As soon as we were ready, we headed to the lobby for breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. While we waited for our food, I checked my phone for the route to the park and trails from the hotel. Mainly, I was looking for another way out of the hotel parking lot rather than take the main exit. I would do whatever was necessary so we didn’t have to drive by the park with the train as a play apparatus. Ryan was in an easy-going mood, and I didn’t want the sight of the train to pull him backward. The lobby had a flier on the Arches National Park, so Ryan pored over it while I looked at the route and weather.
Despite the weather calling for clouds and a chance of showers, I was still determined to take Ryan to see the arches. If it started to pour, we could wait it out in the car and drive around to look at them. Both of us had our water-resistant pullover sweatshirts with hoods, so we’d be fine with sprinkles.
“Did you look at the trails online?” he asked me when I set my phone down.
“I did. There are a few I think we should try. Many range from easy to moderate with an estimated time of completion of thirty to fifty minutes.”
“We can probably do a couple,” Ryan suggested.
“I think so too.”
Once we left the restaurant, Ryan put his Dodgers cap on. My intention was to take the alternate route out of the hotel parking lot. I drove around to the back of the hotel to get to the street. This street was opposite the one that passed the park with the train.
“Whoa, we’re living on the edge now,” Ryan teased. “Mr. Safety is taking us off the beaten path.”
“You’re going to be on my beaten path,” I teased back. “We need to get gas, and there’s a convenience store and gas station at the light,” I explained.
The fact that we needed gas wasn’t a fib. I had multiple reasons for going this way. I pulled up to a gas pump and sent Ryan inside to get us a few bottles of water. The SUV was still sucking down gas when Ryan came out. He was eating something as he walked to the front of the SUV. He set the bottles of water on the hood and held up a package of mini donuts.
“Didn’t you just eat?” I asked.
“Yeah, but these were calling my name,” he said with a mouthful of powdered donuts. “They’re the powdered ones,” he stated the obvious.
“I can see that,” I said as I watched him continue to inhale the package of baked goods.
Ryan hadn’t shaved this morning, so he had a day’s growth of facial hair, which I found to be incredibly sexy on him. Some powdered sugar particles stuck to his chin stubble, and I reached out to swipe the remains with my thumb.
“Would you like one?” he offered.
“I’m still full from breakfast, so I’ll pass on them this time.”
“Okay, are you sure? It’s the last one.”
“You eat it,” I said.
Ryan could put food away like a teenager. And luckily for him, he burned calories as one too. Ryan didn’t just have fast metabolism, though, he worked it off.
We made our way to Arches National Park as a light rain started. There were several paved routes to take with the car, so we did that for a while.
Ryan suddenly laughed.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you smell it yet?”
“I don’t.”
“You will. Give it a sec.”
As if on cue, it hit me.
“Oh, Ryan. Jesus,” I said and rolled the front windows down a bit. It was hard not to smile, though, as his laughter was quite possibly the best sound in the world.
“It was a heavy one. It just hung there forever.”
“Too bad it didn’t stay there forever.”
“I had a lot for breakfast.”
