germany: day 3

Baumwipfelpfad im Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald

The world´s longest tree top walk

On Monday we had no kitchen duty and our group wasn't leaving on our excursion until 10:30 so I slept in and leisurely ate breakfast and got ready. While Dan and the girls went to breakfast in the dining room with everyone else, I ate a small breakfast in our room and read my Bible and had some minutes of solitude.

As previously arranged, we all met outside in the courtyard at 10:30 so we could hear all the information about our trip to "the world's longest tree top walk". The weather was sunny and cool with clear skies.

The hour long trip went by fast and we were greeted by a beehive-shaped wooden tower jutting far out above the tree line. 

http://www.baumwipfelpfad.by/bwp_de/index.php

Climbing the stairs to the wipfelpfad (treetop walk) made me a little nervous as the pass is like a raised wooden boardwalk. High above the ground. It seemed sturdy enough, but there was something disconcerting about walking around at the same level with the crowns of the majestic pines. One of our party thought it would be funny to rock the walkway by running quickly from one side to the other. It wasn't.

The views were breathtaking.

We came upon the beehive tower. It was a walkway that curved upwards along the inside of the walkway popping you out at the very top far above the forest. It was windy and beautiful and scary up there. I left almost immediately. My family, daredevils, stayed up there and ran around. I had made Danny swear that he wouldn't do anything stupid with my girls way up there.

Afterwards, we went to the gift shop which held for Roxie a plethora of things she desired. The most prized among them was a plush lynx which looked to be marked at 8.80 euros. It wasn't. It was 88 euros. That was embarassing when we tried to pay for it with a 10 euro note. Ha ha. We are crazy foreigners. Ha ha!


Making our way out of the Wipfelpfad park, we entered the animal reserve which was comprised of huge fenced in areas which gave the animals ample room to roam and play...and hide. I saw all of two animals. And an outhouse that used only a bucket. Cool.


Rebekah and I then stopped for a coffee at an outdoor cafe while we waited for Dan and Roxie (our resident animal lovers) to return from the animal reserve.


Arriving back at the retreat center, we looked forward to a fine dinner, a great evening of teaching by Ernst, and another round of "Phase 10", the card game which really did last 4 days.


I wanted to meet God at this retreat. I was in need of a renewed connection with my Father. He met me there and I will spend some time over the next few posts describing what rearrangement of my heart took place. 


stay tuned...