Bluegrass Romance

Last Friday, before the torrential down pour hit, we skipped town at headed to the Red River Gorge for a true Bluegrass Romance family adventure.

My husband has been rock-climbing for over a decade. I have not. I even admit to a slight fear of heights, but the Cat Woman/Lara Croft Tomb Raider in me wants to feign No Fear and scale real-live mountains. Well, I got a chance.

Kentucky’s Red River Gorge is a world class rock climbing destination. It’s also incredibly beautiful, and less than an hour from Lexington.

The hike to the climb was as much fun for me personally as the actual climbing was. Sorry most of these pictures from the trail are looking at the backside of my family. Faces would be better, but I was bringing up the rear, so that’s what my camera shot.

All of us took a turn on the rock, even Lucca. And when we were done, we headed to a place called Miguels, which might be more famous in the rock climbing community than Natural Bridge.

Because Powell County, where Miguels is located, is a dry county, we drove up the road to a beer shack just on the other side of county lines to grab some Amber Bock to go with our Pepporoni and Cheese.

My family is absolutely in favor of pizza…all the time, anytime, especially when it’s hot, fresh and greasy like this one:

Mmmm, so good.

This mini-mission was definitely an adventure, and at times, high-stress. (The stress of confronting my fear of heights kinda paled in comparison to the stress of belaying my husband while trying to keep my eye on Lucca).

What was surprising to me, was that this adrenalin-heavy outing had some romantic elements too.

As I climbed higher on the rock, the exercise in trust got more and more interesting. I had to trust my husband with my physical safety, which isn’t a skill I practice often (we don’t often get the chance, thank God). But that, along with the shear primal panic of trying to find some footing on an insanely small ledge, pushed me well beyond my comfort zone.

At the end of it all I can say the heart palpitations were worth it, because in those moments I was high up on the rock, he had me. He had me solid. And the way he cheered me on and patiently coached me through my fears when I felt like quitting, showed me, yet again, I married my perfect man.

Facing fears with your spouse is a bonding experience I highly recommend. I’d like to do much more of– bungee jumping, sky diving, hang gliding maybe? But next time, I think we’ll leave Lucca at home. (We’ll bring him back when he can fit into his own harness). Not that he didn’t love being there, but man did he stress me out! Plus, wiping his butt with leaves didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. (Yes, he pooped in the woods).