a matt interpretation of a cyndi day

For Christmas, Matt and Ryan gave me a fun-filled, jam-packed day in Virginia. In the card, they wrote clues to what we'd be doing: in the air, underground, and of the earth. Actually, Matt and Ryan didn't intend them to be clues but a fun way of introducing what they had planned for the day. But because I'm an eternal 8 year-old, I tried to solve the riddle.

"Underground" was Luray Caverns, an enormous cave discovered in the late 1800s. Today, visiting the cave is a commercial experience, but it's still astounding. The stalagmites and stagtites have grown together in some places (and we spouted those words off like we remembered which was which!). The highlight of the cave is a reflecting pool. The surface acts as a mirror for the formations around it. It's mesmerizing.

In the cave, the second we saw the paved path, Matt and I cracked up.

"This is a Matt interpretation of a Cyndi day," he joked.

"In the air" turned out to be climbing a rock wall and going ziplining. Matt had diligently researched the best spot somewhat near the Caverns in Virginia. He talked it up all morning. He and Ryan were stoked for the ziplining, especially. The website boasted numerous activities and groups of friends and families having the best time ever.

When we pulled up, there were no cars in the parking lot. The office is a ramshackle shed. The climbing wall is a three-story slab of wood. And the ziplines were literally just through some trees.

"This is definitely a Matt interpretation of a Cyndi day."

It. Was. Perfection.

I don't know what it is, but of all the things that Matt and I have in common, ironically fun things are our favorite. We love it when something doesn't look or pan out like it sounds like it will. We once stopped during a road trip at the world's dinkiest water park. We rode every ride in 30 minutes. If you ask me to this day what my favorite water park is (though I'm not sure why you would?!), I'd tell you the one in Amarillo, Texas. We're really talented at making very silly things feel like the grandest in the world.

This place was our heaven. Zan, Matt, Ryan, and I had it to ourselves all afternoon. Not a single other person showed up. Just when we thought it couldn't get better, the guy running the whole shindig offered to let us go zipining for a fraction of the normal price. We were already planning on doing it, but we were really sold then.

We had to learn to put on the "brakes" and how to turn and pull ourselves across the line if we had to. Of course, I was the only one who got stuck... repeatedly. My arms got a serious workout, and the guys all got a serious laugh. The small bases we landed on were rickety and small, and Zan practically hugged the trees for dear life.

After all that, we had lunch in a tiny town on a real life Main Street that felt like the Georgia that Matt and I know. They had homemade ice cream - just about literal icing on the cake, if you ask me.

Exhausted, we almost went straight home. But we still had "in the ground" to experience. Cleverly, that was a visit to a winery. The views were better than the wine, but wine-tasting with Matt is the real fun of things anyway.  ("I get... hamburger patties in this one. And a hint of shoe sole.")

I'd usually describe my perfect day as one on a barely-marked trail with a map I can't really read (because turn it in circles 10 times and just start walking is my map-reading strategy).

But this day, seeing the kind of Saturdays I seek out through the lens of friends giving me the greatest gift - knowing me and my interests and finding ways to enjoy them with me? It was incredible. I'll go on a Matt interpretation of a Cyndi day any day.