Great Trips Taken

Great OutDoor Endeavors has taken some awesome trips in this past year.  Our world is absolutely full of God’s GREAT creation and it’s our intention to experience at least part of it.  For those of you that didn’t make the trips we’ve had, here is some of what you missed…..

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Meet Your Maker - Under the Stars!

The Perseids Meteor Shower (Pix)

God’s fireworks!  On Friday, August 12th, we gathered at the Culpeper Sports Complex football field (next to Eastern View High School) to watch the Perseids Meteor Shower! The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak. While best viewing for the shower was on August 12th, we still saw about 20 meteors per hour on the 14th.  The best part was to see how God, after we had a cloudy every night that whole week, blessed us with an absolutely beautifully clear night on the 14th!  God is good!!

We began the night watching a short video presentation of “Created Cosmos”.  It was awesome to see how really insignificant we are in size, compared to the rest of the cosmos, but how WE are the apple of God’s eye.

With hot coffee and hot chocolate to keep us awake, most managed to stick it out under the stars.  It was a great night learning, watching, and hanging out with old, and new, friends.  Good times!

Sedona/Grand Canyon, AZ Week Trip

Arizona Trip 2009 (Pix)

It was an awesome trip!  We spent 7-8 days in Arizona, hiking, camping, and seeking God in that beautiful place.  The sites and views around Sedona’s red rocks were absolutely gorgeous!  We went on various hikes around the area, including climbing the steep Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and Dove Mountain.

The highlight of the trip was our 10 miles hike down into the canyon to the Havasupai Indian reservation to beautiful Havasu Falls, where we camped and swam in the turquoise waters, taking our breath away.  It was truly a paradise in the desert.  We even had the added treat of flying in a helicopter out of the canyon the next day.  For most of us, that was a first.

It was a wonderful week, deepening relationships with each other, as well as, with our Great Creator God!

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Old Rag Mountain Hike & Camping Weekend

Old Rag Trip (Pix)

We spent the morning hiking up and around Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park.  The weather was great and the views at the top were awesome!  Mike shared some tidbits from God’s Word and reminded us of the creation that He has given.  After hiking, we headed back to our base camp for some star gazing time around the campfire, reflecting on the day, and chowing down on some delicious “Hobo” dinners.  Good times!

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Natural Bridge Hike/VA Safari Park & Camping Weekend

Natural Bridge (Pix)

One fantastic weekend!  Saturday, we visited Natural Bridge and hiked around the area, also visiting the wax museum.  Ending the day at base camp, we shared some great food and fellowship.  Sunday was spent at the Virginia Safari Park.  If you’ve never been there and are an animal lover, it’s fantastic!  Purchasing a bucket of feed is a must.  There are LOTS of animals that come right up to your car and eat from your bucket.  Be careful though, to always hold the bucket on the outside of your window, otherwise you get lots of slobber and feed inside your car as the animals stick their head in your car chasing the bucket.  Many, many laughs and good pictures!

Even though there was an 80% chance of rain for the entire weekend, it held off and we had beautiful weather, except at night as we slept, giving us a nice pitter patter on the tent roof to lull us to sleep.  God is good!

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Weekly Hikes

At least once per week over the past year we’ve had local hikes.  Shenandoah National Park is full of trails to explore.  Our favorites have been those that include water (and falls), but we’ve done a variety.  Most hikes have been scheduled on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and varied in difficulty levels.  Regardless of how intense or when the hikes were scheduled, we’ve always been struck by the beauty of God’s creation.  Each season has held its own spectacular views.