Activity Partner

So, I was out of town this past weekend with Caroline. We went up to Table Rock state park where we camped then hiked the 3.5 miles up to the overlook and back.

We have been doing quite a bit together recently, and I must say it has been a learning experience. Generally, whatever one of us has always wanted to do, the other has done. I want to see another country, she’s been to most of them. She wants to learn to sail, I’ve done it. So exploring each other’s interests and pursuing them further has been quite enjoyable, and has produced a couple of interesting stories to tell.

One day we were upstairs in the small gym which is on the ’spa level’ of my apartment building. Caroline had tagged along while I worked on my physical therapy workouts to keep everything nicely in shape. I was showing her the workouts that I do for the hip injury and she was learning and copying them. We were just working out when three other residents came up. First they turned on the sauna, then started killing some time while it warmed up. They were obviously foreign, and the language sounded Slavic in origin.

Now imagine how this looked. Three 20-something year olds, two girls and a guy, wander into a gym and turn on the sauna. They proceed to workout in a very playful manner, laughing and joking in a distinctly foreign language. Then they pull their clothes off down to their swim suits and step into the sauna.

Caroline looks over at me and says, “Does that look like the start of a bad porn movie to you?” This cracks me up and makes me loose count of what rep I am on, but things get even better! We finish the workout and Caroline looks at me and informs me that “we have done something you like to do, now we will try something I like to do.” After an comment about the inappropriateness of the location, Caroline starts teaching me how to dance. We were going over the basic steps of the Waltz when the young man comes out of the sauna and asks, in a thick accent, “Excuse me, but are you two dancers?” We explain that we are just having fun and that neither of us are good dancers, and he says “I was a professional dancer in Russia, and was wondering if you might know of any place which hosts ballroom dances.”

We chat a bit about it, and are ultimately unable to be of any help, but promise to let him know if we do find a place. About this time he realizes that he is standing there in his speedo and seems to get a little bit self conscious as he wraps up in a towel and excuses himself. Shortly after we have nearly the exact same conversation with the two girls who were there, at least one of whom was the young man’s sister.

We have told this story many times over, as it was quite the uniquely unexpected discovery after the initial impression.

Last weekend, however, was pretty much just fun. We camped out friday night, which was quite miserable since the heat and humidity combined for a ‘don’t touch me, you’re too warm’ night! The next morning we met a guy who was from Chapin, just up the road from Columbia, and was cycling all the way up to Virginia. We talked a bit about bike riding and planning multi-day cycling trips, since I have been wanting to do one for a while. We also talked a bit about climbing, as he was originally from New York and had done a lot of climbing at the Shawangunks up there, which is a pretty famous place.

That day was pretty warm for a good bit, but as we climbed the mountain the approaching storm fronts were cooling things quite a bit. When we reached the summit, 2,000 feet above where we started, we relaxed and watched a thunderstorm build up, let loose it’s fury, and then diminish over Greenville; all while sharing peanut butter and banana sandwiches on oat bran pitas. We relaxed and talked a bit with another group, a father and his three sons (ages 2, 3 and a half, and 5 and a half). They were from nearby Easley, and could actually see where their home was (the nearby water tower was the closest visible landmark). Caroline and I had stopped at a roadside stand and bought some peaches on the drive up, and we shared these with the other group, which the kids seemed to really enjoy.

Eventually we hiked back down, and who should we meet but Zachary Sutton, fellow age-grouper! Of all the places to be, at all the times, we were all out enjoying that particular park! We laughed and joked about getting ready for all the rough hill climbs the course in Florence will have (it’s gonna be pancake flat), and parted with a “See you in two weeks!”

We got back to the car, drove into Greenville and met my mother for dinner, which we both consumed quite heartily after a full day on the trail. Now here I sit the next day, at nine o’clock, tired and ready to call it a night! Nothing gets my day back on schedule like hiking!

I also will be going for a nice long bike ride one of these days with my friend Anthony, who I wrote about in one of my latest entries, so that will be quite fun!