14 Aug 08 — Some thoughts about time off

One of the nicest things about even taking a few days off, is gaining some perspective, and regaining some energy. It is an application of the Sabbath principle to life’s worries and adventures. This last weekend we had an opportunity to take off four days together for the first time since a three day weekend to Sequoia National Park 15 months ago. I say together because we both had separate “adventures in moving” driving to Louisville, and there was last year’s General Conference, but both of those were as worry or business filled as they were pleasurable.

We went to Natural Bridges State Park. I keep wanting to call it a National Park. It is a gem of a place, originally set up by the Lexington & Eastern Railroad to fuel tourism for its trains and later deeded to the state by the successor Louisville and Nashville Railroad, a small part of today’s giant CSX. The trails to the top of the bridge are brutally ‘straight-forward.’ Up, up and away, and then down, down…with a nice interlude while you are up there. (An inexpensicve chair lift is available if you want to just enjoy the “up there” part of the trail.) As tough as any thing I hiked in California; as scenic as any place I’ve been, and only 124 miles from home. In these days of run away inflation and painful gas prices, it’s nice to know that earlier Kentuckians and Hoosiers took the time to set aside and protect some of our beautiful land for future generations, an application of the Jubilee Principle we learned about in the old Exodus and Levitical land laws.

Louisville has some good places to eat, but mostly we eat at home. Out on the road, our habit is to eat out of the ice box for two meals a day and take one at a restaurant. Driving through east Huntington, WV, we spied an old house that had been converted into a restaurant: Nanna’s. The name was intriguing, and so was the architecture, so we went back for dinner. We were not disappointed. I ordered a meatloaf plate special for $6.49. The slab of meatloaf literally took up so much of the dinner plate that they brought out the corn, green beans, and corn bread loaf on separate plates. For barely more than what it costs for fast food these days, it was an excellent, tasty meal, that I simply could not finish.

Being in Cincinnati, we had to try the chili. (As many times as I have been up that way over the years, I must confess this was a first for me.) We chose to try Skylines’. There was more shredded cheese on top of the chili they brought out than there is hair on most of your heads! The secret sauce seemed to have some cloves in it of all things, but hey, it worked. Once again the price was right. I have to say though, that the most expensive meal was also the most disappointing (at least in relative terms). We went to a German restaurant on Mainstrasse in Covington, KY. It was just good enough to remind me of how good real German cooking could be, without being good enough to sing songs of praises over it. The moral of all this? I’ve had some lousy meals in cheaper restaurants over the years, but very few such disasters. There is a lot of good food to be had at “fast food” places (if you watch the menu selections) and at one-off “Mom & Pop” restaurants in out of the way corners. One thing I have learned, is you don’t always get what you pay for, and most of the time, the cheaper food wins in the satisfaction contest. And that’s good news in tough economic times.