Dreamy Draw…land of mystery.

Back during our early days of dating almost four years ago, I asked Lou if he would hike with me.

At the time, the guy had not exercised in a decade.

I, on the other hand, was freshly emerging from an intense year in which I survived the most severe onslaught of loneliness I had ever encountered. Fueled by my own misery, I took to the Phoenix hiking trails and turned into an insanely fit creature.

I recall a hike during this time on which my 6-year-old niece accompanied me. About half a mile in, she got “tired” and started whining. Rather than take the time to embrace a teaching moment about perseverance, I gave her a piggy back ride so I could selfishly get the workout I craved.

This ride climbed 400 feet in half a mile. It was on an evening in July and in spite of the heat and her extra 50 pounds, I was able to keep conversation with her the entire time.

(Writing that makes me long for those super-fit days…)

Anyway, Lou graciously accepted my invitation. I decided to take it easy on him so I took him to the easy trails of the Dreamy Draw area in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve.

As I wrote in this hiking review, the area is like a Choose Your Own Adventure-style of tangled trails.

As I led the way (not really knowing where I was taking him), we stumbled on a trail I had never seen before. We were the only hikers around and as we dragged ourselves up and over a steep incline, we discovered a delightful little perch. There was a lovely bench and the scenery (I believe we were looking toward the southeast) was absolutely stunning.

We sat, caught our breaths, chatted, kissed, and took a few photos with our crummy little cell phones.

Deal with it.

Then we somehow found our way back to the car.

These days, it’s tough to convince Lou to go to Dreamy Draw (those trails are way too wimpy for him now because he’s a hiking beast) but the few times we’ve revisited the area, I have yet to find my way back to that little spot.

Now, I’m determined.

Once the weather turns cool, I’m going to wiggle my way through those trails until I find it. I don’t care how long it takes.

I’ll let you know how it goes.