The GeekHiker

Last week was one of those weeks that was neither good nor bad. It was just kind of there, you know?

One of those weeks where I got up, went to work, went to the gym, came home, surfed the net or read, went to bed. Nothing great happened, nothing disastrous occurred. It was just about as average as a week could be.

That’s not a bad thing, mind you, but it’s not that thrilling. Doesn’t make for good writing, either.

Today won’t go down as one of the “most memorable days of my life” or anything so mind-blowing. But as a GeekHiker day goes, it was pretty damn good, so I’m blogging it more for my own posterity than anything else.

I started out with a tasty (though not particularly nutritious) breakfast of waffles and apple syrup (from a trip to Oak Glen last fall, natch), then headed out to go hiking with some friends.

The day started cool and crisp, and warmed up pleasantly as the day went on. Even with a south-exposure, the sweat was from the uphill climb rather than an oppressive temperature, and was cut occasionally by a surprisingly chilly breeze.

I’ll post the hike later, but it did accomplish something I’d mentioned a few posts back as well: my boots were on a local trail they hadn’t seen before, so I’m expanding my hiking repertoire just as I’d hoped.

Due to one of the group having to go into work, the hike was only a half-day affair, so I headed off solo to the theater to catch a showing of “No Country For Old Men”, the Coen Brothers newest flick. I highly recommend it, but it is quite dark, so if that’s not your thing, you should avoid it.

This evening, I decided to try an experiment for dinner. With none of the frozen pizzas at the grocery store a few days ago looking appetizing, I decided to try one of the Boboli pizza crusts, adding my own toppings (pepperoni, olives, and three kinds of cheeses, for those curious about such things). Along with a side salad, it actually (and somewhat surprisingly) turned out pretty good:

Tasty.

Finally, tonight was the conclusion to The Amazing Race. Going into the finale rooting for all three teams was something unique this year; usually there’s one team (made up of young, athletic, smug guys you just want to slap across the face as often as not) who you find yourself rooting against, just because you don’t want those guys to win.

Maybe it’s a personal vendetta: they’re usually just like the guys who gave me shit in high school. Heh.

This year, though, I liked all three teams. The Father-Daughter team who reconciled their differences as he learned how to respect and work with her as an adult. The Grandson-Grandfather team who went around the world with the grandson carrying both their bags. The young cute couple, who were so obviously mellow, enjoying each other’s company without being annoying about it, and clearly taking pleasure just in going on a trip around the world that they didn’t bug the hell out of me.

I think that’s why The Amazing Race is pretty much the only reality show I can stand: it’s about the teamwork and relationship between the players on each team. And this season, the one’s who clearly didn’t work together didn’t make it.

Although, I’ll admit, I had kinda hoped the goth couple would make it into the final three. Oh, well, can’t have everything.

But that’s a minor quibble. All in all, it’s been the kind of day one can’t shake a stick at.

And, as Just A Girl said to me via e-mail: “We all need good days. Lots of them.” Hear hear.