Great Falls of the Potomac Outing

It's been too long.  I can hardly remember what needs reporting.  But having looked back through our pictures, it seems I need to report on the Great Falls of the Potomac.

It was a mild, sunny morning after a night of rain, and before an afternoon of more rain. The woods surrounding the trail that parallels the Potomac were dripping with left-over raindrops. Very peaceful , quiet, and gorgeous!

It's not my fault Gary's so tall that his head is in the leaves!

The leaves aren't too bad in this shot. But Gary needs to remember: "If you can't see the camera, the camera can't see you!"

Throughout the trail, there are river-lookout areas. The following pictures are deceptive. We are not standing on the shoreline of the river, but are on a sheer drop off,  high above the water.  Very scary!

Our final destination, the Great Falls of the Potomac:

Brother and Sister Price

Like I said, the lookout areas are very dangerous. The park ranger cautioned us from doing anything unsafe while observing the river.  There are numerous drownings in the river every year of people not using good judgement. Our response to the ranger was, "Don't worry, we are all too old to be trying anything foolish."

Not so! Falsely confident of our old-age resolve to be cautious, I was joking with Sister Lewis. I told her I wanted a pine cone from a lone, straggly, pine tree growing precariously down the cliff from where we were standing.  She took me seriously, and started off.  I started screaming: "I was just joking!  Don't!"  She wouldn't listen, but kept climbing down the cliff, hanging onto small trees as she went.  Still screaming, I followed her as far as I dared, clutching the back of her blouse as a safety measure. (As if I could have stopped her fall.) She continued until, with one hand gripping a small tree, she stretched forward, plucked the pine cone with the other hand, and returned, with me still screaming at the top of my lungs. On safe ground and in between screams, I hugged her for dear life. She offered me the pine cone, which I refused to accept. I didn't want anything that reminded me of that harrowing experience.  I think I finally convinced her that I was genuinely scared for her life. All I kept seeing in my mind's eye was her plummeting to her death, and me having to face her panic-stricken husband as he watched the scene unfold. 

Sister Lewis on the left, before the horrific cliff trick. How do I know? Because my grey hair is still two shades darker!

Later on in the afternoon, I received an email from Sister Lewis apologizing for causing me so much grief. Too little, too late, Sister Lewis! But I have forgiven her, since she and her husband have completed some endowments for me while here in the DC Temple. They have also taken twenty names home with them to complete in the St. George Temple. On their way back to Utah, they completed two endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, so they definitely have made up for everything. We miss the Lewises.