Greenway & H2O Centre

Jonathan woke me up this morning because I gave him permission to.  I knew I'd never wake up much before noon on my own and I detest waking up to a blaring alarm clock, especially on days when I don't absolutely HAVE to be up at a certain time for classes or work.  Around lunchtime we went for a walk, which turned into a hike.  I suggested we walk along the Mission Creek Greenway and Jonathan agreed.  For a few minutes we toyed with the idea of biking on the Greenway, but I was in the mood to walk, and I was really glad for that later on.

We walked right by my old elementary and high school (all one big long building), crossed a main road, and walked another minute or two before reaching the Mission Creek and the Greenway.  Then we set out east for a short time and then mostly south, along the creek.  We stopped for a few minutes at the pool of water I used to always walk to with Pepper so she could swim.  Then we took a seldom-used trail that kept going beside the creek until we crossed back to the Greenway.  After walking about two or three miles, we got to a bridge, which is the farthest up the creek I have ever gone on the Greenway.  There was a trail with a sign saying the trail was dangerous and not to proceed.  I kind of wanted to anyway, to see where it led, but then we saw a different trail going up the side of the cliff beside us.  So we took that trail, which made our walk turn into a hike.

After finally getting to the top of the rock trail/wooden stairs, we rested for a bit and then hiked up another short trail to the top of a rise where we took pictures.  Then we went to the edge of the cliff and sat on the boulders to take pictures of us above the creek.  We opted to go back then so we could spend the rest of our afternoon doing something else, but I wanted to try going back a different way, on the second trail leading to the rise.  That went well for a few minutes, but soon that trail got overrun with weeds.  Jonathan suggested we just feet-slide our way down a sandy-rocky section of the mountain.  I didn't feel quite alright with that, but wanted to get down and head back home quickly, so finally agreed to it.  It was a mistake.

We clung to the roots of a huge tree as we tried to stay upright while scooting down the shifting  terrain.  Mid-sized rocks came dislodged and bounced down the slope beneath us and a dog in the trailer park below started barking.  I got really nervous about the whole venture and voted to climb back up to the trail and go back the way we came up.  Jonathan still wanted to try the sliding sand and, since I didn't want to go back up alone, I followed him farther down the embankment.  Finally, after sand poured into my shoes and more rocks tumbled down the hill and it looked like the whole thing would come down around us if we attempted to go further down, we both decided to climb back up to the regular trail.  Jonathan went first and I tried to mimic where he placed his hands and feet.  Unfortunately, I'm a lot shorter than he is and my arms and legs are too, so I had to make my own way back, all the while hanging on to the tree roots.

Eventually, we made it back to the top of the embankment and back on the trail, where we made our way back to the bridge.  Once there, still filled with an adventurous spirit from our recent escapade, we decided to venture down the closed, potentially dangerous trail.  It was just as nice as the rest of the Greenway until it petered out into a bunch of creekside rocks.  We looked up and identified the cliff we had taken pictures at earlier.  I was boiling by this time and decided to risk drinking the cool creek water.  Jonathan followed suit and then poured water down my back when I wasn't watching.  Although startled, I didn't really mind.  It felt great.  After our thirst was quenched and I was considerably cooler, we headed back along the trail and eventually made it back to my house.

We rallied the rest of the household currently at home and then all of us stopped first at Taco Time (like Taco Bell, but cooler and only on the West Coast) for a late lunch/early supper.  Then we drove down to the relatively new H2O Centre, an indoor water park type of place.  We tried out most of the pools, including the wave pool and the current pool that pulled you around a circuit as you floated on top of the water.  Then we raced on the three waterslides and I lost every race.  Bryn, Tyler, Jonathan and I made our way to the surfing/body boarding area and watched some people try out the man-made wave.  Since there wasn't really a line-up, just a man and a boy taking turns on the wave, Jonathan wanted to try it out.  He body boarded with gusto and then told the rest of us we should try it out.  So Ty and I did.  The first time I tried, I went right off to the side, completely out of the wave.  But after a few turns, I kind of had the wave figured out.  Unfortunately, my eyes were getting pretty water-filled by then and so we returned to the wave pool.  After another few laps around the current pool and a few more waterslide races, we left the H2O Centre.  But we got Jugo Juice smoothies before we left and they were great.

Later this evening, our friend Nik came over to visit.  He just graduated with a biology degree from CUC (the Canadian one) and we hadn't seen him since Christmas.  He brought Bryn and I grad presents, CUC SA T-shirts, which are pretty neat since they have the CUC mascot, Broose the Moose, on them.  We talked to him for a bit, sharing our plans for the upcoming year and listening to his.  Ahhh, I love being home.  I just want to ignore the suitcases and plastic bins that are piling up in my room and the entryway.