Surprise! And Count Your Blessings!

Hopewell Rocks at low tide

Do you like surprises? If you do we can cure you of that. We've been travelling for a week with our camper on what is supposed to be an extended trip to Canada and back. And it has been a series of unpleasant surprises. The first was opening the camper and finding the refrigerator door open and a bottle of beer that popped open when it feel out onto the floor. I suppose we can consider our camper baptized in beer. And it didn't make the surprise more agreeable that it was my fault since I didn't check the latch on the door.

Our second surprise at our next stop was a tipped over quart jar of honey that dripped down into the cupboard and onto the floor. I was as agitated by the loss of our precious honey as I was by the mess. We will be cleaning up honey forever I think. I keep finding more places covered with the sticky stuff. So far no ants thank God, but I expect to find that surprise sooner or later.

Our latest surprise was a more significant one. At Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy Larry hurt his knee climbing the stairs. We hiked four miles on a moderately difficult trail the day before and the stairs were the last straw I guess. As I type at the Visitors' Center he is icing his knee and limps around using hiking poles for support. He can't drive and is in significant pain. We cancelled our week at the Cape Breton Highlands on Nova Scotia and now contemplate returning home. I am not thrilled at the "surprise" prospect of doing all the driving home to Virginia pulling the camper. Let's see...that's about twenty hours of driving with short stops.

But all the surprises haven't been bad. A kind gentleman who saw us pulled over looking at our map shortly after crossing into Canada stopped to ask us if we needed help. The clerk in the pharmacy where I went after Larry's injury to get an ace bandage suggested a cold pack and went and got it for me. The ranger at the visitors' center helped me cancel our reservation at Cape Breton and was solicitous about our situation.

And, of course, it is no surprise that nothing can diminish our knowledge that God is good and has us under his protection. Had Larry's knee given out on the Coppermine Trail in the woods, it would have been much more serious actually requiring a rescue. No way could he have maneuvered some of the steep gullies we had to get across. And we still have our eyes and the beautiful views along the way. We drove the scenic route back from Hopewell Rocks with a stop at Cape Enrage which has breathtaking views and a lighthouse -- also ziplines, but something tells me that's one surprise not in our future.