Gone with the Wind

So, today Randy and I headed off from our apartment, car fully loaded with camping gear, for a two day adventure of roughing it in the great outdoors and seeing more of Arizona that we haven't experienced yet.  We drove about two hours north to a place called Page, right near the Utah/Arizona border.  The landscape along the way was awesome, vast and spacious with beautiful towering rock formations.  So, we finally arrive at the campsite feeling very "outdoorsy" and began unloading the car.  Next came the joyful task of putting up the tent.  Wouldn't you know, we picked the day when the wind gusts were around 25 miles per hour.  Randy and I fought with that tent, with it only to blow over repeatedly again and again and again.  We tried holding it down ourselves, then Randy scouted out some big rocks to aid us, but that stupid tent billowed up like a parachute and I practically had to throw myself across it to keep it from blowing away, sailing into the wild blue yonder.  It was so frustrating because the tent site was made up entirely of sand, so none of the stakes would hold.  We were also the only "tent" people in the whole place, surrounded by huge RV's.  So, all these older couples sitting outside their big deluxe "campers" with their nice comfortable beds, refrigerators, and fully equipped bathrooms were getting a big kick out of the youngsters trying to battle the flying tent.  We finally admitted defeat, headed back up to the campground office and asked for our money back.  The woman at the desk was very nice, returned our 16 dollars and pointed out another campground with more suitable staking land just up the road.  But, she warned, there was a big thunderstorm heading our way - hench the hurricane force winds.  (Well, maybe not that bad but when you have a huge piece of lightweight fabric flapping about your head with stakes flying off in every direction, it sure feels life threatening.)  So, my wise and loving husband came back to the car and announced we would be roughing it tonight in the Best Western nearby.  Oh, darn.  Soft bed and a hot shower - I, of course, was so disappointed.  I suppose I'll just have to suffer sitting here in a comfortable chair, surfing the high speed internet that's included in our stay.  So with our camping adventure put on hold, we decided to take a guided tour of Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon just outside of town that is famous with the photographers.  You've probably seen it in a magazine and not realized it.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  It is a narrow canyon carved out of the red petrified sand formations by water from flash floods.  It truly can't be fully described with words.  You should go to Randy's blog, web.mac.com/randyloveless, he'll have some pictures there soon of our trip.  It's really one of those places that you would never have guessed to even exist when you look out from the road, but once you approach it and enter, you almost catch your breath at the awesome natural beauty of it.  I guess out of everything today, I've learned two things (other than not trying to put up a tent in sand while it's windy).  I learned that sometimes the most incredible and beautiful things in life are not always obvious or in plain view.  I also realized that in life our "tent" may be blown and tossed around, frustrating us and making us angry at the circumstances we have to face, but God can see the approaching storm when we can't and He makes provisions for us to keep us safe, even when it's not what we had planned.