caliente sugir

4/25/09

buenos dias.

here we are in hot springs where the Lord has shown us His beautiful smile once again.

we arrived here on wednesday around 9:30 a.m. with hungry bellies and a lot of pent up excitement for a telephone, a bed, and a tub-naturally fed via a 103 degree hot spring that would soften and relax our tired achy bodies.

the hungry belly part of the deal we silenced within the first hour of walking into the town at a local diner with awesome food, and as micah said, "the best sweet tea since I left Atlanta (for me, Tupelo)." the phone we were looking forward to however was non-existent in any hotel, hostel, outfitter, almost anywhere. only one. near a laundromat. the most expensive pay phone i have ever put money in. the bed came in the form a queen up above a pub called the iron horse. it was a coffee shop/gift shop/art gallery/bar/hotel all in an old train depot. really neat. no phone/tv, just bed-bathroom. it was nice. the hot tub - fantastic. it was on the outside of the town, beside the river that borders everything. the tubs themselves were old jacuzzis that they drained and refilled with naturally fresh mineral water after every use. they had jets, a roof, and a three-sided fence that sectioned off the hot tubs along the banks of the river; with the open side looking over the river. NICE! for a little over 10 bucks you sit in there for an hour... best investment yet.

that afternoon after the hot-tub visit, we did our running around: laundry, some phone calls in between waiting in line at the one phone with 25 other hikers, mail pick-up, outfitter visit, hanging out with other hikers we haven't seen for a while, and getting settled in our quaint honeymoon suite with a skylight.

early to bed, early to rise. we were up early making out our schedule for the next few weeks and trying to sort out food to make sure we had enough and not too much. weight REALLY matters. we packed everything up and checked out by 11. went to the library to blog, only to find all 4 computers full with a 10 man waiting list. as you could see, while i went on to try and make phone calls, micah slipped in for a second and was able to write a little bit b/4 they gave him the axe. we rendezvoused at 12 for lunch at the diner again, because of their famous hiker burger, but mainly because of their sweet tea... from there we were planning on making some last minute phone calls, if possible, doing at least 5 minutes worth of blogging, again - if possible, and then setting out for the day.

this is where the Lord really began to more blatantly show us Himself in a really cool way...

i must leave you now with a cliffhanger... we have to go now... but soon, we will be back to typing (more like next sunday or monday). I really can't wait to not only let you guys know what has happened this last week... but really even further back than that. i'm burdened really, knowing that there's so much He has blessed us with and having worked out His plan in some really awesome ways for us, and that we haven't put it all on this blog yet. really there's no way to get all down on paper, but we want to try our best to recall everything, for you guys' sakes alone to see His faithfulness and mighty hand in our lives, i pray, would be oh so encouraging... but also for us to remember all that he has done. and how much He loves us. so know that in the days ahead we will continue to fill this page.. with His magnificent story and our minute roles in it. we love you guys, hope all is well. thanks for your prayers, so much.

g