trees somehow while Stace and I went to explore the area.













Our weekend diet consisted of Del Taco on the way up, PB&J Crustables (best invention ever), Coors Light, Ha-Weet Thins, and Taco Bell on the way down (I'm detoxing as we speak.) We sat by the fire and had a lot of good laughs which included Stacey's neck turning into the flying squirrel, my hair getting gnarlier by the hour, Sean visiting a rock that we think God made just for his convenience, Brian's German school girl socks, and one line from the movie "Wanderlust" that never got old: "I'm gonna hit you with my dee-ick." For some reason it was always funniest when Stacey said it. I've never seen the movie, but it was hilarious to hear these guys constantly quoting it.

The view from our tent Easter morning was enough to thank Jesus for allowing me to have it all. It was perfect. We set off for a hike that was about two hours to the summit. While filling up our bottles, Stace asked why we all couldn't just share one nalgene between the 4 of us. I told her we need at least a liter per person just in case. YOU'RE welcome for making us do that because our two hour hike turned into a 6 hour escapade. I decided it was a good idea to climb up the crack of a steep rock. Once I got to the top and saw there was a way down the other side, everyone else came up. I read Mark 16 at the top of the summit, we passed around a beer in celebration of making it to the top, Brian and I attempted to boulder the Lion's Den, and we made our way down the back side only to find there was no easy way back from there.

Water was getting low, the sun was getting high, and we were all fatigued to the max. I'd been in this situation before so I knew my best bet was to stay quiet and let everyone else who had a good sense of direction figure out which way to go. We had never been so happy to see that scraggly green tent. Stace had blood pouring from her nose, we all had cuts on our hands and legs, and there was nothing more on our minds than food. We high-tailed it out of there, went straight to Taco Bell and we may or may not have gone to McDonald's for a vanilla ice cream cone.

We got home to welcoming arms of family and a happy niece who reminds me why I live: God, family, friends, and the beauty He created for us to enjoy.

Isaiah 35:1

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.