The Newest Possible Adventure

If you have been reading these blogs for a while...my husband's newest plans for adventure as a family won't surprise you much. Last summer I blogged about tubing in Scottsville with a dozen other people. It is funny to look back at...you can google "tubing" on the homepage to see why my husband declared when we came home, "We are NEVER going tubing again!" We almost went with the group again in June, but didn't and the tubes are gathering dust and dry rotting as we speak.

I've really been enjoying outdoor activities as I've been getting into shape. I like jogging the various trails in the area. EJ hasn't had much exercise, well, ever. He used to have to take a PT test when he was in the navy and he crossed his fingers in hopes of passing it every time it came up. I am not disparaging my husband...I just usually enjoyed playing physical games growing up (like volleyball, softball, football, tennis, running, and swimming) and he enjoys games like spades and chess. This year, he has gone with me on the Noland trail twice...he walks it very slowly, so I've suggested him coming to the trail and walking it with me after I jog it so I won't be biting at the bit when we walk it together...but something always happens in the hour that it takes me to jog it to keep him from joining me.

All this is to explain how nutty my husband's newest plan is. He thinks that if he could find a trail that is long enough and hard enough, it will slow me and Chrissie down and he will be able to keep up. He found a trail that is 10.8 miles long and varies in elevation 2000 ft in the western part of the state (four hours away). He has made plans for us to hike this trail in two weeks. Now...I have been getting into better shape over a two year period...I was walking several miles a day the year before last and jogging several miles almost every day last year and I am not sure I'm up to hiking a 11 mile trail with that kind of change in elevation. However...my husband...well...this is different than tubing...I was able to pull him most of the way down the river...but I know...I am truly positive...that I can NOT carry him off of a mountain trail. They would have to rescue him with a helicopter and it wouldn't end up being a humorous blog story...he'd end up in the hospital. Or worse yet, the teaser for the evening news would go something like, "Pastor's wife pushes husband off of the mountainside. More at eleven."

For that reason, a couple of days ago, I suggested that perhaps he should at the very least, be able to walk the Noland trail twice in a row (10 miles only flatter) before he tackles this adventure. Yesterday, he walked the trail before he went to work and then again after. It wasn't twice in a row...but it was a start. I was home when he got done after work...he was a human sweatball...was sick...and went straight to bed. I thought...well, maybe he knows this is a bad idea.

Well, today, I got up and went on my usual morning jog...it was a little humid, so I jogged the first 2.5 miles and back rather than going through the very hilly part of the trail. I left my husband fast asleep in bed as he usually is for my morning jogs. I wasn't really thinking of him...it was a nice jog...then about a mile from the end of the trail, I see a human sweat ball limping up the trail...the love of my life...my husband of 25 years...I watched him trudging along as I jogged towards him...as I neared him, I expected a wave, a smile, some hint of acknowledgement...I jogged around the corner and passed him...not a wave...not a smile...not even eyecontact on his behalf...in fact, he looked like he was mad at me and wanted to trip me!!!

Time will tell if EJ will come to his senses before we end up on that mountain.