Our brief camping trip felt like much longer – and I mean that in the best sense.  Leaving behind the still vomiting and quite sick team mates who ate the ice cream, we packed up several trunks of bedding, food and gear and headed one hour down the road to the national forest where natural hot springs and amazing woods are found.  We set up our tent in the Ugandan Wildlife Authority’s prepared spaces and found it a perfect spot for car camping.   It’s rainy season here in Uganda so we did have an 8 pm downpour followed by steady rain all night but despite wet blankets and pillows, our enthusiasm was not dampened at all. We had a blast!

John, Loren and Brian Clark joined us and taught us much we needed to know about lighting fires and setting up tents (we were definitely NOT boy scouts.)  We gained confidence and new respect for these great friends.  And the friendship definitely got deeper as all five of us shared a single tent space!  Good conversations ranged from Dave Barry (of course) to  bringing out the best in people through love.  Meat grilled on the fire, jacket potatoes roasted in the coals, maize cooked in its own husks, this was the food of our 26 hours away.

Our walk in the woods on Sunday morning was magical; flower-like fungi, baboons before and behind us (grab a big stick, these things eat goats!!), colobus, blue and vervet monkeys leaping in the trees around us, exotic long-tailed birds and some incredible old trees and amazing greenery.  It was definitely Church of the Forest for us as we marveled at all God had created.  After moseying through the leafy, cool woods we came out at the most scenic part of the Bundibugyo road and walked down to where the hot springs trail started.  These sulfurous springs have a magic of their own and geologist John explained the science behind their creation.  Quinn was enthralled.

Quinn said, “this is the best 7th birthday EVER!”  He loved eating cake in the woods, roasting marshmallows as his pre-dinner appetizer and getting to see monkeys, baboons and COOL DANCING SPIDERS on his birthday weekend.  After all, what could be better for my courageous kid than an adventure all of his own to celebrate another year of his life?  Memorable, mystical and muddy.  Thanks, Daddy-God.

And it’s no small gift that none of the young kids ate the ice cream.  Salmonella can be life threatening, especially to peanuts like Brian and Naomi.   I feel intensely thankful for health.  Please continue to pray for Heidi, Pat, and Nathan as well as the Myhre four.  They are well on the way to recovery but still pretty miserable.