It was a screen shot of a beautiful old bridge draped in wisteria vine in full bloom. The picture identified the bridge as being in a town very near us. Under the picture was a message from the Oldest Princess that said, "Look at this!"
I, of course, text her right back, "Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!! We need to go take pictures!!!"
To which she replied, "Yes we do."
She grabbed her brother and her camera and sweet talked her daddy into going too. Then she did a presto chango from a couch potato on a Saturday evening to a beautiful young lady in a few minutes like only a teen can do.
I ran upstairs and tried to wipe the chocolate off of my shirt where I dripped it while eating chocolate covered strawberries. (A HUGE thank you to our friends who gave us the strawberries yesterday! They are delicious!)
We loaded in the car to find a bridge covered in wisteria, in a town near us that spanned a certain creak. That was really all we knew. I figured it would take us several back roads to find it. But My Prince is awesome, and after turning down only one wrong road, we found it! I was so excited. But then, I was disappointed. Because there was no way to gain access to the bridge, other than private property. The Oldest Princess was ready to give up and go home.
We pulled into a long driveway, and debated asking for permission to go down to the bridge and take pictures. When I noticed the next door neighbor getting out of his truck. My Prince got out of the car and walked over to talk to him and see if he would mind if we crossed his land to get our pictures. He was very kind and told us that we could. We backed up and pulled into his driveway instead. He even got out some little hand clippers and clipped away some briars for us. This should have been our first clue. He cleared the way, told us to be careful, and that it had been several years since anyone had asked to get to the bridge to take pictures. I told him someone had posted a picture on Facebook, and that is how we knew about it. In small talk, we learned that we have a mutual friend. We told him thank you for his help, and he left us to take our pictures.
By this time, I am really feeling like I am not going to get any pictures. Except by the Young Prince, who was already on the bridge, with his phone. I was holding the good camera and seriously doubting the wisdom of this outing. The Oldest Princess is standing behind me saying, "There is NO WAY I can get up there in THESE shoes!"
I know when that nice little man got back inside his house, he grabbed his binoculars, and his wife saying, "Come here, honey! You have got to watch these crazy people in our back yard!", and settled in for a show.
I handed My Prince the good camera, because at this point I'm still not sure that I am going to attempt it, and I had tennis shoes on! Here is a picture of the Young Prince (in the light blue shirt toward the top center of the picture) already on the bridge (which according to the nice little man was condemned years ago - we had been aptly warned). My Prince had started the treacherous climb up as well.
I could not be this close and not go up. So I followed suit.
Leaving the Oldest Princess by herself of the bank with the suggestion, "You could ditch your shoes and come up too." My girl, who is no tenderfoot, did just that and followed me. When I found semi "solid footing", I turned around to check on her. This is what I saw. I think her face sums up what at least My Prince and I were also feeling. I laughed out loud, almost to the point of tears several times when we made it back to the safety of the car and I found this priceless picture.
We decided if this were a meme it would say, "When your Unka tells you he needs your help to clean out the gutters."
We all made it safely up on to the bridge, and we managed to get some pretty good pictures. But this one will have to do for now, because the pictures are loading very slowly tonight, and My Prince needs his computer back.
We all carefully made our way down, but My Prince was still trying to get one more shot from underneath the bridge, because he knows I love wisteria, and would love it, and because he loves me. One minute he is carefully making his way down the bank, and the next he was sliding, and grabbing for something to hold. The kids and I were on the bank and there was nothing we could do but watch. I instinctively called out to Jesus to help him. He finally stopped sliding. And did not even get wet! His finger and his shin did not fare as well though. But we think he will live. Isn't he an awesome husband? To risk life and limb to get a picture that he knew I would love, of a flower I love?
When he got back up the bank to us, we walked about ten feet around some of the brush and had a beautiful view. I took this shot with my phone, but we got several with the good camera also.
We had quite the adventure finding and photographing this little bridge. I would love to hear the other stories that it could tell, and I hope the nice little man and his wife did not think we had completely lost our minds.
We all got back in the car and had a good laugh (especially after finding that prize of a picture of the Oldest Princess on my phone), and then went to eat Mexican food, at the Young Princes's request...despite being covered with dirt and leaves (and probably chiggers) from our little adventure.
I bet the Oldest Princess thinks twice before she sends me another picture of a wisteria draped bridge in the future.
#AlwaysAnAdventure
Until tomorrow...
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