When I was single, I would go on a lot of road trips, with friends or most of the time by myself. I have camped in sand dunes, explored caves, hiked through canyons, walked through a meteor crater, and explored many a state park. It made me happy to be able to go out in the world, not spend too much money, and have a great time.
When I was dating my husband, I took him to one of my favorite spots: the Palo Duro Canyon. I tend to hike in the summer, so we went one July and camped in the canyon. It was hot, but I was used to hiking in the heat. My husband, on the other hand, neglected to tell me that he usually hiked in the winter, as his Canadian blood tended to simmer in the Texas heat and he would sweat profusely. I’m not talking a regular amount of sweat—he was drenched in a matter of minutes.
But he powered through, spent the first day hiking with me, and then he asked me where the river or lake was.
“There isn’t any water in this canyon,” I stated, and the look of sadness and distress on his face was palpable. We ended up going to the showers where he stayed there for 45 minutes trying to cool off in lukewarm water.
That was the first and last time he went to the canyon with me. Looking back I could tell he must have really liked me to stay the weekend with me even though it was hell for him.
Moral of the story: appreciate what people do for you. They may hate it, but they because they want to be with you they will endure for a while. For my husband, we stayed two days, then drove back with the A/C going full blast the whole way home.