Camping USA

So, my first weekend in Tacoma... and we went CAMPING! YEAH! I drove up with 5 others, including Michelle and Dustin, her boyfriend, so these pics are courtesy of Dustin, thanks dude! We went to a place on the north coast of Washington, near Port Angelous, yes, you can go look it up! It was rather cool, because looking across the oceany thing, you could see vancouver island, ie. Canada! So the photos at the top are from the campsite, the left is the beach at sunrise, middle and right, the view from where we were sleeping.




We met up there withanother 40 people from the church that I go to here, so it was lots of fun socializing/meeting people time! So, we arrived in the evening on the friday and stayed to the night of the Saturday, but saw amazing sunsets, went to two different beaches and the the most amazing lake. I even managed to brave the cold Pacific ocean and have a swim, aren't you proud? It was about 30 degrees though, so it would have been really sucky not to go into the water! To the left, is Michelle putting up the tent, while Adrienne (who also came up in our car) and I watch. Don't worry, we did help, just can't quite find those photos. ;) To the right is the lake that we swam in, it was the most beautifully clear lake I've ever seen.


So in the morning, we went for a walk on the beach and Michelle and I decided to do the sand warrior thing, with our war paint.
We did our own hot dog grilling on the fire, Michelle shows how it's done, while Dustin looks on in horror! ;) Then some of the other gals camping with us! Camping usa style is fun and pretty much the same as South African camping! Actually, most of the time, I had to snap myself out of thinking that I was actually in SA, isn't that wild?









Then the sunsets: Pretty pretty pretty! So pics are Michelle and Dustin, Michelle and me, Melisa (a good friend of mine) and me.










A deep moment: I feel SO blessed being here again just 5 months after I'd left! This is the one place besides Cape Town where I completely feel as if I'd been here forever. There's a sense of belonging and connection in a deep way here, not in the way that I'd want to come live here forever,(well, you never know) but just in terms of knowing that there'll always be a place here for me, that there will always be amazing deep friendships that I can pick up where I left off, that there are always people here wanting to walk through any situation with me and who love me deeply and THAT is such a privelege and blessing to me and I know that that can only be a God thing to have happened so quickly in the times I've been here. To be loved and known and appreciated in TWO places in the world is super cool! Thanks for you prayers and thoughts!
Lots of love to all of you!