1) rickety wooden ascent
2) Mindy at Old Man's Cave Chalet office
3) The mantle in our chalet
I slept a lot deeper and woke feeling very rested. It was 8am. That same familiar drip continued to echo off the roof top and windows. It was still raining.
I crawled down the rickety wood ladder to begin the morning’s activities. I brushed my teeth, pee’d, took a vitamin, and made some coffee. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of my exercise regiment sipping my first cup of coffee. By then, Mindy was already down the ladder and in the restroom. I managed to snap a couple of pictures as she descended from the loft in her jammies and bed head.
Once again, I slid open the sliding glass doors to take in the morning air and to get a feel for the temperature. It was surprisingly mild once again. Apparently the predicted temperature drop was still off to our west. We turned on the TV mostly for background noise but eventually saw a forecast that showed dryer air and colder temps just off to our north and west. This was the fourth day in a row of almost continuous rain, clouds, and warm temps.
Moving on, Mindy and I found ourselves captivated by a TV talk show featuring a Doctor of
something or other interviewing psychic twins. The piece was especially gripping. By 9:30am I found my running clothes and readied for a run. This time I went the opposite direction from our chalet knowing all to well what was lied ahead. I knew from our drive to Conkle’s Hollow that there was one hell of a hill just ahead. This hill was probably a mile long with a few twists and turns. Since our chalet sat atop the hill, the first half was all downhill and comparatively simple. The return to the top – not so easy to say the least.
After finding my way to the bottom, I made a quick turn and headed back up. And for the first time I can ever recall, I HAD to stop about halfway up. I literally thought that my heart might pop. Plus, I was completely winded. I stopped only long enough to catch my breath then set out once again. This time not looking at the crest but instead at my feet. I stopped yet again for a brief moment with ¼ of the hill to go. From there I was good. I ran on past the chalet and down yesterday’s trail until I came to the next big hill. I didn’t have another big hill in me, however, so I turned around and headed back. Mindy said that I was gone exactly 30 minutes. My guess is that I did only about three miles but they were far tougher than my usual 5 miles. I was beat!
Just like the day before, Mindy had breakfast waiting when I returned. We had bacon and scrambled eggs. Immeiately following breakfast we began loading the Trooper and showering for departure. Mindy had packed most of the food while I was running. We checked high and low, under and over everything, not wanting to leave something valuable behind. We checked out at 11:05am. We drove ten miles or so to the office along route 664 which was on our way back towards route 33 anyway. The check-out process was an easy one. Mindy let them know about the mouse eating our hamburger buns and about the bathroom sink drain not working properly. Mindy thought they seemed concerned and interested, but the faces I saw were almost patronizing. But it doesn’t really matter. We just wanted to share.
It continued raining the entire way back towards Columbus. It rained so hard at times that I thought we might have to pull over given the complicated terrain, but we didn’t. Our next stop was The Diamond Cellar. Just as we reentered Columbus the clouds began to disperse and the rain stopped. It was just after lunch time. We both went in to the Diamond Cellar and quickly picked up Mindy’s ring. It looked perfect.
While there, she was insistent on looking at wedding bands. I humored her. There we met Ken, the salesman, since my pal Lee doesn’t work on Monday’s. Ken took special interest in us and showed us all sorts of wedding bands. The prices ranged any where from about $250 to about $2600. The more expensive rings held lots of small diamonds, where as the less expensive were simply bands of white gold.
He was wise to focus most of his attention on Mindy. I couldn’t care less whether I have a ring or not. Still, towards the end, he showed us the “male” options. And by the way, in case anyone is interested, Mindy wears a 3.25 and I wear an 11.0. :)
We left the D.C. around 2pm for home. We stopped for gas just off the freeway. Gas was only $2.04. Once home we made quick work of the unpack process. We tried hard to be finished before the kids arrived home, which was at 3pm. The dynamics change considerably when the two little ones are there. At 3pm they arrived. We entertained them and they entertained us. Sometime around 5pm Mindy began making dinner. She made fried onion burgers – no bun.
I walked Ykraps just before we sat for dinner. I wanted that out of the way. Too, the kids wanted a fire so I built a rip roaring fire to add to the homey atmosphere. It was nice. After dinner, clean-up, and jammie time we played for another hour. I wrestled with Jacob at his insistence. Soon, Bella joined in, too. Something about hiding Jacob’s pajama bottoms in the cupboards got Bella crying profusely. She was certain that I threw them away. She screamed to high heaven about how mean I was. A minute or two later she was fine.
The kids went to bed around 7:45 via the traditional read and tuck. Mindy and I returned to the family room where we enjoyed the fire and exchanged back rubs. My neck was so stiff that I could barely turn my head, and despite taking my anti-inflammatory, my shoulder and mid- back ached fiercely.
Mindy tried rubbing in several different spots and tried a handful of techniques to help relieve the mounting pain, but nothing seemed to work. She rubbed the normal knots but could never seem to hit the epicenter of pain. After rubbing her back for 15 minutes, I asked her to push hard on my spine all the way up my back. Next, I had her dig into the top of my shoulder. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the almost unbearable pain just stopped. Gone was my stiff neck and the tension I felt all across my back and shoulders. Wow! That’s a miracle!
I have lived with similar stiff necks and back pain for days on end until it subsided naturally. I wasn’t sure what specifically she did to cause it to stop, but I do know this. It felt great! We’ll try the same thing the next time.
We headed to bed right at 10pm, but I wasn’t tired. After a few minutes of snuggling, I got up and went down stairs to read. After reading for twenty minutes I began to doze off. I headed back to bed where I found myself wide awake again. However, minutes later I drifted off to sleep.
1) rickety wooden ascent
2) Mindy at Old Man's Cave Chalet office
3) The mantle in our chalet
I slept a lot deeper and woke feeling very rested. It was 8am. That same familiar drip continued to echo off the roof top and windows. It was still raining.
I crawled down the rickety wood ladder to begin the morning’s activities. I brushed my teeth, pee’d, took a vitamin, and made some coffee. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of my exercise regiment sipping my first cup of coffee. By then, Mindy was already down the ladder and in the restroom. I managed to snap a couple of pictures as she descended from the loft in her jammies and bed head.
Once again, I slid open the sliding glass doors to take in the morning air and to get a feel for the temperature. It was surprisingly mild once again. Apparently the predicted temperature drop was still off to our west. We turned on the TV mostly for background noise but eventually saw a forecast that showed dryer air and colder temps just off to our north and west. This was the fourth day in a row of almost continuous rain, clouds, and warm temps.
Moving on, Mindy and I found ourselves captivated by a TV talk show featuring a Doctor of something or other interviewing psychic twins. The piece was especially gripping. By 9:30am I found my running clothes and readied for a run. This time I went the opposite direction from our chalet knowing all to well what was lied ahead. I knew from our drive to Conkle’s Hollow that there was one hell of a hill just ahead. This hill was probably a mile long with a few twists and turns. Since our chalet sat atop the hill, the first half was all downhill and comparatively simple. The return to the top – not so easy to say the least.
After finding my way to the bottom, I made a quick turn and headed back up. And for the first time I can ever recall, I HAD to stop about halfway up. I literally thought that my heart might pop. Plus, I was completely winded. I stopped only long enough to catch my breath then set out once again. This time not looking at the crest but instead at my feet. I stopped yet again for a brief moment with ¼ of the hill to go. From there I was good. I ran on past the chalet and down yesterday’s trail until I came to the next big hill. I didn’t have another big hill in me, however, so I turned around and headed back. Mindy said that I was gone exactly 30 minutes. My guess is that I did only about three miles but they were far tougher than my usual 5 miles. I was beat!
Just like the day before, Mindy had breakfast waiting when I returned. We had bacon and scrambled eggs. Immeiately following breakfast we began loading the Trooper and showering for departure. Mindy had packed most of the food while I was running. We checked high and low, under and over everything, not wanting to leave something valuable behind. We checked out at 11:05am. We drove ten miles or so to the office along route 664 which was on our way back towards route 33 anyway. The check-out process was an easy one. Mindy let them know about the mouse eating our hamburger buns and about the bathroom sink drain not working properly. Mindy thought they seemed concerned and interested, but the faces I saw were almost patronizing. But it doesn’t really matter. We just wanted to share.
It continued raining the entire way back towards Columbus. It rained so hard at times that I thought we might have to pull over given the complicated terrain, but we didn’t. Our next stop was The Diamond Cellar. Just as we reentered Columbus the clouds began to disperse and the rain stopped. It was just after lunch time. We both went in to the Diamond Cellar and quickly picked up Mindy’s ring. It looked perfect.
While there, she was insistent on looking at wedding bands. I humored her. There we met Ken, the salesman, since my pal Lee doesn’t work on Monday’s. Ken took special interest in us and showed us all sorts of wedding bands. The prices ranged any where from about $250 to about $2600. The more expensive rings held lots of small diamonds, where as the less expensive were simply bands of white gold.
He was wise to focus most of his attention on Mindy. I couldn’t care less whether I have a ring or not. Still, towards the end, he showed us the “male” options. And by the way, in case anyone is interested, Mindy wears a 3.25 and I wear an 11.0. :)
We left the D.C. around 2pm for home. We stopped for gas just off the freeway. Gas was only $2.04. Once home we made quick work of the unpack process. We tried hard to be finished before the kids arrived home, which was at 3pm. The dynamics change considerably when the two little ones are there. At 3pm they arrived. We entertained them and they entertained us. Sometime around 5pm Mindy began making dinner. She made fried onion burgers – no bun.
I walked Ykraps just before we sat for dinner. I wanted that out of the way. Too, the kids wanted a fire so I built a rip roaring fire to add to the homey atmosphere. It was nice. After dinner, clean-up, and jammie time we played for another hour. I wrestled with Jacob at his insistence. Soon, Bella joined in, too. Something about hiding Jacob’s pajama bottoms in the cupboards got Bella crying profusely. She was certain that I threw them away. She screamed to high heaven about how mean I was. A minute or two later she was fine.
The kids went to bed around 7:45 via the traditional read and tuck. Mindy and I returned to the family room where we enjoyed the fire and exchanged back rubs. My neck was so stiff that I could barely turn my head, and despite taking my anti-inflammatory, my shoulder and mid- back ached fiercely.
Mindy tried rubbing in several different spots and tried a handful of techniques to help relieve the mounting pain, but nothing seemed to work. She rubbed the normal knots but could never seem to hit the epicenter of pain. After rubbing her back for 15 minutes, I asked her to push hard on my spine all the way up my back. Next, I had her dig into the top of my shoulder. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the almost unbearable pain just stopped. Gone was my stiff neck and the tension I felt all across my back and shoulders. Wow! That’s a miracle!
I have lived with similar stiff necks and back pain for days on end until it subsided naturally. I wasn’t sure what specifically she did to cause it to stop, but I do know this. It felt great! We’ll try the same thing the next time.
We headed to bed right at 10pm, but I wasn’t tired. After a few minutes of snuggling, I got up and went down stairs to read. After reading for twenty minutes I began to doze off. I headed back to bed where I found myself wide awake again. However, minutes later I drifted off to sleep.
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