We left the next morning but, as former friends will attest, I am renowned for getting my mountain ranges confused. In my mind I was saying "The Smokey Mountains," not the "Rocky Mountains". So, what I thought would be a 6 hour drive into Tennessee ended up a 25.5 hour road trek into Colorado. I always ingest a discreet handful of calming pills before I travel, so by the time I awoke and realized my mistake, it was simply too late. After I calmed back down, Nicky and I began to laugh. We laughed and laughed the entire rest of the way.
Finally there, we stayed at a small bed and breakfast at the foot of one of the range's most beautiful mountains. The inn was run by an old woman and her two daughters, none of whom I particularly cared for. One morning Nicky showed me how to snap a photo with his new i-Telephone I had given him. Here he is standing in front of the mountain I was telling you about. Have you ever seen anything so rugged and breathtaking? Isn't it just begging to be climbed?
With a picnic basket in hand, we set off on foot up the mountain. Nicky was a saint, constantly catching and saving me as I would nearly fall off a steep embankment or step on an indigenous snake. It was a wonderful day, until Nikolai was nearly mauled to death by a wild cougar who seemed to jump from out of nowhere.
I must have fainted, because when I came to I found Nikolay in the snow, bruised and unconscious with scratches from head to foot. For a moment I tried dragging him back down to the Bed and Breakfast, but he was simply too big so I left him there. I made my way back down the mountain and ended up paying the old woman and her daughters to go back up and bring him down.
UPDATE: Nicky has been taken out of ICU and as I understand, plans to make his home in Colorado rather than come back to Georgia. He must have really fallen in love with those Rockies! I can't say I blame him. They're magical.
No comments:
Post a Comment