Thursday. Oh, what a happy day Thursday was. My favorite of all the days. This particular Thursday was extra special and seemingly perfect. The weather was again, oh so perfect, too perfect. C and I headed down to the waterfront for some casual midday dog walking. I had the pleasure of slowly wandering along with an older lab, Denver. He was a gem. My perfect kind of dog, just casually movin’ along, smelling the flowers, chewing on a rock and enjoying the sunshine on your back. 

We jumped in the car and headed East on I-90 to Rattlesnake Ledge. We’ve heard that it’s quite a beautiful hike, but never in a million years, did I think it would be as breathtaking as it was. The photos cannot even do justice to the place. After walking through a tiny patch of trees we emerged to this stunning lake that was various shades of teals, blues and greens. It was the base of a tree line that reached as far as I could see. I couldn’t help but keep thinking to myself, “this is home. this is where I live.” I could feel the smile on my face grow as we looked around at the piece of heaven we had stumbled upon.

There was a small 2 mile up to get to the “ledge.” The weather was perfect for a hike- cool, yet warm with the sunshine beating down our backs. We headed through the trees and began on the path. We settled on a steady pace and made our way up the side of the hill, chatting about life along the way. So many of these moments have made me reflect on my time in New Zealand. Similar feelings of appreciation and happiness flood my mind and soul. I can’t help but just feel so thankful for the support from my family and friends back home.

Anyway, the hike up was a bit tiring mostly thanks to our lack of water intake. I could feel the drops of sweat rolling off my nose as we climbed up. It’s a good sweat, a sweat that makes you feel awesome. Like you are doing something useful with your body and your time. I love that feeling. Eventually we made our way to the look out and damn was it worth it. Everywhere you looked, was nothing but a breath-taking gift from God. It was seriously, heaven on earth. Trees, mountains, the lake below; it was all perfect. Almost too perfect. It made me feel like I was in a dreamland. It was a view that one was only supposed to see in National Geographic or in a Disney movie, not a view to see on a random Thursday. How lucky was I? This is my home. I thought it again and again and again. Home. I never want to forget this feeling. We spent some time up top taking in the view and catching our breath before deciding to start the hike down. 

The hike down was noticeably quicker but also made for some ping-pong falls. Literally, bodies flailing like we were baby giraffes. Made for some humor 😛  Once we got to the bottom, we ran to the rocky beach and got in the water. The water was a perfect temperature and felt wonderful against the heated and tired body that had been on active over load all week long.  Again, I couldn’t help but feel that incredible feeling being surrounded by such beauty; and it was all in my backyard. So awesome. I cannot wait to take my visitors here for a little getaway from the city.

We swam along the shore and found a giant bolder that was perfect for a little “mini cliff jumping.” I’ve never done actual cliff jumping because last year when we were going to go, the cliffs were blocked out on account of “danger” *eye roll, ha* Even though it wasn’t so high, it was nerve wracking because of the horror stories people tell. C would remind me that we were “tough mudder training” and then proceed to yell our favorite one-liner, “do it, man!” We swam and jumped for the rest of the afternoon before deciding that we had spent almost all our daylight hours soaking up this beautiful escape. Overall, it was one of those days, where you just want to forever stay in a moment. To soak it all in, and re-live it’s glory over and over. I guess, moments and days like these are exactly what makes life so awesome and sweet.

Happy Friday, xo