WOAH! [REDACTED] STATE PARK!

haiii guys. yesterday i went to one of my state parks with my family. i never knew this place existed about ~2 hours away from us in the decades I've lived here :p

me, the family-diagnosed map person had to figure out all the trails and stuff and i was basically the guide which happens basically everytime but i don't mind. i trust me and my google maps more than say my mom or dad trying to figure it OUT LOL (its never been good... we've always gotten lost hehe)

i had a lot of fun, even if my legs and feet are killing me from all the walking, hills, inclines, and water you had to walk through if you fucked up your footing on the small 'rock + tree branch' bridges (i say 'bridges' very lightly, it really is 4-5 rocks most people will step on to prevent their shoes from getting wet).

then we got lost. my phone died so we relied on the park maps. somehow got to the opposite end of the park (we were trying to get back to the car) so we had to walk an hour back to get to where we started. ouuughhh.... my calves were killing me. we were, frankly, very underdressed. casual clothes. the locals were smart, wearing hiking gear and shoes. i didn't think the trails would be that intense, but my vans were clearly a poor choice of shoe.

i also saw a large group of other queer people at the park, i think for a club or something? and it made me wish i actually had other queer friends in real life. going to an art school, you'd think making gay friends is easy, but i was/am a transfer student with severe anxiety talking to new ppl (yes... i know... at my big age...) so i kinda flunked that. all the acquaintances i made talked to me first (thank u outgoing people! my savior!) so idk i was kinda yearning when i saw them. i think they looked really cool and happy and that made me smile.

i really like seeing nature. i think it puts me in my place in a good way. i forget how beautiful the earth is, and that beauty exists near me and i just had to find it. i enjoyed seeing all the people with their family and friends taking photos by the falls. it's so very human. posing, getting the best angle, selfies, having your friend take your photo and then you switch to take theirs. i think it's cute, personally, but maybe I'm the weird one for overthinking such basic human behaviors.

anyway, yap fest over, here's some photos i took: