River Runs Through It

Our first week here Brent and I wanted to take a break from unpacking and go for a run so naturally we thought we would just go around our cheerful little neighborhood. Welp, our neighborhood is adorable but the hills that seem slight when you are driving are far from adorable when you are running!

Even as I sit and write this on the porch and I look out the last thing you would think was that it is "hilly" (pretty sure that is not a word), but it definitely is. So forget about looking around at the cute colorful houses, we were quickly focused on was there any street that was not on an incline and the answer is no. And for the record, I of course can handle running up hills but all I can say as is these are different, they are long and drawn out and you are constantly going up or down them. It is not just our neighborhood either, it is all of Columbia. We forget we were on such flat land in Chicago.

We did find one of our favorite things so far and that is the River Walk which is just a 3 minute drive from our house. There are two rivers that go through Columbia and on the Congaree River there is a River Walk that goes for miles and miles. I discovered it when Brent was back in Chicago for a few days and has become my companion for when Brent is gone. There are two paths on the river walk we have found so far. One has the inclines and the other is more flat and where most of the runners go. Brent has been joining me on my runs this week and not surprisingly we are enjoying the flatter one for now. It is more of the running path where the other is more of a walking/picnic path. The scenery on the runs is stunning. Growing up on Lake Michigan I would not think that a river is as pretty as a lake but it is. Just being on the water is relaxing and running under the spanish moss and through marshes is like out of a movie.

These pictures are from the first trail I found which and just from my iphone. I want to bring my nice camera down and get some good shots to frame for our house. I also think the running path has some better views. Anyone that visits we will be sure to take you down to the river to see it for yourself.