How Hard Can It Be?!?

Our family has always used this motto. We are willing to try anything twice. :) Anyway, since we have been living here, it turns out the answer to that question is, "pretty darn hard."

Example #1 - I went running today and took the kids in the double stroller. When we go to the part where the trail went through the fields the stroller wouldn't fit in between the hedge rows. I didn't want to cut the run short so I just stayed on the sidewalk and figured if I went in the general direction of the main road we could find the road and follow it home. Not so much... The run ended up taking an hour and a half. I have no idea how many miles we went, how many evil hills of death I pushed that stroller up, or how many people I asked for directions. We finally made it home and I am SO tired. I knew from past experience that the roads here NEVER come out where you think they will. They twist and turn and end up coming out in Italy or maybe even Morocco.

Example #2 - We headed out for a hike Sunday morning. We planned to meet some friends and do a really neat snow hike along the river Gorbofen. There was loads of snow up up on the moors. There were also snow/ice covered roads and thick white fog. Between the white fog, the snow covered roads, the snow covered land, and the snow that was falling, we were left in something of a white out. It was gorgeous. The wild ponies were all shaggy and cute in the snow. They seemed completely oblivious to the cold.

We followed the Garmin which was a big mistake because it took us on all the crazy back roads which were covered in nasty ice all the way across the moor. Shortly after we made the turn at the road to the trailhead we realized we were not going to make it back up the hill and to the main road. At that point there was nothing we could do about it as we were already on the way down the hill and there was NO where to turn around. We slid most of the way down the hill. That doesn't sound scary until you add in the sharp curves and the fact that either side of the road was edged with rock walls. Then it was scary. Luckily, we have the Husband who is the best driver ever. We got to the bottom of the hill safely and decided to try to get to the top right away as more snow was falling. We made it about half way up when we started to slide back down. The next thing we knew we were wedged in between the rock walls.

We worked and worked to get the car out, but all we managed to do was to get wedged more and more tightly in between the walls. At one point, the poor van was nearly perpendicular to the walls. Clearly, we needed shovels, sawdust, and a push or two. Luckily there was a super duper nice man who lived nearby who brought shovels (spades if you are British) and his son to help bust up the ice and get us out. Our fiends also showed up and helped out. With all the shovels and man power we were finally able to get the van out of the mess. We parked on the main road and then headed out for our hike. It was MUCH shorter than we planned, but was still amazingly beautiful. The van only suffered cosmetic damage from scratching against the rock walls.

So, from now on, when we ask ourselves, "How hard can it be?" we are fully prepared for "it" to be super duper hard. That won't stop us from trying though. :)