Photos say more than words

A Good Time Had by All

Good Company Night and Day

Trying out a few Routes

Basking in the Sun

A long weekend at San Gil Santander, Colombia.

Just take a look at the photos that resulted from this past weekend and I think you will understand what a wonderful and rich experience I had.   My decision to go on this outing was a bit last notice... either monday or tuesday night of this past week.  Audra decided to stay in town so I was off on an adventure on my own.    Oscar and Audra accompanied me to where I was to meet up with the group.  The ETD was 10pm, but in true latin american style we didn't ship off until midnight.  We traveled in what

 is called a buseta (a small bus that seats 15).  Out of a group of 11ish I was only acquainted with two of the guys who I had known from the climbing gym,  but I did not let that stop me from having fun with them on the ride down.  It was a great ice-breaker.  We arrived around 6am.  From there we unloaded and set up camp.  The weekend was full of lazily basking in the sun, hiking, swimming, a bit of bouldering (finding large rocks to skillfully ascend), bolder hoping our way up and down the river and just a lot of fun. 

 The water was incredible, crystal clear, clean, brisk and invigorating.  For most of the Colombians it was a bit too cold, but for me .... superb.  Saturday night we gathered at the store where we shared some beers, conversation and hey I even got to dance!  Yah!  All of the folks were really nice, that open-heartedness runs deep here. The weather was perfect.  During the middle of the day it would get hot enough to break a bit of a sweat as we hiked around and the nights cooled off enough to need long sleeves and pants and enjoy a fire.... simply put, Perfect and it is like that year round; can you imagine?!  The whole weekend was rich and recharged my spirit.  For me, there is no separating my relationship with God from my relationship with others, and in the same way in how I relate to the earth. When I take a deep breath and look around at the creation in such remarkable form I am humbled and sincerely  grateful. I have found my remedy to the city blues.  I am already planning another outing within the next week or so. We had three full days and two nights, although I would have loved to have extended the time.  We arrived back into Bogotá around midnight of monday/tuesday night, in time to have a full night sleep in my own bed.  It was all wonderful and to top it off I think I came away with some new friends. 

Be Blessed