i n • p u r s u i t

A couple of days last week I was on the major struggle bus. I told Mike that I was having a really hard time and he asked what I needed. "To be in the mountains!" I said. Well, actually, I probably whined and moaned. And my gracious husband told me to take one day this weekend to head up to the mountains. Its been ages since I've done a difficult hike or trail run...and I haven't exactly been running a lot either. So, naturally, I decided to do one of the most difficult hikes around (according to the reviews on AllTrails). The drive up to Caesar's Head State Park was the perfect way to start. I was already feeling better just listening to music, drinking my favorite tea, and driving up that winding road. After getting all my gear together and filling out the trail card, I hit the trail at 8:30. It was calling for thunderstorms around 1pm, so I knew I had four and a half hours to do the loop. After some quick math, I determined that I needed to keep my pace under 3...

Tuesday afternoon, I went to Clemson to hang out with Will. We went to the SC Botanical Gardens. Now, it is September, so blooms were not exactly copious thus I do not have a ton of pictures of flowers for you. However, there are a few to follow...and you can go here to see photos of an old saw mill. To be honest, the gardens were much smaller than I recall. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because last time I was there was with Mom and Leo...and we got lost. Ha-ha. Well, Will and I succeeded in not getting lost. There is this thing: We couldn't figure out what the heck it might be! There was no plaque or anything. So, just now, I looked it up on the SC Botanical Garden website and found something about it here . The Crucible. And now, looking at the site, I see all kinds of really cool "Nature Inspired Sculptures" like this one: I actually saw the building of this on TV and couldn't help but wonder why the heck someone would want to make a giant bird nest. But, ei...

OMG, I'm soooo tired. I'm not yet to the stage that moms get. You know, the one where they can somehow survive on only three hours of sleep each night? I got about five hours of sleep last night. I hung out with Steven past my bedtime and then I came home, made spaghetti b/c I was famished, and packed for the beach. --- I skipped out of Music Appreciation class early (yes, we watched scenes from Rigoletto w/ Pavarotti) and headed over to Steven's. Then we proceeded to annoy each other, as we love to do, until heading up to my parent's house. I needed to get my sleeping bag and a sleeping pad for camping this weekend. Oy. I just remembered that I forgot to pack my flashlight. Anyway. So, we went to my parent's house and hung out for a few minutes and got my stuff. Then we headed up to Bald Rock. The Winter Sounds was blaring through the speakers. We blinded ourselves by taking pictures out at Bald Rock. I'll post some later b/c they're all on my laptop...

Yesterday was a wholly fantastic day. Though, admittedly, I am still sore from it. Well, I suppose one might say it started around 4:11AM when, after falling asleep on the couch watching Ugly Betty, I was awoken by my "I Was Made To Love You" ring tone. It was Clay--we worked at COI together. I, unaware that it was so darn early, thought that he might be calling to tell me that he was on his way to Greenville. I was mistake. However, I was rewarded by being serenaded to by two wonderful camp boys (Clay & Matt). I can't even remember the songs they sang, but it made me laugh. So. Back to bed. My actual bed this time. After, of course, shutting off the TV, A/C, and other living room things. And I woke again the next morning, nice and late at around 10am or so. I showered and spent way too much time picking out clothes for hiking. Clay picked me up around 11 or so. And we made our way up to Camp Old Indian. I had never been up to Old Indian mountain before. I've got ...