Saturday Hike

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Ryan and I went hiking yesterday.  The weather has been very beautiful.  Cool, fall weather has slowly moved into our area.  At first I was disappointed by the cooler temperatures, and the realization that my beach days were ending.  I needed to find new activities to fill the day.  What better idea (!?!?!) than to go hiking?

This hike did have a purpose.  Every Sunday, Ryan has been mountain biking.  Originally I did not want to know what his biking trail looked like.  I assumed it would be better not to know and therefore not worry (even more) about his safety.  Chevron safety moment, he does wear a large number of protective padding, helmet etc. (I will need to try and get a photo of him with everything on).  Besides all his precautionary measures,  he has returned with multiple popped tires, cuts and "road rash" on his leg.  Curiosity got the best of me.  I needed to see what this biking trail was like.

Start of the first hike.  Seriously, who bikes this!?!  This crazy guy does. :)

View of the Black Sea.

Looking across the port to our city. 

Large mushrooms.  

View from the beginning of our second hike. 

And he wonders why he pops tires?

I finally was able to see where he bikes.  I successfully survived the hiking.  Only a brief moment of panic and screaming when a few huge burrs became attached to my pant leg.  I will admit this now, I initially thought it was some spiked bug on my leg. :)  When Ryan was removing the burrs he asked me if I realized it wasn't a bug, "Duh, sweetie, of course I knew it wasn't a bug." "Oh, because judging by your screaming, I could have sworn you thought it was a bug." :)  I lied, totally thought it was a bug.

One conclusion I have come to.  I am not a good hiker (big shocker there).  I really enjoyed our hiking in Canada because we had stopping points along the way with cool things to look at, and an ultimate destination to reach.  I felt like our hiking in Canada was rewarded.  The hiking yesterday was not as rewarding.  The majority of the time was spent staring at the ground, watching where I was walking.  Ryan has a tendency to "barrel through" his hikes.  No time to stop and take in our surroundings.  Either way, I will go hiking again, I am determined to realize why everyone loves it.  Personally my next hiking trip would be in a more exotic location.  Next travel plans?!?!  :)