I made the mistake of opening up my book at midnight.
And then finishing it.
It was Home Front by Kristin Hannah. It had been sitting around for a while without me getting into it, mostly because there were some really awkward sentences in the opening chapters that I couldn’t get past. It’s the story of a military family where the father has to take care of the “home front” while the mother is deployed to Iraq. I almost really liked. It did make me cry! So I’ll have to try another book by the author sometime.
The dogs, of course, had no mercy about my late bedtime and woke us up before 8AM — just barking at the new neighbor dog.
We decided to go on a picnic and hiking today.
Do you believe that this entire mini loaf of French bread is only 70 calories? I was so skeptical that I ended up having a conversation about it with the guy stocking the bread in Sprouts! Haha. He stood behind the claim.
I don’t think Subway is going to hire me any time soon, but Kevin let me be his sandwich artist. The jalapeño mustard is actually amazing!
I also made some mini apple crisps in a jar (Kevin’s fave – so both for him) to take along.
THIS is why we practically never leave our zip code on the weekends… Haha. Boulder is super close to our side of town, but it took forever to get there because of road construction and lousy traffic.
We brought our favorite dog along and left the Boykin at home.
Just kidding. Boyd seriously can’t handle walking more than half a mile. Plus he’s a basket case around strangers. I know he was happier hanging out in his chair back at home.
But if Boyd is a basket case around strangers… I’m a basket case around nature!! I’m not kidding when I say I’m not outdoorsy. Kevin is always trying to use the excuse that I grew up in Minnesota so I should be used to it, but it’s not working on me!
Let’s face it – in reality, I grew up… in books! Like Little Women, A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, and The Secret Garden!
And then I started seeing the signs:
Yeah, it was my idea to go hiking. I like hiking… because it’s a workout. It’s pretty. There are no stop lights. But I’m terrified of snakes! I don’t care how much people tell me that they’re more afraid of me than I am of them. I think that’s an exaggeration! And I have extremely bad luck with these types of glib generalizations!
I was still not convinced about leaving the parking lot at this point!
The good news is… that we didn’t see anything dangerous. However, we did turn around. Immediately! As soon as I saw the bear sign on the top left!
We ended up hiking for about 1.5 hours. I calmed down when we got on a wider trail, and I wasn’t quite as skittish! I also felt better when I saw a couple of older ladies walking by themselves — no dogs even. If they can do it, I can too, right?
I had to ask Kevin important questions like, how did people call 9-1-1 out here before cellphones!?! And he told me stories about his many camping trips in the boundary waters in Minnesota. Why do people do that!??!?!
Also I had to ask: “Your mom wouldn’t be afraid to do this, would she?” Nope. I knew that answer because I’ve heard stories about his parents camping together with bears involved!
I’m afraid I’m going to be put in some type of outdoors boot camp. That would be horrible. But I guess I would maybe do it. If you agreed to do MY fitness boot camp. 
Pippa had the time of her life. It was her first REAL hiking trip, and she did great. She still pulls at the leash quite a bit, but she calmed down after she got tired.
I think I also cheered up a little bit after we had gone a few miles.
Typical for a long distance runner! It was Runner’s World that made me think this hike was a good idea to begin with! I saw the trail featured in their Rave Runs! No mention of snakes or bears there. I guess I live in Colorado, and I should just know!
Kevin confessed later that he was thinking something about LOTR while we were hiking. So weird. I hate long movies.
Okay. That’s enough hiking for one day.
After all that, I needed a snack! My fro-dar had noticed something on the way to the trail:
Bling-bling! Fro-yo! And right on our path home!
Chocolate + Salted Caramel + Coffee fro-yo for me — animal crackers for Pippa Cordelia!
Good night!
Do you like road trips? I can’t be the only one who dislikes them. My favorite part is drinking a giant fountain drink and usually eating some kind of black licorice candy! And yes, Boulder, is practically a road trip for me. This fall isn’t looking good for me since we have 2 dogs now… more driving to Minnesota! :/
What do you think is scarier — bears or snakes? I think snakes. They’re so creepy. I assume bears are just like a bigger even grumpier version of my bear cub, Boyd!
Are you an outdoors person? I know some of you are thinking that’s a pretty posh path. Baby steps! I wasn’t wearing flip-flops. Ask my mom. That’s progress!
Girl, you need to get yourself outside more often! You live right near the mountains…you are basically required to explore them!
We see the warning signs for snakes/mountain lions/coyotes/bears all the time. As long as you stay on the trail the snakes won’t bother you and I have come pretty close to coyotes…a little intimidating, but not terrifying. More of a respect thing I think. And Kathy is wrong, mosquitos are not better!
I’m an outdoorsy gal that loves hiking (DUH!) and I can’t believe that you haven’t just fallen in love with it out there! Man, I’d be out every day (or at least several times a week!). I LOVE Boulder- and want to run on that trail now. Hopefully you will keep liking it more and more. And – there’s always bear and mtn. lion signs everywhere. Don’t let that scare you- my Aunt lives in Denver (and has for 20 years) and hikes several times a week- and has yet to see either.
Next time you are out here we will kidnap her and make her go hiking in the mountains! Deal?
aw does boyd get jealous? I want to move to colorado just for the hikes and senery. haha p.s you look great!
Mattie and I came across a VERY big timber rattle snake while taking a walk (not even close to hiking) at Girl Scout camp in Houston, MN 2 weekends ago. He crossed the path right in front of us. Then people came to take him away. Apparently they have a “snake problem” with poisonous snakes at Girl Scout camp. Plus, I just heard the story this weekend about Josh coming after a bear with a log in the Boundary Waters. The bear hissed at Josh like a cat. He almost bit the big one.
Fun trip. So creative and fancy to take along the mini apple crisps!
I love the outdoors. Bears scare me. I did a week-long hiking/camping trip through CO once and saw a lot of bears.
The first one we saw we thought it was a black lab running through the trees. ummm…not so much!
I’m definitely not the outdoorsy type, but my husband is, so I’ve been trying to learn to appreciate it. I can’t help thinking that I’d rather read a book, then go for a run instead
I like road trips, so long as I don’t have to do any of the driving. I like seeing the sights, and making random little stops along the way, but I HATE driving.
As far as nature is concerned, I like to think that I have no fears when it comes to animals so neither the idea of snakes or bears scares me, but I’m sure if faced with either on a hike, I would freak out a little. I guess I’d have to go with snakes being scarier because they come out of nowhere. I like to think you’d see a bear long before you’d see a snake??
Home made food always trumps the chains, no doubt in my mind. I wish I had more hiking around me because being outdoors on the weekends is one of my favorite things to do. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
I’m the opposite of you.i hate living in crowded plaes.we drove and biked far into te backcountry yesterday to get away.even got caught in a snowstorm.Anyway remember that those bears or mountain lions probably won’t be on those paths on a busy Saturday.too many people.snakes are still a possibility.i was happy when we moved to an altitude that doesn’t had big mean snakes.
Looks like a fun day outdoors! Best part is definitely ending it with fro yo!
anthony and i love road trips! i think because we’re both so busy, it makes a nice time to sit, talk, and also eat junk food.
Ahhhh . . . I just sat and daydreamed while reading your post . . . my beloved Colorado . . . I miss it already! Is it July yet?!?
I can’t wait to get back and hike again (especially since this year’s hiking trip was cut short due to a quad injury–boo). I love it out there. And the funny thing is that I’m not a SUPER outdoorsy type, but I do adore hiking. And the mountains. I love the mountains. Sigh. I tell Bob that the mountains call to me . . . .
Quick crazy story: three years ago, during our annual vacay, Bob and I did see a bear while hiking outside of Steamboat Springs. Scariest. Thing. Ever. I thought my heart was going to leap from my chest. I never want to experience that again–so I’ve learned my lesson–and I’m much more cautious while hiking.
SNAKES! For sure! We hiked in CO. too…Littleton…foothills of the rockies…our relatives do it all the time so I didn’t even question the animals that might be out in nature too. (dumb!)
We saw mountain lion or some kind of large cat signs and snake signs as we were hiking too and then I asked how often do you see them and they said only once had they seen a large cat and a few snakes here and there…ugh! I freaked and wanted to be done immediately.
Thankfully, we didn’t see any animals UNTIL the last mile…then a lovely orange/red thick snake crossed our path…I thought I was exhausted at that point but the snake gave me the energy I needed to run out of the trail until I was safely on sidewalk and a block from home.
I will take my mosquitoes in MN any day!!