Unlikely Places

What I (Josh) had hoped for was more unexpected than I had first imagined.  After leaving Leavenworth yesterday morning, and traveling for over an hour, the family was getting hungry for lunch.  Looking for a good view point to park at while we ate, I took our motor home (which the kids have named Advy) off-roading up a small rocky bluff.  After much excitement and doubting from Mel and the children, I made it up the bumpy hill.  We had a view from our living room window that would have cost millions back home in Seattle.

After enjoying our meal at the bluff, we moved on from there.  After two more hours of driving we stopped at an unassuming rest stop on I-90.  That is when the unexpected happened.  As the 6 of us sat on the green grass under the shade of tall trees, I made a simple statement, “There must be a game that we could play here together.”  What followed was the most epic game of duck-duck-goose I have ever played in my life.  A game I have played many times as a child.  A game I never guess I would enjoy playing ever again.  But some sort of magic took place that afternoon on the green lawn of a freeway rest stop.  I became a child again for the first time in a long while.  I got lost in the simplicity of the game, the anticipation of being a “goose”, the thrill of being chased and being chosen.  I lost myself and connected with my family in a way I hoped would happen, in a way I never dreamed of.  Spontaneous serendipity describes it best.  I can hardly believe that sharing life together in this way has already started happening just two days into our trip.  My prayer is that this is only the beginning of the magic we will share together this year.