Sweet Summer

This past weekend was the epitome of summer - time with friends, time outdoors, time free of stress!

On Friday, we joined our Adventure Rock crew at Craig and Sarah's for a Mexican feast and then a trip around Bayview for Bayview Gallery Night.  Each time the gym crew gathers, I find myself appreciating just how lucky I am to have found a place within their community.  Some of my greatest memories are of times spent outdoors, those drives to Kentucky, those sweltering hikes through Muir Valley, the trips to Yosemite, the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier.  None of those things would have come to be if not for the people of AdRock (and one in particular, who happens to look quite handsome in his newly acquired and perfect-for-Europe hat!).

On Saturday, we got together with Scott and Steph to begin planning for our French adventure.  Over lunch, we hashed out the details - at least a bit - for hikes, bike rides, climbs, and wine drinking.  We may even have a plan for how to find our pals once they arrive in Switzerland!  From there, it was taking care of a few adult things...read, grocery shopping and cleaning...before expanding our crew for a dinner date. We headed downtown to Cempazuchi; neither Brian nor I had been there in ages (Brian hadn't gone back since the fateful night when he lost his wedding ring...ah, memories).  It was really nice to see the Brown family in advance of some big ol' life stuff they have to take care of (Good luck, Shawn).

On Sunday, Brian and I headed to Devil's Lake for some hiking.  And while the hike solidified just how much something really is wrong with my knee, it was great to be outside in the sunshine for so long.  Our day stated quite peacefully, with a relatively quiet fairy ride, a walk through the woods, and a trail almost entirely to ourselves.  By the time we made our descent, we were among quite the heard of people.  Despite the traffic, we decided to make a real day of it and put in a solid 10 miles. And after our drive home - one day I'll stay awake the whole ride back - we capped off our weekend with a dinner date at The Kiltie; Dawn and Chris were kind enough to join us, and with them, you  know you're in good company.  We ate and laughed, laughed and chatted, enjoyed the sunshine, and laughed some more.

Enjoying the ferry ride to The Lake

Stretching my legs and taking in the view 
the tag-along I found around mile 5 - no wonder my legs were getting tired :) 



With only three days of school remaining this year, summer really is on the horizon, and this past weekend was a great preview of all the wonderful things I know are to come!


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