“The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me; My God, my rock and strength in whom I trust and take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower–my stronghold.”

‭‭PSALM‬ ‭18:2‬ ‭AMP‬‬

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STORY TIME!!! LOL 💙💙💙

This post is a little long but you’re in for a treat if you stick around! 😆

Let me start off by giving thanks to our Lord and Savior!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Giving thanks not only for this day but for the previous days that He has gotten me through! 🙏

Last month was my birthday month, my birthday was on the 27th!! 🎂💕 I always take a certain pride and appreciation for my birthday! I think we all should, it’s a day that we were entered this world from the heavens above. A day that was given by God.

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I’ve always pictured myself being on a tropical island for my birthday.

With friends or simply solo.

Staring into the abyss of The Holy Spirit…

Mesmerized by The Lord’s anointing…. that glistens so effortlessly.

Being calmed as the sea roars…

Waves rolling towards me…

Getting closer as I sink my toes into the soft sand…

Seeing that the sea foam meets them there…

Taking in each breath joyfully.

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One day, I will make it happen. Who knows, maybe next year I will be back in Jamaica for my birthday. 🙂

Last month, I kept complaining to my friends of how much I have been wanting to go to Colorado again. There’s something about the mountain area that I love so much. I usually go during the summer time and the nature is gloriously beautiful!

Out of the blue one of my old high school friends, Lizz, asked if I would like to join her and a friend on a road trip to Colorado!

Of course, I don’t hesitate at ALL!!

Even though I only had two days to prepare, I instantly jumped on the opportunity.

We all agreed that we would camp out at a few national parks and get the full on experience of camping!

Mind you…I haven’t camped since I was a little girl and it was a one time occasion. lol

Don’t get me wrong, I am very outdoorsy. I love to hike and kayak.

I don’t mind getting my hands dirty!

*Side Note: As a woman, I think all women need to know certain basic skills of survival and self defense. Never know when it will come in handy! 👊🏾💥

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I got everything I needed.

1. New tent
2. Thick Gloves
3. Fuzzy Blanket
4. Scarf
5. High + Thick Socks
6. Hiking boots…

The Works!

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I noticed on the forecast, it was projected to snow the week that we going there.

67 degrees was the high and the lows went down to 14 degrees.

🌨☃️❄️🌬

I knew that camping in that cool and freezing weather would be tough but we were all up for the challenge!!🙌🏾

The drive from Dallas, TX to Trinidad, CO was 8-9 hours long, not including any stops. We arrived to the national park in Trinidad around 3am.

Since the park was technically “closed”, there was no attendant to give us an dedicated camping space.

So……we had to improvise and set up camp anyway!

As the landscape laid in the darkness, you couldn’t help but to notice how strong the stars ora’s dazzled.✨✨

46 degrees…… BUT beautiful!!!! lol

I woke up before dawn even cracked lol. I was so eager for the wild adventures ahead of us. The cover of my tent blew off during the night so once it started to drizzle, I was exposed to an heightened level of “cool”. lol

Thank God I brought the right amount of clothes to get me through. To be honest, I could’ve brought a lot more too.

Nonetheless, the morning was extremely blissful!

Wild rabbits were hopping everywhere and you could hear the birds boastfully chirping all around you.

After getting ready for our day ahead, we started it off with a brisk walk down the mountain–side of our camping grounds.

In this very moment, I got chills as I looked out upon the lake and surrounding mountains. It might’ve been because I was cold, but more than anything, I was at awe of God’s work. 🙂

I could sit out there for hours!!!! Soaking it all in.

Truly Breathtaking! 😍😍😍😍

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Lizz’s guy friend planned the whole day for us to venture through a few national parks on our way to our camping ground in Durango, CO. The first park that he mentioned was one that had SAND DUNES!

Out of my twenty something years of life, I never knew the US had sand dunes. Let alone in Colorado!! How awesome?!☺️☺️☺️

The day already started off on the best foot!!!👏🏾🙌🏾

Hiking at 9am in the mountains? Can’t beat that!!!😍

At this time of day, I would usually be taking my first break at work.

All in all, I was thankful for even being there!!!

Two and a half hours later to Mosca, CO…. we finally made it over to the sand dunes!!

Amazing right?!! People were sliding down the dunes with sleds and cardboard boxes. lol We didn’t get to stay long since he told us that we had a longer drive ahead. Bummer!

I’ll be going back to visit this park again so I can climb on top of the dunes!!!

Mark my words.

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We continued to make way to our destination.

DURANGO, CO!

My friend, Lizz, and I didn’t know exactly how long it would take to get there from Mosca, since we didn’t plan it ourselves. We were only along for the ride. 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

I do look back at this moment and regret not having my own set of directions on hand for our journey. Its best for multiple people to be aware of what road ways that are needed to take and to know which ones we should avoid.

Lizz’s friend took us to this abandoned national park for us to experience an “extra level” of hiking and camping. Poor guy, he really thought that the deserted and more “scenic” route would be the smartest one to take during the night time.

The more we traveled into this old park, the creeper it got.

No one was there.

The roads were weathered and destroyed.

You can feel the presence that we were in the animals territory.

OH, and losing complete cell service didn’t help either.🤐

Last year when I went to Colorado, I was in a functioning and populated national park in the mountains & came face-to-face with a black bear. By the grace of GOD, my family and I made it out of that hike alive and unharmed.

Now, the atmosphere of the abandoned park was a lot more eerie than the place where I saw the bear. Surely, I came more prepared on this trip and brought a firearm along with me.

Don’t freak out, I am a licensed carrier. 

We made a few stops to hike up along a mountain and also by the riverside of the mountain. I kept reminding the group that we needed to keep moving along due to the limit of daylight that we had.

Everyone was so laid back, I was started to think that I was overreacting . Therefore, I eased up a little bit.

For my own sake, I used the stopwatch on my phone to time how long it was since we arrived at the park. Every stop we made was counted as another “lap/stop” on the stopwatch. I do this when I do any outdoor activity, you can lose track of time in an instant.

It was 7:41pm and all of us were sitting by the riverside, watching the sun go down behind the mountains.

All of a sudden, Lizz’s friend mentions how we should get back on the road since we weren’t close to being HALF WAY to our camp site for the night.

*PAUSE* *BREATHE DEEPLY*

We all get back in the car, ready to get the show on the road. Of course, we still didn’t have a signal and I didn’t expect to get one any time soon.

Again, the more we drove into the park, the more we start to climb further up the mountain.

Small drizzles and flurries turned into full flakes of snow. ❄️☃️

Piling up by the millisecond!

Lizz’s friend asks me if I know where we are going and all I could think was……

I didn’t plan the trip nor did we all look at the map together. Which was foolish but hey, here we are now. lol

I stated the simple truth that we didn’t have to continue up the mountains and we can turn around.

We all voted and in the end, I lost.

So we kept going.

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The only thing I could do was pray for our safety.

• Pray for wisdom among everyone in the car.
• Continue to have faith that we would make it through.

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30 more minutes in, he asks “Should we keep going or turn around?”

There were two questions I had to respond with:

“Are you comfortable driving through this snow while being on the side of the mountain?”

“Do we have enough gas to get allllll the way through without running out??”

He answered, Yes.

I felt sure that he was sure sooooo.. guess what we did?

KEPT GOING!!!!!

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The breaking point was when we hit 4 hours into the peak of the mountain.

*phone dings*

CELL SERVICE!!!!

He jokingly says ” haha if you need to text or call anyone, this is probably the time to do it.”

Without hesitating, I texted my mom saying “We are in the snow of mountains Pray for us.”

I didn’t want to alarm her or make her panic. So I sent another one:

“All is well though. Don’t Worry.”

He moved the car out of the signal spot and my second message did not go through.

We looked ahead and the turn we needed to take was closed off.

The roads became so treacherous we had no choice BUT to turn around.

I remember looking on the right side of the me.

The moon was high.

Shined over the mountain top.

The snow caps were a rock throw away.

To top it off, down below laid a lake at the bed of the mountain.

I am thankful for the fact that I didn’t see EVERYTHING that we were driving through/around. I was already uneasy enough.

We successfully turned around on the cliff.

While we were now driving the opposite way on the slope.

He accelerates the car and I feel the wheels of start slipping…

Slicking right off the road!

*EEEEEEE*!!!!

The backside are centimeters away from the edge.

My heart drops to the ground!!!!

I prayed harder than I ever have in my life!! lol

As the spirit of fear tried to take over, The Lord reminded me of all of the promises that He has made to me and family. Promises of great blessings.

He helped me SEE myself out of the situation!!!!!! Visualizing telling others of this story as I come out of it!

My flesh was beyond scared and if I was not a believer in Christ… I would’ve thought

“This is it.”

I told God whatever angel He needed to send to PUSH, PULL, GRIP, TIE UP THIS CAR back onto the road… please send ’em!!!!!!! lol

Lizz’s friend gives it another shot once more.

The car grips onto the road and levels off so we could continue our way down the mountain top.

When people talk about seeing their lives flash right before their eyes…. my goodness!!

What a moment that was for me!! It was something out of a movie!!

There I was, only a week or two away from my birthday and I could’ve gone off the side of a cliff without anyone knowing!

No signal. Limited Food.

It takes 7 days for one to be without water and still live.

I had a gun… I was prepping for all scenarios.

BUT……We all made it out alive!!!!

I am forever grateful to God because He did not have to let us live.

He didn’t have to do anything but HE DID.

Just because He loves Us. True Agape.. which is more than enough!!!!!

I am still in disbelief that it happened. I know what to do and what NOT to do for the next time.

I feel like this night represented the previous chapter of my life. Having to maneuver around the mountains and obstacles that were coming my way. Through it all, God has had His hands over me. Protecting me every day. Making sure that it worked out in my favor! God is truly my rock and fortress. Rescuing me through times of trouble. 

Hikes are amazing and blissful when you are wise about what you’re doing.

Be mindful of the time!

Be mindful of your surroundings!

Have fun but … be smart!

It was an experience that taught me a lot. We went on other hikes that turned out great.

Just a lesson learned.

God bless you for taking out the time to read all of this!!!!

Hope for the best and expect the excellent! ✨🙏👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾