expectations + my weekend trip to indy

Every summer throughout middle and high school, my dad and I would go on a backpacking trip in Montana. Those trips are some of my absolute favorite memories, and I wish I had the time (and days off...) to keep up the tradition. As one trip wrapped up, my dad proposed the following day we take a day hike into a lake he'd wanted to fish since he was young. Somehow, during an 11-mile hike out he convinced me to commit to a 22 mile hike the following day. I was a very agreeable youth apparently. 22 miles was more than I had ever hiked in one day, but with a lighter pack than I'd had the whole week before, I felt up for it. At the crack of dawn we awoke, and headed to the trail head. The 11 miles in wasn't awful. The fishing once we arrived however was tremendously awful, like the lake didn't even have fish-awful. I opted to nap while my far more patient father tried a little longer to catch anything living. He failed, so we took off for the car... 11 miles away. Napping was probably the wrong decision I realized while walking back, the lactic acid had pooled quite pleasantly in my legs, making each step a strain. About halfway out we passed some very polite dog walkers who we asked how far until the trailhead, they replied 2 miles. 2 miles is a lot less than 5.5 miles. Liars. In my mind we only had 2 miles left though. So, that last 5.5 miles may have been the longest 5.5 miles I've traveled. Ever. The car just wasn't appearing, and all the trees looked the same. Finally, finally we arrived at the car, and I had never felt so accomplished in my life.

Fast forward like 10 years, and the same thing happened, but way less epic. Over the weekend, my college roommates and I met up in Indianapolis. While wandering downtown, we came upon the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and discovered you could go up in it. The sign said something along the lines of 3 flights of stairs (we didn't read the whole thing...), which makes perfect sense since the building is like 285 tall, just shy of the height of the statue of liberty to put it in perspective. So, we started our hike up the stairs thinking it would be pretty short. 331 steep, shallow, narrow steps and a few breaks later we were in the claustrophobic, hot observation area. My legs haven't felt that much like jello since lunging laps for lacrosse in high school. I think we would've paid the $2 to take the elevator if we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Oops. My legs still feel tight today... Good thing the rest of the weekend was fun :)