Weekend Adventure Takes Place!

Sorry it took me FOREVER to finally post this. It's been sitting in my que for a while waiting for the pictures and then I finally had the pics but forgot the post...go figure. Anyway, here it is in all it's glory :-)

It didn't turn out like it was planned and I figured it wouldn't. The plans actually fell apart the day after I posted. I just decided to text Nathan and see if he just wanted to get together and do something just the two of us. I know what most of you are thinking...but we really had a good time.

He came up Friday but later than expected, we were going to head over to play pool at a place he used to go about a year ago. But since he got there so late we just crashed for the evening after talking to a while. We got a later start than we had hoped on Saturday but off we went. We drove 2 hours and 15 minutes to Hanging Rock State Park where we went to the Visitors Center for their map. We decided the best idea would be to hike to Hanging Rock first then after we've sweated up a storm go play in some waterfalls.

Did I mention that the temperature was in the high 90's? Plus the humidity which sky rocketed the heat index somewhere around the low 100's. There was a heat advisory warning on the door to the Visitors Center but we had our Camelbak's full of really cold H2O so we set off up the trail anyway. It was hot...HOT HOT HOT! And exhausting. One of my friends had mentioned it was the shortest trail but so worth the view at the end...Um she lied. It's the longest trail at 1 mile. But that single mile is mostly straight up. However, once we arrived at the top we were rewarded with the most incredible view and a delicious breeze! I made Nate sit down with me on a rock for about 20 minutes while we cooled off. I wasn't about to turn around and head back down too quickly. It was nice though, we talked and hiked the whole way up and back down again. Then decided to split one of the MRE's that he brought for lunch...I kinda hope he can hook me up with some of those for my 72 hour kit or some food storage.

After our quick lunch we headed off to see some waterfalls. After our 1 mile hike we decided to only hit the two waterfalls that were a .3 mile and .4 mile hike and they were super easy. The last one was fantastic! We wore our swimsuits and played in the pool at the base of the falls. Of course when we arrived we didn't want to go out there until the Park Ranger showed and ushered the drunken idiots off the premises. Why in the world do people want to ruin something so beautiful with their filthy mouths and their nasty beer cans?? I mean there were families with kids down there and here these idiots are...anyway I enjoyed watching them get kicked out and have to dispose of their alcohol...their pain was definitely my pleasure. Then Nate and I splashed around in the water throwing it on each other and cooling down after a long hot day. It was so much fun! I want to go back again when the weather has chilled out a little bit...this time I'd like to camp.

The drive back would have been nice too but I started getting a headache and the closer we got to finding a place to eat the more my head felt like it was about to split wide open. Luckily there was a Wal-Mart right across from the Steak & Shake where we ate and we snagged a small container of Excedrin. I took it and by the time we got home the headache had eased up. I imagine all that heat is to blame for it. Oh well, so worth the adventure I finally got to have! YAY!!!

*Pictures are my property and I worked hard to get them sooo...Please don't take them ;-) *