So, before my epic story detailing my morning. I wanted to add a small anecdote to losing weight. I can take a bath now. Previously, I could not fit into my tub. Now I can. Huzzah! It’s a surreal feeling, I know I say that often. But it really is, the small things, like taking a bath, something that I am sure many many people take for granted. But it was something I previously could not do, and now, I find myself taking baths as often as I can. I have salts, and oils, and bubbles, oh my the bubbles. I enjoy the tub so much, being able to actually lay there without the fear of being stuck, and just let the water roll over me. It’s great.
Moving on!
This morning I attempted to do a 3.5 mile hike called the Sugar Pine Railway trail, Strawberry Branch – “For more than 50 years in the early 1900s, the Sugar Pine Railway operated steam trains to haul logs along the Stanislaus River for the Standard Lumber Company and later the Pickering Lumber Company. Today this wooded corridor hosts a gentle 3-percent grade rail-trail for hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians and cross-country skiers. The trail represents a very small part of the Sugar Pine Railway system, which included about 70 miles of main line and almost 400 miles of spurs and branches. While there are a number of rail-trails in the Sierra left over from the area’s extensive logging history, this is one of the easiest and most family-friendly because of its easy accessibility, gentle grade and relatively forgiving dirt surface.”
So, this morning I put the trail in my GPS and off I went. I left the house at 8:40 this morning. This is important. GPS had me there at around 9:20, that’s fair, it’s up the hill a bit. SO, I get on the road, and go to where my GPS is taking me. Which is fine, I have an all wheel drive vehicle, I can do this. I am used to going off-roading. So, n4613 here I go, Forest Access RD. So I am going down it, and the road is getting hazy, but sure, it’s 2 miles up the road, right? right? Gps then says “You have reached your destination”.. UH.. where the hell am I? I am in the middle of no where. and GPS is saying “Welcome to the Strawberry Sugar-pine Railway trail”.. with an option to “walk to your destination”.. So I press it.. it’s 2 hours behind me walking distance. #%$? I am getting so frustrated at this point I almost start crying. It’s now 9:40am. So, I haul out of there, and pull up the trail on my phone. Eventually it says “The bridge..” So I go back to the road where I saw a bridge.. This bridge :
