Have fun while I'm gone!

[dananne]

You're right -- home looks very nice to me right about now.

Despite my tone suggesting otherwise, there were some nice parts to the trip. I managed to hike over 30 miles of very difficult mountain trail in about 2 1/2 days, even with the horrid conditions. Some parts of the hike were breathtakingly gorgeous. One lowlands area was just filled on both sides of the trail with thousands upon thousands of brilliantly green mountain ferns -- it looked like a fairyland scene, or something out of a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. On rocky outcroppings, you could literally touch the passing stormclouds. As I cursed one section of very difficult trail, I glanced up and realized I was being watched by 3 deer. We stared at each other a few moments, then they bounded off right up the mountain like it was nothing. At first, my response was, "Show offs." Then, I cinched up my pack and trudged along with renewed vigor.

I can't ignore the misadventure aspects of the trip, but it was redeeming, too. Next year, though, I'm thinking of a beach in Barbados. Hopefully, that one won't involve tropical storms [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

And, yes, there will be some drinking tonight . . .