Always looking up

*I’m writing this on Friday night, but I will not get a chance to post it until Saturday morning.  I have no urge to walk across the parking lot in my pajamas just for the WiFi.*

The first time I ever really hiked, I was looking down most of the time.  I had to.  The terrain was pretty treacherous, and I was the slowest one in our group.  That was when Cas and I were making our way through the Samaria Gorge in Crete.  It was part of our trip to Greece, and I was in no way prepared to do it.  

I had a pretty negative view of the whole idea of hiking after that.  Apparently, that is a really tough hike.  It’s the kind of thing avid hikers put on their hiking bucket list.  I was just learning how to do it.  Talk about the deep end of the pool.  

Today, we went on something called the Window Trail.  It was so much better that I can actually see why people would get into hiking in the first place.  I could look up.  I didn’t need to stare at the ground to be sure of my footing in each individual step- instead, I could see what there was to see.  Even the other day at the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center, the path was uneven, requiring a great deal of my focus.  This was my best hike yet.  

Today, I could look up at the “window.”  This is what they were talking about:

The gap between the two mountains is a lovely window to the world on the other side of them.  It was pretty great.  

After we did that trek, Cas in his infinite wisdom recommended we check out the lodge for its bar and restaurant.  We had a few drinks and a really nice meal, though we kind of dragged the meal out so we could stay at our table near the window throughout sunset.  Again, I had to stop and look up.  It was a gorgeous sunset.  

After that, I had the infinite wisdom.  I suggested we take a post-dinner nap until it was totally dark out so we could bring Cas’ telescope out into the grass in front of our room and look up yet again.  Since our cloudy night at the observatory was still pretty thick with stars to my untrained city eyes, tonight’s sky was practically blanketed with stars.  The sky was so black and the stars were so bright- I think it’s a new moon right now, or something pretty close.  

Cas delighted in finding the things we had spotted in professional astronomers’ telescopes just the other day.  He did a pretty good job with his binoculars and his small telescope.  I wouldn’t have done nearly as well.  Then again, he is pretty good at most everything he tries.  

We have a plan to do a scenic drive tomorrow.  It apparently features lots and lots of places to stop the car and hike around.  We have a river float in the afternoon.  I hope we continue looking up all day tomorrow.  It’s pretty great to always be looking up.