Labor Day Getaway

Last Saturday, at the disgusting hour of 5:30AM, I boarded my first-ever airplane. My mom and I had planned a whirlwind weekend in Georgia with family for the Labor Day weekend and I was psyched when tickets to Atlanta dropped to a very reasonable rate. Our flight up was easy and I was like a five-year-old with my face planted against the window, watching the city fly by.

We arrived in Atlanta at 7:30 in the morning and met the smiling faces of my aunt and uncle. I think everyone has people in their family that make family functions more fun and easier to bear. They are the ones who get you. My aunt and uncle are these people. We went out for breakfast, where I nommed on a delicious omelet. (I’m obsessed with omelets lately.) After that, we headed to their home! They live in Cartersville, which is a little less than an hour from Atlanta. It’s honestly one of those places that gets etched on your heart and is unforgettable. I love this little town.

Around lunchtime, we headed out for a hike! My mom had mentioned wanting to hike a trail my aunt walks/runs on and I was up for it as well. Hiking would be fun! The exercise! The endorphins! The views! The sprained ankles?

Oh, yes. It was an unforgettable hike. The walk up was tough. It was SO steep and hilly and I seriously think it took me an hour to hike the one-mile to the top. Luckily, I had a buddy in my 10-year-old cousin, Mallory, who would stop and wait for me. She was good company. But the way up was tough and felt like it went on forever. But I kept on going. Kept climbing and walking and huffing and puffing. I would see the top eventually.

And boy, was the view something spectacular. The view from the top was incredible.

We stopped for about 20 minutes or so (well, 20 minutes for me. Everyone else arrived at the top way before me!), and then started to make our way down. The way down was so much easier than the way up. I was behind my uncle and two cousins, until my younger cousin wanted to be carried by my uncle so they stopped and I took the lead.

BAD IDEA, STEPHANY. BAD. BAD. IDEA.

I was intent on maintaining a fast pace and though I was looking down and watching where I was going, I ended up stepping wrong on a steep decline and twisting my ankle. I heard something snap in my ankle as I tumbled down, also landed hard on the knee on my other leg. It hurt like no other. My ankle started throbbing immediately but after a 5-second sit-down, I got up and tried walking on it, more scared it was broken and I would miss Six Flags the next day than anything else. (Yes, I am eight years old.) I could walk on it, but it was extremely, extremely painful. But there was nothing else I could do. I had to continue down to the end of the trail.

I had about a half-mile to go to get to the end and it was slow-going. Luckily, nobody complained and they let me set the pace as I hobbled my way down, trying to bypass as many rocks as I could. It was awful and hard and I think I whimpered the entire time. I remember pleading with God, “Please, just take the pain away for now. Just lessen the pain.” I made it to the end. The way down was a billion times harder than the way up in a way I could have never imagined.

After our hike, we all went to a cupcake shop where I had a delicious cupcake that I didn’t get a picture of! I actually wound up being terrible at taking pictures on this vacation but oh well! The cupcake was fabulous but my ankle put a damper on everything. At this point, it was still throbbing immensely and the adrenaline of hiking down was wearing off. I needed some ibuprofen, a chair, and ice STAT.

I spent the majority of Saturday in a chair with my foot propped up, icing my ankle and bruised knee. Fun, right?

Ouch.

On Sunday, we had plans for Six Flags and I didn’t want my ankle to ruin all the fun so my mom bought me a brace at CVS and I was prepared to spend the day in a wheelchair. Luckily, the pain lessened thanks to the brace, ibuprofen, and walking around on it and I was able to keep up pretty decently without the need for a wheelchair. The lines were disgustingly long so I only ended up going on three rollercoasters but they were all SO amazing and reaffirmed my love for adrenaline-pumping rollercoasters! We stood in line for probably two hours for a water ride, but it kept getting closed down due to lightning in the area so we finally left.

It was a super fun day, though, and it was the most fun to spend it with my favorite family members. They are good people. 🙂

Monday was a pretty low-key day for all of us. My aunt and my mom attended a boot camp at my aunt’s gym (my aunt seriously has Kelly Ripa arms. I need her to put ME through a boot camp!), while I did about an hour on the recumbent bike. Not my favorite gym equipment but it was the only piece that wouldn’t put too much pressure on my ankle. My aunt whipped up chocolate protein shakes afterward (SO good!) and then we just lazed around.

I love lazy vacations. I love vacations where I’m super busy and on the go, seeing the sights, but lazy ones are good for recharging and getting away. We ended up going bowling and then out for an early dinner, before coming home and my uncle making us to-die-for cookies.

We left Tuesday afternoon for our flight home, which was another easy-peasy flight. (Although navigating around the Atlanta airport is another story!) And I was able to see the cloud more clearly and took about 15 or so pictures of my view. So, so amazing and surreal.

 

All in all, a very successful and fun trip. Aside from my sprained ankle that is on the mend, but still not 100%. I still need to use my brace to get around. It was a blast to hang out with this family with just my mom and me because we’ve always been surrounded by other family members when we do see them. I know this wasn’t a one-time thing and something we want to do again.

Have you ever injured yourself while on vacation? What’s your favorite city to visit?