Spring has come to the Balkans

This week we did the "move" again. We started out in Sarajevo, where had been for two weeks. On Tuesday we drove to Podgorica in Montenegro for two weeks. Before we left Sarajevo, on Monday which is our young missionaries Preparation Day each week, we decide to go for a hike in the mountains. They wanted to hike up to the highest village in Bosnia. You have to remember these are 18 year old youth. I wasn't so excited about the hike but I kept a good attitude about it. We all decided that we would only go as far as we felt we could. It was very beautiful and the wild flowers were out in full bloom. I kept loosing Helen, she would wonder off taking pictures of flowers. Below is a collage of her pics. Also the young elders ran out of water so instead of drinking out of the spout with spring water coming out of the mountain they drank out of the stock tank. Wonder how that will end? (They were using their water filter)

These mountains reminded me of the movie "Man from Snowy River" they are rugged and as you can see it was clear and sunny but an hour later it started to thunder and lightning and then cloudbursts. When we decided we were going to turn around because we made it to the top of the summit and the rest of them went down to the next valley floor. I'm not the smartest guy in the world but I knew if there is only one trail and it goes down then you have to climb back up later. We rested and enjoyed the day before our decent back to the parking lot.

On our way up the mountain we saw the Olympic downhill ski resort from a distance and thought it was neat. The road took us right to it. It has been developed it into a huge resort.

We took our new favorite route to Montenegro through the Sutjeska National Park. We had our young sisters with us and they were amazed at the size of the mountains. They are usually asleep before we hit the city limits, but they stayed awake to see the sites on this trip. I wouldn't let them take any Dramamine like they usually do. I think they take it because of my wild driving.

After we made it to Podgorica we needed to go visit the Relief Society President. She is over the women's organization of the Branch in Montenegro. I always think it's funny because she only speaks Russian and Helen doesn't. I'm not sure how they ever get their messages across to each other but that doesn't slow them up. I was enjoying the coastal beauty of the area where she lives. I saw these signs in a park that said to stay off the grass. Well you can  see for yourselves how well that is working our for them.

 

Signs and driving rules are more like suggestions at best here.

On our way home we stopped at Sveti Shefan, a small island just off the mainland that when the locals built it as a fort to keep the gold in that they robbed from the Ottoman armies. It is a solid city that was never conquered. The walkway was a modern addition before the only access was by boat. The gardens on the shore were so lush and green it reminded me of Hawaii. 

             

If you are wondering, yes, we do work not just sightsee! But we have learned if we don't take a few minutes to stop and see the sights, then we may never get back. Life is full of unknowns.