Hard things come in threes. Right? We're done for a while. Right?

Ok, we've had Grandma Connie. Then Jamee with her cyst/tumor. Then Stevie/Beau. Bad things always come in threes, right? And so now that leaves us with a break for a while. Right? Please say yes. There is always hope for the best. And there is always the knowledge that God is in charge. For those who do not believe this, then there is no hope and no explanation. For those of us who do believe that God loves us and controls our lives for our best happiness, ultimately, then there is comfort knowing that, if we can see through the tough stuff, we will be ok. And we always have each other eternally.

The works of God continue,
And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression
Have one eternal round.
There is no end to matter;
There is no end to space;
There is no end to spirit;
There is no end to race.

There is no end to virtue;
There is no end to might;
There is no end to wisdom;
There is no end to light.
There is no end to union;
There is no end to youth;
There is no end to priesthood;
There is no end to truth.

There is no end to glory;
There is no end to love;
There is no end to being;
There is no death above.
There is no end to glory;
There is no end to love;
There is no end to being;
There is no death above.

I told Heavenly Father that I knew that Beau, Stevie, Jamee, and my mother were all his, and not mine, and that I would glorify his name no matter what he chose to do, but I would sure appreciate it if they all stayed here, in one piece, and recovered, with big ol' miracles all around. That would sure be great. I can't truly speak for you others, but I know you and feel you felt the same way. Elder Bednar, when he was here, asked us, "Do you have the faith to be healed? More importantly, do you have the faith to NOT be healed?" In other words, to accept his will, and still live the gospel and keep your chin up, and praise him? To look right through the trouble, heartache, and woe, and see the other side, where there is no death, no end to joy?

Today, Anna and I drove two hours up to Roan Mountain, elevation 6285'. Daron, did you know that these mountains are as high as many of the Sierra, they just start from down lower? Well, there are. Jerk. Did you also know that the Truckee River wouldn't even get a name out here? And the Humboldt "River" is just a mud bath? Well, they are. So lump it.

Well, anyway, we hiked at elevation about 1.5 miles to the Roan High Bluff observation platform, hanging out over this gigantic valley with a drop of several hundred feet. And I did not puke my guts out. We talked with several groups of people. When the repellers came along, I asked the guy with the maps, "So...is this the high point?" "Oh, no. It's way over there." So we walked back the 1.5 miles to the correct trail head, and then another 1.5 miles down the Appalachian Trail to the Roan High KNOB. Which was on top of a dome with a pile of boulders you could stand on, and trees all around with no view. Then we walked the 1.5 miles back to the car. We did about 6 miles all told.

After that we came back, picked up Loni, went to O'Charlie's for lunch. I got the tilapia and asparagus, both of which were the worst meal I've ever had there.

Later this evening, the Minamis came by with KFC and I had asked everyone NOT to bring food, but Mayumi does not pay attention to me. So I have a fridge full of the fixin's and Loni has promised to come and get them and take them away. She better.

I just rode 14 miles. Adding that to the hiking, comes to 20 miles today. I don't know if hiking is the same as biking. I suspect hiking counts for more, but I'm not going to quibble. Anyway, that's 392 miles total since June 29 when I started. That's an average of 14 miles per day. I can do better than that. This puts me square in downtown Indianapolis. You can see by the picture above left, which I did as "terrain", that Indianapolis has no terrain. I mean, you thought Oklahoma was flat. No, central Indiana is flat. Corn flat. Also, look how close I am getting to Chicago.

I am already thinking about where I want to go next. I think I know. I'll keep you in suspense.