So another week of home visits occurs.
What did it get filled up with?
Well one eve, there was pizza in town with some peeps.
Followed by mini golf mixed with a whole lot of laughter.
Then there was pickleball. I could get into that. One friend said afterwards to me “ hey maybe this could be ur sport, since volleyball is not”. Yes to that.
Sunday afternoon, there was hiking to a cafe in the woods with a family, young couple, and youth kids. This place is the neatest place and whoever comes to see me is gonna get the privilege of doing that lil excursion. the only way to get to this cafe is by walking/ biking/ rollerblading. No cars drive to it, well maybe the workers do, I don’t know. But anyhow, it's just a real vibey place.
There was a board meeting.
There was a day of hiking. More on that later.
There was another evening where the teachers plus tiff, sam, and i devoured Olive Garden. Nothing beats good quality girl time.
There was many a hour spent in that one room schoolhouse, gearing up for the teaching lifestyle again.
There were target, walmart, and cafe moments.
And there was horse chores, because even in vacay mode, the critters still need that hay thrown out to them. So many a time the boots got uncomfortably crowded with hay as the chores were chored.
Now for a lil dramatic rant on our hiking day.
Soooo. Wednesday morning arrived.
Sam, tiff, and myself are to hike. A 15 mile loop. In one day. This is a practice hike for a backpacking trip we are to take in April with the girls. And to be clear, i dont do hiking gracefully. I would love to think i am a hiker. But truthfully, its always like this - all my life, ive always been around people who love to hike. So i just do it. But deep down its not my favorite-est thing. So here we are, off on a day trip into the woods, and im honestly rather naive when it comes to backpacking.
We drive an hour. Upon arrival at the visitor centre, we register. That whole experience is a story in itself. We are quite certain the lady behind the desk thought Tiff had cancer, due to her lack of hair. We had our sillies over that one.
At the trailhead, we stuff our toes in boots, adjust our hiking poles, toss on our backpacks, and with much vigor take off down the trail. Not even 50 feet into the trail we hit a water crossing. But stones stick out so that makes it easy. I hope the water level doesn't rise much by the time April arrives and yet if it does, we will cross that bridge then. (Slightly intended pun) Anyhow. The trail rose up the mountain. up and up we climbed and huffed, and since we were fueled on enthusiasm, we escalated quickly. Mile 2 came fast. So did mile 3. By mile 5ish we sat down on some logs beside the trail for a quick lunch. We stood up - and yikes… The legs were already feeling it. Okay. we better get er’ moving. So we took off. At a decent pace. Up and down. And through the woods. Across a charming lil stream. Found our first camping spot for the first night on the official backpacking trip. Kept on moving. Took a lil detour to see part of the mountain that had slid down once upon a time. Intriguing to me. Continued on. Around mile 7 we stopped at the halfway mark where there were neat campsites set up out of stone. By the river. Truly an enchanting place in my opinion, but also it's in the woods so woods are always slightly enchanting to me. At this point our spirits were still high but oooh the legs - they were feeling heavy and on fire. But we must keep going. So we gulp down some water and with slight hypocritical eagerness we hit the trail again. A sharp pain developed in my hip and i started praying that pain away. It subsided after a couple miles. Then my ingrown-tended toes started alerting me to the fact they were not thriving in those boots. So i kept praying. Well that pain never went away. But i just got used to it. And blisters started forming. And the legs were growing more and more stubborn. At mile 11 I started losing steam. I would love to think I have a high pain tolerance but when I'm tired everything seems a tad more dramatic. I ached. Us girls were verbalizing our weariness so we kept positive affirmations bouncing around. We also had a bunch of comical moments. At one point a lil twig fell from the tree way above and tiff was the leader at the moment and this was right above her head and she lurched wildly and then we looked up and saw it was only a stick and it didn't even make it to the ground cuz other branches stopped it. twas a funny moment. Fun lil fact about us trio of girls - sam is the mom friend of the group, and her ‘’mom’’ bag is proof. She also has common sense and a quiet way of dealing with disturbances. Tiff and i - im not saying we lack common sense, but we DO have a thick streak of dramaticness running strong in us. About mile 12-13 were the miles my other two comrades ran out of energy and enthusiasm. So the last couple miles, it was just like ‘’buckle down, one foot in front of another, and lets get out if these woods.’’ from the rocks there was some water spilling down, I dipped my head under and that refreshed me. at one point the trail led us up a waterfall where water was not running at the moment, and we teeter up it. In april, i bet there will be water running down those rocks and I also bet the snakes will be out. oh help. Anyhow. during the last miles there was a boulder ‘’field’’ where we had to climb over boulders. I joked my brain hit survival mode. Our talk started birthing nonsense but that was one way to keep our minds off the rapidly growing pain zapping our bodies every step. We leaned on our hiking poles to get us through. For awhile. we also quietly hiked and I tried my best to keep my gaze above - looking at the scenery, instead of just looking down at the path. It was a mental battle. at the surface of my brain was the thought to quit, but i knew better than to even all a window into my brain. I knew i simply could NOT even think it twice. Cuz i knew once i did i would be thinking about quitting. I could not. I had to keep thinking ‘’i can do this.’’ even climbing the boulders it was such a temptation to just sit down on them but i knew i also could not allow myself to cuz it would be a battle to get going afterwards. The last 2 miles or so we didn't allow ourselves to stop, unless we were finding trail markers, that's all. Our legs were so much mush that if we stopped, they would clam up. The last mile was a touch better cuz i knew it was our last mile. We descended down the mountain. And its surprisingly harder going down than going up. And then finally we crossed the stream again and so we knew we were on the right side of the river again. My legs were shaking as I slowly picked my way across the river rocks and I leaned on my hiking poles heavily. Then finally we step out of the woods. In the middle of the parking lot. We looked at the camping sites. Sites # 70-80. our expedition is parked by campsite # 7. Sooo that means a whole lot more walking. Ok. deep breath. giving up is not a choice. we gather our witts and carry on. Through a bit of woods again and on and on we truck. I was voicing my fear we were just starting the hike again and what if we weren't on the right path. I also was laughing a lil cuz I was soooo done with this all. And the ranch teaches me to just laugh when things are going wrong, its helps to not take everything so serious. Finally we recognize a bridge we had earlier crossed to get to our parking spot. Okay. we can do this. Then. our expedition is spotted by tiff. Oh hallelujah. We drag our bodies to it. And once upon arrival, i laugh a good lil bit. WE DID THAT! We group hug. then ease our bones into the welcoming expedition. and head for Freddys.
Once we got back to the house, we could hardly walk. We baby stepped our way into the house and could hardly sit down and for sure it was a struggle to get up. We had blisters, and brains high on dopamine.
Sleep that night was sketchy for even the slightest move was not taken for granted.
The next morning I texted tiff while still in bed. “Whyyyy….?”
And she replies “cuz dumb things are fun sometimes”.
Yes ok.
That next day, all day we waddled around like disillusioned ducks.
In conclusion, I loved that hike. I appreciate the mental training. I loved the views. I loved the company. I cherish the memories. Now that doesn't mean I enjoyed it all, oh no for sure not. It's not a comfy exercise. But I'm really anticipating doing that hike again with the girls and having it a bit more slow paced. Anyhow. My view on hiking is evolving. Since i love nature so much, I think i could really get into backpacking.
K so. Tomorrow the girls start arriving back. Monday we pull on the boots and get into a schedule.
I hope you are feeling the sunshine on your journey
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