The day has finally arrived! After using the volcano/mountaintop analogy with the team for over a year, they finally had the opportunity to descend 1500 steps into a valley, only to hike up the mountainous volcano that stood before them. It was a wonderful journey for all of them. Once they reached the top, they were given letters written to them by their parents. I imagine that some letters were filled with praise, some were letters of encouragement, some were challenges to their children... but whatever was written in those letters, you could see from the faces of the kids that they were unbelievably important... and there were lots of tears. And as a beautiful addition, Brandon organized a book of letters to Tyler from the athletes. What a joy and blessing all of you are to him! Unfortunately my knowledge about the hike is limited to those brief bits of information, so please ask the team members to fill you in on all of it! Tonia and I were unable to make the hike this year due to the enormous cast on her leg, which was really difficult on her because she had been looking forward to this hike. In fact, when she was finally able to form words again after her accident, her first full sentence was that she couldn't believe she wouldn't be able to climb the volcano. She'll just have to join us again next year!
After the hike, we headed to a great little restaurant on the volcanic lake where you can dive off the pier into the water while waiting on your food... and yes, pretty much everyone did! The food was great, the time together was even better! Then we headed to Castillo del Rey, a retreat center that sits on the edge of the volcanic lake. The team got showers (WARM WATER!) and got together for a final debrief on the trip before getting some sleep for the early morning ahead.
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