One Day Off

Yesterday, Memorial Day, was one of those RARE days - the FIRST in fact - when BOTH Beau and I had absolutely no job to go to at all. And yet, I was astonished when Beau said, "This is the first time I've had an entire day off since I started at Wally World." I knew we both worked nearly every day, but I didn't know he had never had even a single day off from all jobs since then.

It was a VERY important to me that we get out of Missoula and do something nature-related. The whole big deal about Montana is supposed to be its natural beauty, and when Beau started fantasizing about moving back to the United States from New Zealand, it was his peaceful, happy memories deep within the forests, rivers, and mountains of western Montana that lured him back. I knew, that both of us, more so for him, we had to get out of the city that had been demoralizing us for so long and DO something active. I wanted to camp for one night, but our schedules wouldn't even allow that (we both worked until 11pm the previous night), so it was going to be a day trip. I asked around, did my internet research, and finally came up with Holland Lake. A place about an hour, hour and a half away (no sweat for us) that featured a forest full of trails, a giant picturesque lake (with appropriately snow-covered majestic mountains in the background), and...a waterfall! Who isn't a fan of waterfalls?

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of hiking. I'm not a fan of anything that makes me carry heavy equipment like a gold miner's pack mule, breathe like I'm having an asthma attack, or makes me a sweaty mess (I'm not a "glistener," I'm a SWEAT-ER, a red-faced one), for no reason than just to do it. If there is an intended goal, like a waterfall, then I am a bit more motivated. Hiking has always struck me as one of those things that you're supposed to say you really love doing. I just don't.

But, this time, I WAS motivated and excited. Yet on Monday morning, it almost didn't happen. Beau had asked me about three times when I wanted to leave, and I had always answered, "Well, as soon as we get up, but pretty early" (since my days of sleeping in until noon are long behind me). And though Beau no longer gets up at 5am like clockwork each morning (thank god), he still is up bright and early almost every day. Well, I finally crawled out of bed a little after 8am, tried to get him up, was not successful (as mentioned, we had both worked late the previous night), and went and took a shower. Finally, Beau crawled out of bed. He turned on the TV, he lazily put lotion on, he had some Lucky Charms, HE MADE A POT OF COFFEE. I think the sound of the percolator is what set me off. Like, he couldn't buy a frickin cup of coffee on the way? (which I had figured he'd do anyway). I, already being dressed and ready to go, was not entirely pleased by this languid ritual. I tried to "motivate" him to hurry up, but Beau has never appreciated my *ahem* gentle nudging.

I felt like this ONE day was weeks in the making (and waiting), and felt it ticking away... So therefore, we argued.

Well, I won't go into the details of that, but we did get out the door, finally. Like an hour later.

And the mini road trip was on. I love road tripping with Beau. He drives, I read aloud, we both watch scenery. I often comment that our relationship was built on road trips, since the first SEVERAL times we were together, we spent MUCH of that time driving from one place to another. And then in NZ it continued in even greater force driving from our isolated village to other cities and during our mega north to south, two week road trip.
The drive was nice, as immediately the countryside got more rugged and the mountains taller. As we got closer to Holland Lake, we frequently spotted mule and whitetail deer on the sides of the road. Then we reached the parking lot where all the trails started, got my backpack ready (water, extra clothes, and of course, chocolate), and started the hike.

It wasn't bad, not at all. The various ascents weren't too challenging and the forest was lovely, not to mention that trail skirted around the edge of the lake the whole time. A couple of points had some breaks in the foliage to really see the vastness of the lake with the mountains as backdrop. Along the way we only passed a few people, which was nice, and as usual, EVERYONE has a dog (usually a Lab or Golden Retriever) with them. One already heavily-laden couple even had their own two dogs carrying dual-fanny packs of who knows what. There was even one group that had a baby in a backpack and a small three-year old walking along. Shit, if a three year-old can do it...
We walked in single file, sometimes Beau in front, sometimes me. We talked about different stuff along the way. I'm a fast walker who stops a lot and Beau's a slow walker who likes to soak it all in. It kind of evens out.
As with most falls, you hear them and sometimes even feel them, before you see them. That always kind of lends to the excitement. It's always one of those situations where you round a bend and POW - there they are in all their drama. And there it was! Lovely mid-sized waterfall.We climbed up on some rocks and sat down to rest and enjoy the view. Almost immediately, what looked to be very large chipmunks, ("It's a ground squirrel," Beau informed me), emerged from the various rock crevices and came toward us with surprising boldness. It was clear from their plumpness and audacity that they'd been fed many times before. So, we dug out the only thing we had, chocolate. "Will chocolate hurt them?" (You always hear horror stories about what it does to dogs). "I don't know," said Beau. So, not letting that stop us, we broke off very small pieces ("Dark chocolate is probably healthier anyway," I said as I chose it) and gave them each one. You'd think we had given them crack. Happy little squirrels!
I gave a very uneasy "Arrrrr" out when one climbed purposefully up on my thigh, but thankfully, they scare just as easily as they approach, and my nervous vocals sent it darting away in fright.

Then there was a very interesting moment when the little birds in the trees surrounding us suddenly gave out these sharp chirps. The squirrels, knowing exactly that "sharp chirp" = "danger danger" all immediately dove for cover, and in a split second, we went from a gaggle of gregarious company, to being totally alone on the rocks.
"Look," pointed Beau and in the distance, soaring in broad circles, was a bald eagle (not pictured above). "Ooooh" was my thoughtful reply. Pretty amazing to see nature at work like that. I have now heard the small bird equivalent of "Holy shit! It's an eagle! Run!"We hung out there a bit more, playing with the squirrels, who eventually re-emerged, and we continued to stare at the falls. Of course, I took 10,000 photos until my memory card filled. And finally, as a couple kids showed up, fists full of crackers for the squirrels, we got up, and made our way back down. I really enjoyed the walk. It was a bit of a brisker pace, as it always is on the way back from these things, and we talked and talked (I did a bit more of the yapping), talking about our families and our futures and whatever else came up.

I think we really really needed this little jaunt, and I am grateful for it. And seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean (hmm, it was okay), and chomping down the ribeye steak (mmmm steak), I ordered at Outback Steakhouse back in town helped make the day even better.

As for today, oh well, back to work for the both of us. And -ooh ow ooh- seems I'm a little tender.