What a day! Took the shepherd girls to a park for a hike with mom this morning. Originally Paige and Jen were supposed to come with, but they both passed when they realized they would have to get out of bed before 9:00am (yeah, they were none too pleased when I woke them up so early). Anyway, getting Peach in the car was a challenge (she does not like the car), but once we got to the park she was pretty excited with all the new smells. The park we went to was the least busy in our area, and closest to the house with a decent size acreage, so we were pretty much alone for a majority of our hike. Okay, so I should probably tell you that this is the first time I have dragged them out into the wilds, and since our entire half acre at home is fenced, they don’t have much experience with leashes, so today was a major first for them. They also don’t have a lot of experience with strangers or animals, beyond what they encounter at home. Peach is pretty sketchy, which in turn makes Daisy protective of her sister, and of me, so that is going to add to everything, but they will adjust with time. I learned a couple of things today (some I already knew, but since it’s been quite a while since I went out in the woods with my mom, or actually at all, I got to relearn them all over again). Here’s what I learned today. First off, my mom loses all sence of time and distance on a trail. We walked for around 4 hours, but for some reason she believes we only hiked about 2 or so miles, but with the sheer number of hours and the average human speed of walking about 3 miles an hour, I’m estimate we walked about 12 miles, especially since we had to take an indirect rout to get out to Boy Scout Lake and The Chimney, due to some flooding. I did not get any true idea of how far we walked because I forgot my damn apple watch (like a damn idiot), so step count and no distance on this walk, but there will be a next time and I’ll rectify this. Also, I relearned that with mom, I will end up trekking through mud, and therefore need to purchase some waterproof hiking boots. Up until today I was always running around in nike sneakers when I hit the trails (at least well over a year ago) on my own. As soon as I got the girls situated at home after our morning stroll, I ran out and found a cheap pair to get the job done for next time … and tomorrow I will be throwing my nikes in the wash. God my mom is awesome! Lesson number 3 was a new one. So, I packed two water bottles in my pack, one metal (insulated for me), the other glass with water for the pups should they get thirsty. I put them in the side pockets, totally proud of myself for remembering them and being so prepared (minus my damn watch). I also have a collapsible bowl for the dogs to drink from, but that has nothing to do with this lesson, just wanted you to know that I was smart enough to have it on hand. So, the glass water bottle was on my right side of the pack, and when I tugged Peaches’s leash to stop her from trying to drag me off into the woods, I cracked my elbow into it (more than once before I had the brilliant idea to move it into another compartment of my damn bag). Needless to say my elbow will be sporting a massive bruise for the next few weeks. Speaking of injuries incurred on this adventure, I learned that Peaches doesn’t like the rustling of palmetto fronds when she got spooked and bolted … right into my right knee. I toughed it out, but am now the proud owner of a swollen right knee that I am alternating heat and ice on for the duration of the evening. I’ll also be taking a break tomorrow from hiking with the dogs and mom, though I fully intend on braving the big bad woods again on Wednesday even if I must wrap said knee to keep it from acting up. Lesson number 5, my dogs love to smell all sorts of poop, especially horse (we didn’t run into any horses on the trail, but saw, and sniffed, a ton of fresh piles) and coyote (which we came across even more of than I think horse poop). Thankfully neither of the pups wanted to roll in it, at least not this time. Oh, and I really didn’t need the dog water, though I will continue to bring it along just in case. No, they did not go without drinking. They just preferred to drink from every mud puddle we stumbled across. So, when we got to the lake I thought they wouldn’t be interested at all, but boy was I wrong. Not only did they drink a ton of lake water, but they thought it would be an awesome time for a swim, and totally wanted to play. Mom and I escaped without being drug into the water, but just barely. All in all an amazing day full of lush Florida landscapes, the historic chimney that’s all that remains of an ancient hunting lodge, a quick glimpse of a couple of deer we spooked and many many animal tracks. Couldn’t get too many pictures (only 2 which will be posted below), but a day I’m sure I will never forget. Oh yeah, and one more thing I realized today … I want to hike the Appalachian trail with mom in the near(ish) future … after so much preparation and research. We both talked about that today. Okay, gotta sack out cause 6:30 comes early and I have to get back to my (mostly) regularly scheduled programming starting tomorrow morning (YAY for Back to School!!!). Hope your Monday wasn’t manic!!
