life as understood

You try to get away for a man-weekend, but you're never really safe. Steve, Blaine, Erik, Brandon and I spent the last few days based out of Brandon's parents' house in St. George. We went to Vegas one night and saw the famed Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana (not porn). The next day we decided to climb Angels' Landing at Zion National Park, a grueling 2.5 mile hike practically straight up the fiery red rock. It's a lot of switchbacks, and then the last quarter or so of the hike is made up of a narrow ridge only a few feet in width, with cliffs straight down thousands of feet on either side. In that environment, you have to climb up to the last peak. There's a chain to hold onto in some places just in case, but either way, it's no picnic. Nevertheless, we made it. Real sanctuary. As we enjoyed our smashed sandwiches and Doritos in the direct sunlight of the summit, we basked in the serenity of our surroundings, as well as our own accomplishment. It was only a moment, however, before those thoughts were shattered. Arriving behind us soon thereafter on the peak was an annoyance from our past- a pair of girls who graduated last year with degrees in mindless chatter. They bothered us for 20 minutes on that peak, all the while trying to get our phone numbers so we could party that night in St. George. We resisted. They're nice enough girls, I suppose, but it was a man-weekend. Anyway, they soon turned away defeated, and we enjoyed our time alone on the mountain; but we knew we'd probably pass them again on the way down. In anticipation of the repeat inquiry about our evening plans, we decided to tell them we were going to watch movies, and we each selected names (real or otherwise) of porn movies, so as to deter them from joining. Mine was, and will remain, "Buns on the Run". Fortunately, we ran past them on the way down, and then avoided them down at the base, so it never came to that rather heinous lie. It's still good to know, though, that next time our man-peace is threatened, we'll be prepared. That night, we watched the Red Sox/Indians game, an episode of "The Office", and went to bed early.