go take a hike.

6:15 am 

Alarm goes off and unlike the past few days I hop out of bed excited about the day ahead, even after realizing we had NO COFFEE in the house, which is an actual sin to me. I was ready for an adventure. After getting ready, grabbing Chey, some Cheerwine and a much needed oil change we hit the road.

First stop: Amilies French Bakery (insert heart eyes emoji).

I got a *heavenly* café mocha, yogurt with *delicious* berries and a macaroon. My mouth started to water just typing my breakfast.

The only thing better then the food at Amilies is the decor.

I mean this is ONE corner of Amilies, look at the table, look at the piano, look at the globe, LOOK at the lamp!!

After mourning over our empty plates at Amilies, we drove out to the real adventure. Since we had gotten such a early start to our day we decided to hike as much of the Crowder's Mountain national park as possible. Thus begins loads of greenery photos and unnecessary selfies. Enjoy!

Our first nature stop was the lake near the bottom of the mountain. I knew I would love it because I am a water bug, but it was even more relaxing then I thought, I mean just look at how the light reflects off the water. swoon.

of course I had to take a picture of the sky....

..and the ground (this is pre-hike so these flats are acceptable)

and obviously I wasn't alone in the photo taking

getting a little tree selfie action because: nature.

This is where our actual hike starts. We decided at this point that we would conquere BOTH mountains on this trail. First we would take on Crowder's mountain, which we had never actually hiked yet. Then we would climb to the top of King's Pinnacle, which is the path we normally choose.

Five minutes into the hike: our first nature photo op stop was this little bridge

We got our feet wet and "OMG'd" excessively

This tree dropped some wisdom on us.

My dreams came true as I became an Olympic gymnast in the woods

Then our path turned into an actual uphill struggle.

But we made it and D A M N look at that view.

There is nothing better then the breeze at the top of the mountain.

ah just look at those pine cones

and the view

mountain #1: DONE. Only thing left to do.....

GET DOWN

so we tumbled down the mountain without dying

...I found a pitchfork and posed for a picture because I'm actually 5

After 2.5 miles (UP HILLS & ROCKS) we made it to the top of mountain 2!

This view never gets old. Maybe it's the fact that I can look out and see the world all around me.

Mountain #2: DONE

and we didn't fall off any cliffs

When we were making our way down the last mountain I had lots of thoughts like how amazing a shower would be and how even more amazing some lemonade would be. Other then the shower and lemonade I thought about this hike and the whole day. How lucky am I to spend 11 hours with one of my best friends talking about life and laughing at stupid shit that nobody else would find funny. Disconnected from the world in the middle of the woods. How interesting it was that I felt so much more energized AFTER our 7 miles hike than I did before. It reminded me how important it is to disconnect to connect to ourselves. Maybe you don't have time for a 7 miles hike but take some time each day, listen to your favorite song or spend a couple minutes reflection on your day in a journal. Gain perspective on your life by connecting with yourself. 

GO TAKE A HIKE.