Raven with a Writing Desk: May not be cool but it's so where I live.

So, yesterday Clark and I awoke somewhere around 6am to get ready to do the Tanawha Trail. It's a 13 mile trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway that begins at Beacon Heights and goes to Price Park. In the beginning we were enthusiastic and ready for the day. We estimated it would take somewhere between 5 and 6 hours. Oh, how we were wrong.

We started hiking at 8:15 am and didn't reach a third of the way until about noon-ish. Unfortunately we had not planned for the ice storm; in other words, we had not planned that the ice storm had taken such a toll on the trees of the parkway. There were fallen down limbs, trees, branches, bushes, etc. EVERYWHERE. We could barely go a stretch of a 100 feet or less without finding something to climb through, over, or under, or to go around. So, as we continued, we got crankier and crankier. It was not pretty.

By the end of the day (which was around 6:30-7:00pm) we decided to compare "war stories." I had fallen at least three times and attained two bruises and three significant scratches/ injuries on my legs. Along with that, I have three tree scratches on my left arm, one above my left eye, and many on both of my shoulders (from where the branches stuck to the pack or to my shirt). My face, shoulders, chest, and neck are also very burned. Clark got away with a few scratches and one bruise on his right leg, he probably fell at least once, his face is entirely red as well as his neck and forearms, and he has maybe one scratch on one of his arms. I think I won when it came to injuries... but I don't think that's a good thing.

A good story to share. When we finally got back to the parking lot where the van was (we had to have one car at one end and the other at the other), Clark couldn't find the van key. He had accidentally left it in the Jetta... no joke. So, luckily, there's this family cooking out having a picnic and Clark goes over and the Dad agrees to drive us to the Jetta. We drive the whole 13 miles with this guy in his 30s trying to spark conversation. He was amazingly nice to drive us to the other car, but it was a little awkward. I think I would have found it even more unusual had he not had a family. Our other choice was college students, but I agreed with Clark that a family man seemed a little more... I'm lacking a word here. So, today, we had to drive back up to where we hiked yesterday to get the van. What an adventure.

I think I have learned that the key to us not being bored is always doing new things. Even if those "new" things are things we've done before, we can mix it up. The most I had hiked before yesterday was probably 4-5 miles in one day, and then we went and did 13. Clark keeps telling me how proud he is of me, and I must say I'm shockingly proud of myself. I have a feeling it will continue to get easier. Yesterday wasn't exactly easy. I passed out a 9pm with a headache/ whole body ache and woke up with sore feet and legs... but that's ok. I did something fun with Clark that he fully enjoys and I'm beginning to REALLY like.

Ok, I'll stop gabbing. Until next time!

(Conquering the trees)