July 17, 2010
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain.
When I woke up this morning, I had no idea what my adventure was going to be. Originally I was going with a group to Crowders Mtn, but it was cancelled do to the thunder storms. Rain might stop some people, but not me. I got a late start because I was out late last night with the Soapstoners. Last night we went to the pool and ordered some pizza. After the pool, we went back to LC and GC’s house and played some corn hole.
I headed up to Medoc Mountain State Park. On the way someway had spelled out "You are beautiful" with cups in a chain link fence that passed over the highway. What a lovely way to start the day. It was thundering and shooting lightning bolts across the sky and raining the whole way up. I got…er…took a slight detour and spent an extra half hour getting there. When I arrived the rain had stopped. I took the Bear Trail to the Summit Loop Trail. As I started out, I saw two stray dogs that growled at me. I thought about tazing them. I wandered down the trail and across the river bridge. You could still here the remnants of rain falling down through the trees. The trail was peaceful and I walked along enjoying the day. Then I heard a huge crash and I just about jumped out of my skin. A tree or part of a tree had fallen. Medoc Mountain isn’t really much of a mountain; it’s more like a small hill. The Summit Loop meandered down along a river. I was covered in spider webs by the time I finished the summit loop. I have never run into so many spider webs before. I’m sure I had spiders in my hair. I saw one spider that was black and white. It was quite interesting.
On the way back, I saw a red-headed woodpecker, a white-tail deer, and a butterfly landed on my shoe. It has to be good luck when a butterfly lands on your shoe. Can you see it? It's that tiny blue speck on top of my shoe lace. I didn’t see a single person on my whole hike. I got back to my car and headed down the road as it started to rain. How divine that the rain stopped long enough for my hike. As I drove back, I saw a giant cement chicken in someone’s front yard. It was at least 6 feet tall. Who would put a chicken in their front yard? Welcome to the land of hillbillies.
It has been so stinkin’ hot down here that I didn’t go hiking today. Last night I went with the girls to watch Julie and Julia at the NC Art Museum. They have outdoor movies there on occasion; it’s a very nice venue. It was roasting though. Sweat was just drippin’ off of everyone. It was disgusting. But the movie was great. And we talked about adventuring….I have lots of ideas for upcoming adventure trips.
Today I went to the Duke Gardens. It was hot again. This 100 degree weather has to let up at some point right? This is one reason I hate the south. I just can’t deal with this humidity very well. Parking was free for some reason. I tried to pay but the machine wouldn’t take my money. Woohoo! A free adventure! The gardens are very beautiful. I walked around the ponds, trees, flowers, and bridges. It was very peaceful and there weren’t many people there. I saw the roses painted red, an ugly duck, and lots and lots of butterflies. By the time, I was finished touring the gardens I was drenched. It is just soooooo hot! I also got a bug bite that swelled up to the size of a quarter. It’s itchy. The end.
