What an amazing weekend.
Saturday:
I had the pleasure of taking Kristie for her first hike, although it was more like a scenic stroll along Big Creek to Indian Pools. The stroll was peaceful and beautiful. There were families fishing, kids jumping off the rocks into the pools, and butterflies flying alongside of us. You could smell the azaleas and along with this sweet smell came bees! Kristie being the observant one said we should get away from the flowers, me being an “outdoorsy” girl did not think anything of it until one grabbed on to my leg and there it was, my first bee sting. It did not sting like I thought a bee sting would, perhaps because I have been bitten so many times by god knows what. After our peaceful stroll we continued on with our day. The air was breathtaking. There is nothing like the smell of the fresh pine in the air. I really wanted to take Kristie on a “real” hike, so my first thought was something simple so I decided why not take her to a backcountry lake, Dinkey Lake. I knew what the road looked like to get to it but I could not remember exactly where it was so I went with my instinct to go towards Dinkey Creek and there it was on the left. I knew it was the road to get to Bald Mountain, a great OHV road. The road starts off nice and smooth, a few pot holes here and there, then the paved road turns into rocky bumpy dirt. Kristie holding on for dear life (joking, she says she always holds on to something when she is a passenger in a car, hmmm!) managed to let me enjoy my “off road” driving by hitting the bumps without breaking. Hey, only in a JEEP! We got about 4 miles or so past Bald Mountain Road just to find that there was still a little bit of snow blocking the road to the Dinkey Lakes Trailhead, but it was not the snow keeping us from making it to the trailhead, it was a Honda blocking the road, well maybe. Me, thinking, hey I could go over that, I have a JEEP, was a bit annoyed with the Honda for blocking the road. But had the Honda not been there, would I have attempted to go over the patch of snow? I am not completely sure I would have had the guts to go over, being that I have got stuck in the snow before in my JEEP, I just want to think I would. J In any case, the Honda should not have blocked the road. Where is the no parking sign when you need it?! The drive back down the road was a bit less bumpy and we enjoyed the crisp air and the sound of some good country music, and it could not have been more perfect timing for two dirt road songs to come on. It ended up being perfect for the road less traveled we were taking. I hope Kristie enjoyed getting dirty and the outdoors with me on Saturday, I know I did!Sunday: The first time for anything continues.
Kristie and Scott invited me to the lake with them along with his two awesome girls, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend. I was thrilled to say the least. The night before Kristie bought herself a new ski and all the fixings to go with it, gloves, vest, and rope! Scott bought his girls new ski’s and Jamie bought a wakeboard. We all piled up in the Kristie’s car with boat in tow and headed to Millerton for the day. I had only been on a fast lake boat one time before (when Scott and Jamie were test driving the boat) and I had really enjoyed being out in the water with the wind blowing in my face. We got to the boat dock and we were all in the boat and the boat would not start. The guys were a little frustrated, ok, maybe a lot frustrated. They just bought this boat! After several attempts of jumping it using jumper cables, it finally started, and we headed out. Jamie was the first to try out his new wakeboard. After Kristie showed us how she rocks on one ski. Then time came for Jenna and Ali to give skiing a try, they did amazing with the help of an awesome teacher (yes she is a real teacher, but this was no math class!). After about 6 or so hours of watching everyone attempt to ski or wakeboard, I decided I needed to try this. I was hesitant because I felt uneasy about the boats going by. It took some coaxing to get me to jump off the boat into the water for a swim! With that said, I got in the water and Jamie helped me get set in. My first thought was, well I can snowboard, is this the same? Um, no. This was by far much harder than snowboarding. Although if you would have asked me at that moment when I was learning to snowboard, I might have said something different. After two attempts I finally made it up on the wakeboard. However, that lasted about 8 seconds and that was no bull ride. I attempted two more times and the same thing. It was a good experience and I am glad I put the fear of water going up my nose to the side to attempt wakeboarding for the first time. The day was great. Despite the sunburn and sore body the next day, it was 100% worth it. Thanks, Kristie, Scott, Jamie, Molina, Jenna, and Ali for a great day on the lake.
