All Our Trails Lead to Heaven

July 5, 2023, Glacier National Park, Montana

28 years ago on July 10, 1995, our family of six left Rome Georgia headed for Acadia NP in Maine.  We were going to attempt to camp for a month, slowly moving up the east coast to our destination.  My lover and I had decided we were going to try to see the world one month at a time in a tent (the only way we could afford it).  This was our trial run, agreeing to turn back in a week if it didn’t work out.  We had a small Toyota Van, packed with just the essentials, but a will to go.  On July 24th we made it.  After that, for the next 17 years, we spent our summers camping across America and eventually Western Europe.  During that time, we saw all the great landmarks from Plymouth Rock to Stonehenge and almost everything in between, all in a tent. On one of those trips, I made my 50th state, Montana, to Glacier National Park which remains my favorite NP.  In some mysterious way, it seems like home to me.  Jumping forward to today, some 10 years since we made our last month-long trip with only Sarah, the other three having grown and gone and I am awake this morning sitting in a cabin at Glacier National Park in Montana.  My lover and four children sleep soundly while I read the Ancient Text, drink good coffee, and write this.  The same old routine except our LL Bean, waterproof tent, has been replaced with an Airbnb.  Unbeknownst to me, for a year my family has been planning this trip and yesterday morning at 6a.m. I walked into the Nashville airport with Betty, and there they all stood, backpacks and suitcases in tow, smiling from ear to ear,  for one last trip for old times' sake.  I had long told my lover I wish we could go back and do it all over again and they made it happen.  From my daydream world to yours, happy trails from Glacier National Park, Montana.  May our joys never cease, and all our trails lead to Heaven, to be with God forever.