Who'd Hike on Purpose?!?!?

And our trip continues . . . . . . . . .



We lived in the yellow building to the left

      After a traumatic beginning to our day, we were relieved to walk off the plane in Burbank, grab our luggage, check out the rental car, and hit the ground running in drama free conditions. We drove to our old neighborhood (surprised at all the new things we saw), equipped ourselves with refreshments from the old local Albertsons and visited the infamous Oberservatory in Griffith Park to enjoy the view before our upcoming hiking adventure. It was while we were walking up the inclining sidewalk that I heard it. A girl walking with her posse said in a disgusted manner, "Why would anyone hike on purpose?!?!?" . . . . . . .ummmm  . . . . Gee wiz. I don't know; maybe because its way more fun, beautiful, and breezier than running on a treadmill? Maybe I'm the weird one.



We had to change in resourceful places




And thought it would be fun to take before pictures!




Patrick taking the lead

      After pretending to be tourists, we changed into our athletic gear and headed for the hills. It was surreal to be back in the California weather and looking out over our old home; I tried my hardest to ingrain every detail into my memory. Our legs forgot how difficult it can be to run up such steep trails and before the workout was over, our shins started talking back, but it wasn't enough to slow us down.



Me Kicking some Griffith Park Butt



Looking out on our old neighborhood

My after . . . . Catching a breath

     On the way back through the old hood, we met face to face with the same old town traffic, which gave me the perfect opportunity to run out of the car while at a traffic light and get Patrick and I some free frozen yogurt samples to replenish our glucose stores. We arrived to Amy's apartment in near perfect timing as she arrived home from work only a few minutes later. She lives on a pleasantly quiet, tree covered, side street in Hollywood and wasted no time making us feel right at home.

     That evening we went to Katana, a sushi restaurant and ate on the beautiful upstairs outdoor patio. Not only was the sushi amazing, but Patrick and I also had our first Sake experience! I'd never had alcohol that was served warm like hot tea! After dinner we decided the 70F weather was too amazing to not thoroughly enjoy, so we walked down the street from Amy's apartment to 3rd Stop for a few drinks. I was feeling adventurous and drank Samuel Adams Summer Ale. . . . . prepared to spit it out if needed, I ended up surprising myself and downed a couple instead. Once we discovered Pringles were served for free, it just got silly from there, and we topped off our belly's with $4 pizza during late night food happy hour. What a way to end the night!

     Did you think it was possible for the rest of the day to end that smoothly? Well it's not over yet . . . . . Amy was amazingly sweet, giving us her apartment keys (one for the outside door, one for the inside door, which I immediately placed on my key chain for safe keeping) for the weekend so we could have our own place and when it was time to turn in for the night, she left with her boyfriend Danny, and directed us back on our way towards our "weekend home". I kept the outside door key in my hand the entire walk and when we arrived to the apartment, unlocked the door and pushed the elevator button, to look down and realize I no longer had the inside door key on the key chain. "Oh no! Why me? Why now?" I thought to myself. I started to panic on the inside this time. Patrick and I both headed outside to hopelessly search for a borrowed black key on a dark street with little expectations. Luckily we found it on the outdoor floor mat. The key chain was loose and the key must have slipped off while unlocking the outside door. What a relief!

     Needless to say, I slept hard that night. Real Hard.




My kicks before picture

 


They're broken in now!