And We're Rolling. . .

Because I have no shame, I am sharing this story and these photos with you.  

My friend Shagun and I went on a hike today at Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, CA.  Actually, "hike" is probably not the most accurate term to describe what we did.

First of all, it was a pretty cold day in the Bay Area.  It was my hope that by leaving the City and heading over to Berkeley we might catch a break and see some sunshine.  No such luck.  

So in order to prepare for the ever shifting micro climates of the Bay Area, I was ready for whatever weather conditions we might come up against.  I had on a pair of shorts underneath my track pants, a moisture wicking shirt, a fleece pullover, a North Face jacket and in my backpack an additional scarf and long sleeve t-shirt.  Needless to say, I may have over dressed and over packed.  

Here's how I know this is true.  I was really excited when we eventually found the location of where we were supposed to start our hike and there was a public restroom right there.  I immediately said I better go to the bathroom before we start out.  After using the restroom we headed off to where we thought the trail began.  As we were walking I thought to myself, "huh...it feels like my pants are falling down, but they're totally not."  It was then that it occurred to me that I had shorts on underneath my pants and that I had forgotten to button them back up after the restroom and they WERE falling down!  I started to laugh and said to Shagun, "Um ya, the shorts I have on under my pants are falling down and I need to fix that."   She just shook her head at me and I'm pretty sure she was thinking "You idiot!"

After I got my shorts taken care of we were off to the trail.  The only problem was we could not figure out where the trail started.  We even had a map that was provided by the East Bay Regional Park District of the trails and still couldn't figure it out.  After several minutes of looking at the map we hedged out bets and decided to start walking in the direction we had seen other people headed earlier.  We eventually found the trail marker and off we went.

Now seriously, God help us if we ever got lost.  I already told you we couldn't read the map.  Shagun is not fond of bugs and would scream every time we came across a banana slug or heard a creaking in the brush.  I don't like to get dirty which is ironic because I am always the one who ends up falling down somewhere on the trail.  And we were the only two people there who had backpacks so full of food, clothing and cameras that it looked like we planned to be out there for weeks.  We are not the model hikers.

We eventually found Lake Anza where we stopped to eat our lunch.  It was here that every dog that had been brought to the park that day and was soaked from the dirty lake water decided it would be best to come and shake off next to us and beg for food.  Good times.  I do believe the sign said all animals must be kept on a leash.  So much for that rule.

At the end of our hike we arrived at the Brazil Building which is a house at the top of a large grassy hill that can be used for events such as a wedding.  There were some children taking turns rolling down the hill.  I decided that looked like fun.  And with Shagun now taking on the roll of documentarian, I began my ascent to the top of the hill.

I had good form as I began to roll.  I kept my arms tucked and my head down.  About halfway to the bottom I realized I was getting really dizzy and was starting to feel sick.  As a kid, I always enjoyed being dizzy.  As an adult, not so much.  I was able to slow myself down to a full stop.  As evidenced in the final picture below, I had to sit for a while before I felt good enough to stand up and walk!

The Song Of The Day - Pump It by The Black Eyed Peas