Pure Exhaustion

This morning, Ben and I had good intentions of going to church..but I was just having one of those days where I couldn't get going. Do you ever feel like that? I just didn't feel like getting in the shower, and when I finally did, I then didn't feel like getting ready. Ben was kind of that way too. We were just really slow moving this morning, therefore, we ended up not getting completely ready until about 10:15. The church that we have been going to starts at 10:30 and is about 30 minutes away. We knew we wouldn't make it in time and neither of us really wanted to walk in 15 minutes late, so we thought we would try another church around our apartment. We drove to the one we wanted and it didn't start until 11...so we had a lot of extra time. We spent the time driving around looking at houses. We aren't really seriously looking to buy a house, but are keeping it open as an option in case we find a great deal. We ended up getting really distracted and kind of far away so we completely missed church altogether. oops!

We decided we would get lunch and maybe go on a picnic to read our bibles and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather. Well....unfortunately, that didn't happen. Apparently, we were just full of great intentions all day, but we never followed through. We did follow through with the lunch part though. The restaurant "Big Blue Bagel" is now in Birmingham! That use to be one of my favorite places to eat in Auburn and I am so excited that we have one so close now! It was just as good as I remembered it being! If you've never been, you should definitely go and get the tiger melt with honey mustard! It has actually been named one of the top 100 meals to try in the state of Alabama. YUM!

Anyway, after lunch we decided to head over to Oak Mountain State Park to do a little hiking. We didn't plan on going for long so we didn't bring any water. That was a BAD idea. We ended up hiking straight for about 3 and a half hours. Not to mention it wasn't just regular hiking, it was mostly STRAIGHT UP HILL. I almost died. At the end of one of the trails, I told Ben I had to stop. He looked at me and said "That was rough." I said "Yea, I'm about to have a heart attack." He then proceeded to tell me that he knew it was going to be hard, but didn't expect it to be that bad. Apparently he had looked at the map before we started and at that particular trail it said "strenuous. Steep High Climb." WHAT WAS HE THINKING!! I haven't done any type of exercise in over 6 months! I am soooo out of shape.

Anyway, we kept going and ended up making it to a little waterfall. It was beautiful, but we were actually a little disappointed. It was much smaller than we had anticipated. After so much hiking, we thought it was going to be huge. WRONG! haha It was still pretty though, and the sound of it was soo peaceful. I wanted to take a nap! You can kind of see it in the background of this picture. It was down below us.

At that point, the sun started setting and we realized we should hurry and get back before we were stuck in the pitch black woods. We took a different trail back hoping it would be a little easier...and it was an easier trail, but it was a bad idea. It kept going, and going, and going. Ben and I both actually started getting worried. He kept telling me to run, and I kept telling him my legs felt like noodles and I couldn't. haha We couldn't see any trace of the trail ending and had no clue where we were going to end up. At one point, Ben literally said.."Well at least I have my phone. We can always call 911 if it gets so dark that we can't see." The worst part about it was that we walked for about an hour and a half and never saw a single person. haha We didn't know where we were. It really wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't getting dark. The thought of not being able to see in the middle of the woods was a little frightening to us. haha We finally ran in to a man in the woods that was actually out there camping out in a hammock for the night. We asked him if he could tell us how far we were from the main road where we parked. He looked at us and laughed and said "Let me go get my keys and a flashlight. I'll walk with yall and drive you back. It's a long way." haha So, he did. He was the nicest man ever. I was soo thankful for him. By that point, Ben said his ankles and legs were aching, and my legs were seriously shaking they were so worn out. haha Ellie was with us too! She actually did well with all the hiking, but ever since we got home she hasn't lifted her head . She is pooped! haha

Overall, it was such a fun day, but gosh are we exhausted!! The weather was beautiful and Oak Mountain really is a gorgeous place. I had never been there before, but I can't wait to go back. Next time we will just have to plan a little better. I didn't realize how big of a park it is. It has about 51 miles of trails. There is so much to do too! You can rent canoes or ride horses on trails.. I can't wait to do both of those next time!

After we made it to the car, we looked at one of the maps and added up the total mileage that we had walked/hiked. We couldn't get it exactly..but what we could add, looks like we hiked/walked over 12 miles!!! WOW! That's a lot of hiking for someone that hasn't really exercised in a while. I bet all three of us sleep good tonight!

As for now, I'm off to take a shower and then to get in the bed. Hope everyone enjoyed this gorgeous weather today! I'm so ready for spring!!