A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Running in Harpers Ferry


Over my Christmas break, Paul and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Harpers Ferry, WV. We were there earlier in the month for Olde Tyme Christmas and had such a wonderful time! One thing we weren't able to do that evening was hike on the Appalachian Trail (Paul's wish) and run on the C&O Canal Trail (my wish). Well, around 11:00am on the Tuesday after Christmas, we decided to head down there and realize our dreams!

Now, I hope to tell you the good, bad, and ugly on my blog. Paul and I have lots of fun times together but sometimes we get annoyed with each other. I got a little annoyed on the drive down. We didn't have any podcasts that we both liked to listen to. I had plenty of true crime/murder podcasts, but he doesn't like to listen to that stuff.

So he started playing on his phone, which is fine, but then I was bored because I was stuck driving. I got annoyed and put on my headphones so I could listen to my murder podcasts without him crying. (Inside joke about the crying thing!)

We hit a little traffic so it took a little longer to get to Harpers Ferry than normal. But this time, we knew the ropes, so we drove straight to the shuttle area and hopped on the bus...

Well, we had to go into the visitors center and buy passes first, so we missed the bus and had to wait for the next one.


The bus drops you off at lower town. We walked right over to the water where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet. There is a beautiful mountain, train bridges, and it is all so picturesque! PAUL LOVES THIS PLACE. He gets really hype about it. I like it too, but not as much as him!
  


This is the first time I actually saw a train go across the bridge!

Paul is hype. I'm anxious to start running.

You can walk across the train bridge, and since that's where I would get on the C&O Canal Trail, that's what we did. 


Paul would walk back across the bridge and hop on the AT on the Harpers Ferry side. We decided on our meeting place/time and off we went!



 The trail was flat, your typical rail trail Very pretty!

Parts of it had me running right between the river and the canal.

On the way out the wind was at my back. When I turned around after a half hour, I was met with some killer wind at my face! Ugh!


The water was quite treacherous! I'm going to be honest... it was hard for me to relax on this run. While I did pass walkers and cyclists from time to time, I never felt content. It was a combination of being apprehensive in a new place and also the fact that the podcast I was listening to (and all the podcasts I had been listening to for the past two weeks) was about true crime. I was convinced there was a mad man following me on the path and that his goal was to rape me and drown me in the river.

This is me, trying to be happy about running but also scared there was a murderer following me...

There was a cute little house!


I seriously just did a point and click and got this cool photo!

It was a pretty run, but I got bored like I normally do on rail trails. My body felt creaky as well. I had done a lot of running over the holidays. I got done a little before Paul and I agreed to meet so I took the time to stretch.

Then I met Paul. He had a nice hike but his ingrown toenail was bothering him a lot. He refused to take pain meds, which I didn't understand because they always help me when one of my toes hurt.

We popped into a bookstore and Paul got a Harpers Ferry patch. He collects patches for places we go. He hasn't done anything with them yet, though. Any ideas!?

Then we walked up to the Appalachian Trail Conservatory. Harpers Ferry is the psychological halfway point (whatever that means) of the AT. Apparently this place is really hopping in the spring!

The conservatory was a little farther than I had anticipated. The temps were dipping and I was getting cold! We went inside and the volunteer working there was just the kind of person that annoys me. When you had a conversation with her, she was not only condescending, but she wouldn't let you get a word in edgewise! She annoyed Paul too! Needless to say, we both wish we had not gone in there!

This pic was taken before we went inside and got annoyed.

At this point, I wasn't much fun to be around. I was freezing and getting really hungry. We were going to find a place to grab something to eat before leaving the little town, but all the restaurants were closed!

So we walked toward the shuttle. It was about to leave, and I asked Paul if he wanted to run toward it so we wouldn't have to wait for the next one. He didn't want to. Oh boy did that make me pissy. I wasn't concerned about his sore toe and what running would do to it... I was concerned about being FREEZING COLD. (This is an example of me being selfish.)

Waiting for that shuttle made me realize I could never go on Survivor. Being cold and hungry just doesn't allow me to be a functioning human being. Finally the shuttle arrived. When we got to the car, Paul had to unlock the doors because my fingers were too frozen to turn the key.

We headed home. We hit traffic. We were starving. His phone died. I gave him my phone to use and I put on my headphones to listen to a podcast about Charles Manson. I completely zoned out. I was in what we call "shut down mode"... where I'm too hungry and tired to interact with anyone.

When I got home, I had two stuffed olives, three mini turkey and cheese croissants, a bowl of chili with chips, and sausage dip with chips. Then I had two cookies, two Jelly Belly candy canes, and a Hershey bar for dessert. Somehow I had two glasses of wine in there as well.

I eat a lot.

It was a good day but it wasn't perfect!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I found a twenty in my waist pack that I wore while running! I guess I threw one in there at some point. Don't you love when you find "free money"?
Do you get bored on rail trails?
How would you fare being hungry and cold on Survivor?
What happens to you when you hit "shut down mode"?

23 comments:

  1. I saw a headline about Charles Manson in the news yesterday and decided to look him up. I knew he was a mass murderer but I didn't really know anything about his story. I definitely had no idea his murders were done to incite a race war? Don't you find it interesting how women can contact people like Manson in jail and fall in love with them/get married to them? I can't understand it!

    When I hit shut down mode I don't talk and I give angry stares to anyone that talks to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't understand it either! And I don't understand women who end up marrying men who are not in jail but are suspected of killing their wives! I would be so scared he'd kill me too! I cam be pretty annoying...

      Delete
    2. Oh, don't look up crime scene photos of the Tate murders... it's so sad.

      Delete
  2. I love when I find money in my running clothes! One time I found a 20 on the ground when I was running, that was exciting! Looks like a fun trip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it is a nice little surprise! Finding it on the road would be super cool too!

      Delete
  3. It's too bad the expectation of the day was higher than the reality of how it played out...but such is life, huh? And I appreciate you keeping it real. I think that trail is beautiful...I have not ever run on trails (I run in the dark and it's not safe) so I am not sure if I would be bored. I would not do well on Survivor. I am the very biggest baby when I am cold, tired, hungry. I know I can sometimes act like a child and Rick always takes the high road and puts up with it (let me tell you, if he did that I would be like "suck it up"...but thankfully I am married to a much better person than I am). Oh, "free" money is the best! My mom stuffed money everywhere so when we were going thru her clothes and handbags...well, it was like "let it rain". LOL. P.S. that is a decent meal, but not like a huge ton of food...I eat a lot, too, so it didn't really strike me as a lot when I read it. We would get along just fine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too am married to a better person than I am!!! How did we get so lucky!?

      Eating all that food at the end of the day is a prime example of how I need to plan better. What made me think I could be gone for 6 hrs, run 7 mi, and not have a backup plan for food????

      Delete
    2. Lesson learned, right?!? So, I keep food in my car. I have lara bars & packets of almonds and cashews. Helps in an emergency and both Rick and I have had to "break the glass" and grab the emergency food :)

      Delete
  4. What is Harper's Ferry known for back in the day? Was it a railroad community? Coal mining?

    The trail you ran looks lovely! I totally understand the feeling of apprehension running on a new trail by yourself. I'd feel the same way!

    How can Paul not like true crime stories???..lol. I actually thought having earbuds in while driving was illegal. At least that's what we learned in drivers Ed a million years ago. But I do see other drivers wearing them and when I mentioned to Scott about it once he said that they were probably wearing them for there phone. So since all this technology these days perhaps the rules have changed since I was in drivers ed..haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure of all the historical details but John Brown, an abolitionist, had a Fort there and I think he tried to free slaved. And some Civil War shit went down. How's that for vague??? Lol. I'm not sure if earbuds is illegal but Paul has suggested that too me as well. I normally only have one in and since I listen to podcasts I can easily hear what's going on around me. It would freak me out if I couldn't! But niw I'm going g to have to look that up once and for all!

      Delete
    2. Okay I looked it up and in pa it looks like you can have earbuds in one ear.

      Delete
    3. Ha, good to know! Is it illegal in some states?
      When I learned about this rule it was back in the day where if anyone wore earbuds it was probably because they were listening to a walkman...haha

      Delete
    4. It dies look like it's related to blueat tooth hands free type stuff. So it prob changed since we were young info. Not sure about other states, I only looked up pa.

      Delete
  5. This sounds like both, a fun trip and a stressful hungry trip.

    In my family it has always been Driver rules the radio and everybody has to "put up with it", if somebody doesn't like it, then that somebody has to put on headphones.

    That was so nice of you to give Paul your phone to keep entertained while driving! You are too kind... I would tell Roger to suck it up and talk to me or distract himself with something else.

    I could not make it on Survivor, can't deal with cold and hungry... and I'm sure there is no starbucks or tacos wherever Survivor takes place.

    That is an interesting question about Shut down mode... I will have to think about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh I like your driver rules! Normally Paul and I prepare and have plenty of podcasts we both enjoy.

      Delete
  6. Our trail like that one is easy to run exactly for that reason. You can zone out for miles - which is a good thing on an 18 miler. It really gets quite mesmerizing because it's the same thing over and over! But I can see how that gets boring too. Yep, I can't be on Survivor because I'd be a major bitch after not eating for 5 hours. I'd be a total waste!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can see how it is nice to zone out! That is how I feel around my hood. I honestly think being scared hindered my enjoyment. I didn't want to zone out.

      Delete
  7. I have what most people call "loud body language" so even when I'm working really hard at being nice, I am still very not nice. I hate being cold, I hate being hungry. It gets to the point where being cold actually HURTS. And I feel like when it hits that point, nobody really understands what it feels like because if they did, then they'd realize just how much of an emergency it really is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I have loud body language too! Omg, I'm a teacher so I must! Do you have that rinhauds disease? I know i spelled it wrong.

      Delete
  8. This looks like a GORGEOUS place to run! Our rule about driving is that whoever is driving picks the music/podcast. The passenger can play on their phone or nap but only if the driver is choosing the entertainment! Matt has had to listen to lots of Harry Potter podcasts with me. Luckily I mostly like his podcast choices (Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me is his favorite lately) and music choices!

    I get in shutdown mode too. This Christmas was the first time I experienced it around Matt's dad and I was worried he'd think I was being a bitch but he was so nice about it. He was like, "Oh Tammy gets like this too, have some ham and cheese!" lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is very interesting to hear everyone's driving rules about music and podcasts!

      That is so sweet your FIL understood that you shut down and didn't think it was weird! My in laws are understanding like that too.

      Delete
  9. Happy to provide best services in your site unique and we wish you lasting success in your field, we شركة تنظيف منازل بالرياض provide you as a service to clients your website featured

    ReplyDelete