Poor DH... Poor Nature.

I've had many a friends say to me (jokingly, I'm sure), "Poor Doug... poor, poor Doug."  My DH puts up with A LOT from me!  He cooks, he cleans, he brings me blankets when I'm cold, he sits in the same room when my soap opera is on (I secretly think he wants to know what's happening with the good people in Salem!) and he does not ask for anything in return.  I definitely married a good one.

So a few weeks ago, we went on a little weekend getaway.  We went to a small little town, nestled among lots of trees, hills and fresh clean air.  It's a great place to spend a weekend -- little shops around every corner, local dives to eat at... and a room with a private hot tub.  What else could you ask for?  Well... if you are my DH, a former park ranger, you ask for nature... and lots of it.  It's one of the thing I don't do well with.

In this same small town (with the perfectly air conditioned room we rented) is also a huge state park.  We went there last year.  We drove around, even got outside!  We looked at the spectacular views and that was it.  Seemed like the perfect balance to me.  But this year, DH wanted to do a little more in the state park -- I suggested a long hike!  Yep, it was my brilliant idea.  Since DH does SO MUCH for me all the time... I was going to do this for him!  I was actually excited about the idea.  I thought this would be a great way to get my exercise in for the day and make DH a very happy man!

We went to the park and saw that trail #8 was 'moderate' and about 4 miles long.  I thought, "Perfect!"  I had wanted a more rugged trail... but moderate would do!  It was the LONGEST hike in the whole park... that should have been a clue!  But, clueless, off on the hike we went.  We were smiling, talking and having a great time.  I was making suggestions of coming to the park more often... hiking all the time, etc.  I think DH thought I had gone mad!  I think I had too!  This jovial attitude continued for about the first 1.5 miles.  After that, it was all downhill...

I'm not sure who decides what is a "moderate trail", but I'm pretty sure they need to be fired!  We were up and down steep hills, climbing over rocks, stomping through mud and water, getting bitten by every insect known to man... all in the 95 degree heat and humidity.  It felt like we were hiking around in circles and we would never escape!  I had visions that I would die in the woods.  I didn't really realize that 4 miles hiking was a little different than out nightly 4 mile walk on the local trails.  Oh, I was so wrong!!

DH had no visions of us dying in the woods.  While he felt the 'moderate' trail was one of the hardest ever, he found it completely rejuvenating!  He didn't even flinch when I yelled, "I strongly dislike nature and it obviously hates me!"  OK, I might have used a few harsher words than that.... but that was near the end of our several mile/several hour hike, when I was SO OVER IT and still convinced I was going to die.

Well, right after I almost started to cry because I could see no end in sight... I saw the car.  It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen!  I practically ran to it and sat in front of the air conditioning.  I've never been so happy to be in a car - ever!

I think that is the end of our nature hiking for a while.  While I did feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment after the hike, I was limping around for a week.  Muscles I didn't even know existed hurt.  Thank goodness for the hot tub!  We will revisit this next year... or maybe when it is no longer 95 degrees outside.  Meanwhile, I'm perfectly content hiking around my air-conditioned house... or our local trails.  I think that is 'moderate' enough for me!

DH in his element.