Unexpected Adventure

It is Saturday evening…and as the sun set earlier, my vacation came to an end. While I begin the process of refocusing on my work responsibilities and schedule, this past week has been a time of rest, renewal, and adventure! Adventure? Absolutely!

In the weeks leading up to this vacation my wife and I worked on our plans that we thought would help make this a great week. And if I say so myself, we had some pretty good plans…plans I was really excited about.

Vacation would begin with a weekend camping trip with our college age son…we found a great state park with a beautiful campsite right on a lake. Following this weekend camping trip, we would be heading to Virginia to see our eight-month old grandson…who lives in Williamsburg with our daughter and son-in-law. Yep…this was shaping up to be a great vacation.

But…the weekend before our trip our son let us know that he was finishing up two online courses and would be unable to meet us. No worries…we would adjust our plans and relocate our camping trip and go to a campground outside Williamsburg…I mean, this would allow us to visit our grandson and family more. That is always a good thing! Yep…this was still shaping up to be a great vacation.

But…the Friday before we were to leave my mother-in-law fell and broke her hip and wrist. Now, rather than heading to Virginia for a camping trip we headed to Charleston for her Saturday afternoon surgery. But following a successful surgery, she basically kicked us out and we were able to head to Williamsburg for some family time…and that illusive rest, renewal and adventure!

If I’m honest (and I usually am), this vacation looked very little like we had planned. But through all of this there was…and is…an important lesson. It is important to go with the flow. Due to some commitments that both me and my wife had towards the end of the week, we only had about three days in Williamsburg. We spent a somewhat tiring day doing some errands, shopping, and walking around Colonial Williamsburg. The next day was more relaxing with our daughter and grandson…though I did steal away some time for a brief hike in a local county park. After returning home to North Carolina I managed to find some to get out to our local lake and State Park for a beautiful, and relaxing hike.

Remember the lesson? Go with the flow! By definition, according to Wikipedia, an adventure I an exciting experience that is typically a bold, sometimes risky, undertaking. Adventure are often associated with activities that have the potential for physical danger or some type of extreme activity. We also often think of adventures as a grand excursion that take us to exotic places. But what I realize is that if we limit our understanding of adventures to these definitions we may miss out on a lot of things in life. Adventures can be much more humble. Adventure can be found spending time with family. Adventure can be found in visiting a historic area and learning something of our nation’s past. Adventure could be a visit to a local or State Park. Adventure can be found pretty much anywhere when we intentionally step outside of our normal, day-to-day routine and explore the world around us!

So, I encourage you to dream big…to make big plans. But don’t fail to see the adventure that might be hidden in the more routine and small things of life. Want an adventure in life? Get outside and enjoy the everyday life around you! I found mine this week…in some unexpected places as some unexpected plans unfolded upon us. Below I share some of the images that made this past week a great time of rest, renewal, and…ADVENTURE!

See you soon!

- PJ

Colonial Williamsburg