When I was 20 years old I drove 1009.9 miles to sleep on the ground in the woods with the man that I love.
We met in Winchester, KY at a Chevron off the highway on Saturday afternoon. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him like my life depended on it. And in some ways it does.
Dinner at the Waffle House. Neither of us had been there since our first meeting upon my return from Chicago back in May. It's funny what a strange relationship we have with such a shoddy eatery. Some couples have favorite restaurants, we favor the WaHo. Our waitress Bobbi Joe was one of the happiest I've ever met. Interested in hearing of our epic journey to meet in the middle of the country, she served us in good spirits and was a pleasant alternative to the wonted woebegone waitresses of the south. We left satisfied and ecstatic to drive out the Red River Gorge in the early evening.
After a long drive out into the mountains, curving roads, dark tunnels and damp forest, we parked our cars at a trailhead and marched into the wild with 60 lb. packs and patent verve. The path led beside the rust-colored river for about a mile before leading us across a rope bridge. After trudging up the side of the river we realized how dark it was getting and that setting up camp would be increasingly more difficult if we waited until nightfall. Because the Gorge is vehement about low-impact camping, many of the more accessible sites were roped off and we were forced to bushwhack into the forest to make our own site. We dug a fire pit into the moist ground and clipped weeds and brush to make a clear surface to set up camp. After complete darkness had fallen we were finally finished pitching the tent and safeguarding our gear from rain, we had barely enough time to flare up a few marshmallows before the rain hit. And by rain I mean buckets and buckets. It fell all night long and accompanied thunder and lightening, of course. We took shelter and slept in the wet valley all night, wrapped up together on our blanket pallet. It was a terribly perfect night.
I woke up first and made some tea. Our camp was totally destroyed by rain, everything was soaked. I fixed oatmeal for Chris and when he finally woke up I peeked into the tent; he commented on what a lovely way to wake up it is, to see my face. He is warm to wake beside and warm in manner always. We packed up our wet gear and set back to the trailhead. I think after such a night we were ready to find a more suitable campsite and we took our cars up out of the valley to the other side. After stopping at the gas station for pretzels and soda, we drove back up the other side of the mountain to seek new grounds. The views were stunning, the woods were peaceful and clean. Huge valleys filled with trees and breath-taking cliffs, it was humbling to be a part of. We trekked around to check out the open camp sites and the woods were just beautiful. As we were walking down the paths we decided to break off and explore some of the offshoots of the trail and came upon the perfect site. It stood at the top of the mountain, overlooking the entire valley below. We had views of miles of woods and cliffs, not to mention the stunning orange sunset that we watched sitting in our hammock. It was everything we deserved and we were enraptured by it. We spent hours laying in that hammock together, just holding one another and drifting in and out of sleep.
We made a new friend, a white cat with spots that I dubbed "Montana." Chris agreed the cat was "big and useless had no speed limit." He also scared the piss out of me after rubbing up against my back while Chris told me scary stories, and woke us up before dawn the next morning. After spending time starting a fire and cutting wood (I credit most of the wood cutting to Chris, besides, he is the more manly of the two of us), we played with the cat and made rice and beans. It was funny, they were both good dinner company. Getting tired was easy, sleeping was easier. It always is.
Monday morning we woke up just to get in the hammock and fall back asleep. After packing everything up we headed out of the mountains again for the last time. One last stop by the gas station for a delicious mustardy pretzel and we head out to Winchester in search of a movie theater. Eventually we end up back in Lexington for some civilized activities. We found a cool vintage theater where we settled down with some popcorn and snowcaps to watch The Hurt Locker. It was a good movie but I really just enjoyed the date. We parted ways in that parking lot and I know I'd do it all over again if I had to. I drove straight back to Chicago to arrive back at my apartment around 2:30am. Completely worth it.
When I was 20 years old I drove 1009.9 miles to sleep on the ground in the woods with the man that I love.
