Mountain Air

A weekend of fresh air, plenty of breathing, and connecting with God.  Naive as I am, I always thought that the mountains never got hot.  Now before you judge me, I can't remember the last time I went up to the mountains in the summer time!  Several weeks ago, the fam and I hitched a ride up to Twin Peaks, CA for a retreat with our beloved friends and their church.  Once we got out of the car, I was amazed at how hot it was!  

One great thing about the mountain was that there was little cell reception and the wi-fi provided by the retreat site was weak... Why is that great?  Well, if we had been pampered with high speed wi-fi, strong "4g" cell reception, and a cool-blasting a/c (I didn't mention that the air conditioner was weak too?), then I would have probably spent remarkably less time with my friends and family and probably more time trying to find out what was going on in the world.  

Ever realize how many car commercials try to sell us with vehicles that are constantly adventuring in these remote and wilderness like areas?  It's like they know inwardly we crave for adventure, the wild, or something different than what's around us.  Being outdoors felt eerily satisfying... even though whenever I go out on retreats like this, I always feel a sense of technology withdrawal... being able to walk around and sniff the fresh air, hear ambient silence, and see stars at night... it certainly was relaxing.  

So here it is... my weekend summed up in pictures and 3 words - forest, sleep, and kids