Wastin' Away in Margaritaville

This past weekend was my momma and I's semi-sort-of-annual-mother-daughter-vacation! We've been going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee since I was about 12, so this year we decided to switch it up and spent a lovely weekend in Myrtle Beach and Charleston.

Neither of us had ever been to Myrtle Beach and spent only minimal amounts of time in Charleston so it seemed like a perfect idea!

Unfortunately, the weather didn't quite agree with us going to the beach mid-April. Our first two days in Myrtle were spent wishing we had brought more sweaters. The temperatures also meant that any lounging on the beach we were planning on doing was pretty out of the question. We spent Friday wandering around the shops along the boardwalk. By Friday evening, we were out of things to do. (One can look at only so many "Myrtle Beach 2016" tank tops & shot glasses). Bummer when we still had two days of vacation! So we decided to do what anyone else in our position would do - let's take a road trip from our road trip!

A quick Google search revealed the Charleston was only 2 hours from Myrtle. Saturday morning, we woke up super early and started the trek to The Holy City. With Myrtle not exactly being our cup of tea, Charleston ended up being everything we wanted in a city! The weather cleared up, we had all new things to explore, and we spent the afternoon roaming around taking pictures and reading all about the history of the town.

It took Mom and me about six times longer to walk anywhere than it should have because we would both stop every 500ft to take a million pictures of someone's house. Everything in Charleston is so dang pretty! 

Once we were done oogling over downtown and were in danger of having full memory cards on our cameras, we got back in the car to search out Folly Beach.

Folly Beach has a special place in my heart, so I had to be sure to visit it again. This time last year, Patrick and I drove overnight to Charleston for his birthday and got there right as the sun was coming up. We ended up taking a nap on Folly, eating lunch, and turning around to come back home.

Essentially, that's what Mom and I did on this trip. We ventured out to the beach just long enough to snap some pictures.

Sunday was our last day on vacation. The drive back to Atlanta is 5 hours, so we had to leave early to avoid falling asleep at the wheel.
We got up really early, excited to see that the good weather from Charleston followed us back to Myrtle. We were finally able to venture out to the beach to take in all the beauty that had been hiding itself over the past 3 days.

We got back to Atlanta right around 2pm. Patrick was leaving at 3 to meet his friends for mountain biking, so naturally I had to tag along, too. I was exhausted from an amazing weekend, but it was great to be back on my bike.

Thank you, Momma, for an awesome weekend!

Right down the Middle

I've had Sophia (my mountain bike) for a week, officially! We've only had time to take her out on one proper outing so far, but I think that was enough for me to fall in love with her.
Last Monday, we ventured out to Cochran Mill Park, a nature center about 30 minutes south of the city. They have a series of trails spanning about 11 miles and ranging in skills from beginner to advanced.
Patrick was nice enough to stick to the beginner trails with me, while our other friends went to do a couple of loops around the advanced. I know I'll get better and I shouldn't be so tough on myself after a day of mountain biking, but holy cow! those beginner trails kicked my butt.

The views that come with mountain biking are definitely worth the suffering.

Once I got my sea legs (or is it trail legs?), things were overall pretty smooth sailing. Luckily, we got to the trails pretty early so, for awhile, it was only us out there. I was thankful to have my warm-up time to myself without having to worry about running across other cyclists, hikers, or dogs. However, right after leaving this beautiful river, the beginner's loop got even more intense. We climbed for what felt like forever (it was less than 500ft over 15 miles...whoops!) over rocks and roots. I quickly found out that I definitely need to study up on my climbing skill set. I'd get momentum going, but as soon as I saw an obstacle in my path, I panicked and got off my bike. Right now, the biggest goal for myself is just not be afraid. I've only ever broken my pinky finger and the thought of getting significantly hurt is always in the back of my mind.

By the end of the day, I only crashed once. Got a gnarly chain ring tattoo on the back of my leg and the most ridiculous bruise ever on my knee when a stick tried to stab into it. There's something really humorous of being on the ground and hearing your boyfriend yell "you're okay, don't cry!" as he rushes over to you. Sometimes I think he knows me a little too well...



My only problem now is that I don't want to go back to road riding. Even my 2 mile commute seems tedious now.
We're off to Chattanooga this upcoming weekend to visit my brother for Patrick's birthday. I'm real excited to check out some new trails in a new city.

New Bike Day (#3)

She is a Specialized Jynx Expert 650b

Meet Sophia - the newest addition to our constantly growing (bike) family.

I hadn't exactly been in the mountain bike market for very long...or, well, at all. Patrick and his friends have been almost exclusively riding their mountain bikes lately, but due to my work schedule, I was never off when they were going riding anyway, so it never much mattered to me that I didn't have one.

Naturally, however, there was that tiny part of me that saw how much fun they were having and envied not being out there too.
A couple of months ago, Patrick and I agreed that we were going to split the cost of a mountain bike for my birthday in May. We picked out the perfect one!
 Early last week, we found out that Specialized was extending their Spring Savings sale which make the bike we'd be scoping out incredibly affordable. Since the sale was ending about a month before my birthday, we decided to move up our purchasing date to as soon as possible.

& she has 27.5" wheels

Unfortunately, a couple of days after that decision, Pat comes home to tell me that the bike we were looking out was sold out. And the worst part?! One of their customers ordered one of the last ones in my size! I was heartbroken.
But, at least their was less pressure on my wallet and our time crunch was over...

Today, I went with him to work at the bike shop (the dudes there are nice enough to let me mill around on my days off and "help" work on bikes). Before we opened, I see Pat rolling down the exact bike I had my eyes on and he tells me that it's for that other customer, but he wants to see if the sizing would be what I'd need to get. So I halfheartedly get on the bike to test it out.
He then tells me that it's actually mine!!! I spend the next couple of minutes half-crying, half telling him to stop messing with me before I decide to believe him. But alas, she is all mine!

I'm impressed by Patrick's ability to keep a secret (and a straight face). My work schedule has also changed, meaning we have a day off together again. Hitting the trails early next week & I cannot wait! All the camping! All the mountain biking! Could not be more excited for summer!