The Living Room

I needed a distraction today.

Sunflowers!
My favorite growing along the trail.

My dancing friend, the one whom I'd only recently found out was married, told me last night that he wanted to kiss me. Yep, you can read that again, but you read it right. He told me he wanted to kiss me. He said he wasn't going to, but still, he said it. There's no going back after saying that. A boundary has been crossed.

He sent me a text this morning saying thanks for dancing last night... friend.

Friend? Really? After last night? My response was that I felt like a boundary had been crossed and I wasn't comfortable. I needed some time and space to think about where things went from there because I wasn't sure. His response was basically to blame me, then tell me that he couldn't take me dancing anymore and basically have a nice life.

I deleted him. I'm moving on. But still, losing a friend isn't fun. I needed some cheering and distraction. So first I went to the gym to workout and then I contacted a friend to go hiking. The gym workout was tough. I was still doing the text conversation with the "friend." After it ended, I finished my workout and convinced my roommate to take me to Chik-fil-A for some comfort food.

Shortly after we got back from Chik-fil-A, my friend Sarah arrived for a hike. We decided to go to The Living Room, because it wasn't too far into the mountains (because it was still cool) and it wouldn't be a long hike (because rain was supposed to roll in around 5 pm).

Here's the fun part!

The views on the way up
were spectacular!

Sarah and I got a little turned around on our way to the trail head, but we quickly found the right place and hit the trail. It was cool out, but the skies looked fairly clear. We walked the path to what we thought was trail head and started up the path.  A little ways up the trail, Sarah comments that it doesn't seem quite right, but we continue on. About 10 minutes in, she thinks we may be on the steep trail instead of the main trail. We decide to keep going and hope that we'd cross the main trail along the way.

We encountered mud, lots of mud, but not the main trail, at least not until we've almost slipped down hill once or twice and were about 50 yards from the top. And boy, was it really steep. We had to keep stopping every three-tenths of a mile to catch our breath because we were breathing hard.

Ok, so we also stopped to enjoy the views behind us. It was pretty amazing just how much we could see from there. And we were only three-tenths of a mile up the trail. We kept going, slipping a bit here and grabbing onto dry tree branches to help steady ourselves. And, of course, wishing we'd taken the correct trail on the way up.

We slipped up the muddy hillside,
and finally found the main trail.

When we finally made it up the last slippery slope and joined the main trail we could breathe easier. And we enjoyed the view of the whole city and lake from up there. The last step was really slippery and steep; we both thought I might have to give Sarah a hand up, but she made it on her own.

Ahhh! Relaxing on the love seat in The Living Room.

As we walked down the main trail to the top of the hill, it started to rain. The storm was coming in sooner than anticipated. We got to The Living Room as the rain drops became bigger. We took a few pictures of each other and of the view, then decided it would be good time head back down.

Storms rolling in.

On the way down, the rain drops were mixed with hail. The rain had come in sooner than expected, an unpleasant surprise. It was cold and getting colder. We were going to get very wet. And cold.

We slipped and slid down the main trail, but stayed on the path. The rain and hail just came down harder and harder. We both pulled out of our hiking bags some long-sleeved shirts, but they were no match for the wetness. We still got soaked, but at least our skin wasn't getting directly pelted.

Those white flecks on my pants
are splattered hail balls.

Look at that hail come down!

The path became a stream as we continued down. Our shoes got wet and our feet got cold. We stopped a few times for pictures of the storm and to let a jogger run by. The deluge turned worse and we wished for cover but were enjoying our adventure.

This always seems to happen to me- something unexpected. But Sarah and I agreed that we had fun and though the steep trail was tough, it was a good workout. But we were NOT going to take it back down the hillside in the rain and hail! The main path was bad enough, the steep trail would've been worse. We sloshed our way back to her car, thoroughly soaked, but having enjoyed our time together.

And by the end, all I could think about was the good time I'd had on an adventure with my friend and had forgotten all about the trouble with my "friend"...

The stream, aka trail,
we took back down.