Long Weekend

 

Last Weekend Clay and I took a long weekend trip up to the mountains in northeast Ga.  

 

While we were there I took advantage of having some time off and got my hair cut for the year.  I got some bangs and layers to try something different.  The salon is really neat, it is in and old gas/service station.

 

Ok, so you can't tell at all in this picture that I got my hair cut.  We were mostly lazy, reading books, watching movies, and sitting around enjoying the view and the fallish weather.  I did go hiking on Saturday.  Lily and I did about 8 miles in the Warwoman WMA.  I tried to drive up into the WMA to park but my car started sliding back down the gravel road and my brakes locked up forcing me to pull my emergency brake and back down the road to park at the bottom.

 

Just to the left of the parking area off Tuckaluge Creek road was this creek  with lots of great sitting rocks.  We didn't go to it until we finished our hike and I took my shoes off and soaked my legs in the chilly water which felt wonderful.

 

We kept hiking and hiking on the gravel roads of the WMA looking for a great lookout spot but with all the leaves on the trees there never was a good vantage points to look out to the other mountains.  I want to try this again in the winter because I bet the views will be spectacular.

 

Lily was a happy camper!   I thought she would be tired after we got finished but I was WRONG!  She was just getting started and continued to run around and wanted to play the rest of the day until the sun started to go down.

Gray Hiking Day

 

Lily was a crazy vizsla last night, so today we went on a longer hike 4.5miles.  We trekked up the road here and went down one of the logging roads and into the woods a little.  She really enjoyed this.  There is this beautiful area there that mom and I found last year where there are all these giant rocks covered in moss.  We sat there for a while and Lily ran around on the long leash.  She even played Frisbee for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

Lily had a good time today.  When we got home we played a little more Frisbee in the back yard and when we came inside she went right into her house.  She is still knocked out now 4 hours later.  

Tired Lily = well behaved Lily.

Helen Trip

Took Killer out for her first hike today. We went about 4 miles total, very slowly. Chico had to mark every tree, bush, flower, grass, leaf, rock, and piece of sand so that other animals would know he had been there. Killer kept up the pace until the last quarter mile that was all uphill, I had to pick her up for a couple of minutes then she was right back at it. It was pretty cool early this morning so I was glad I had worn a long sleeve top over my t-shirt.


I dropped my driver's license out of my pocket somewhere along the way and realized it when I was getting ready to head back so I spent the whole hike back with my eyes on the ground looking for it. Luckily I didn't miss the 2 deer in the field where the path opens up. Chico and Killer did not miss them either. Both were chomping at the bits, barking, and Killer was licking her chops. I also found my license in that field where I had stopped and crouched earlier to take some photos of the doggies.

Neither of them were very impressed with the river, I think they were both having flash-backs from their baths yesterday. They were not looking to sit and enjoy the view there.

Not much else exciting going on, I have been playing chauffeur to Clay since we couldn't stay on site with the dogs. I did complete my essay and updated my resume for my application to the new position at work so I haven't been totally useless.

Who is this Girl??

After my suitcase epiphany that I had a week or 2 ago I went back and was looking at old photos. These photos are not proudly placed around my house and there is a reason why. I was not happy with these photos, I was not happy with myself. These photos represent a time that I often avoided doing things because I was so uncomfortable with myself. I had let myself go, I gave up on the inner adventurer and fun lover and I was so embarrassed that I could let me down like that.

Mortified there was a photo like this, but now glad to have it to remind me how far I have come and that I never want to go back!

Still room for improvement, don't ever believe that you have achieved it all because then the only place to go is down. 1st race ever, climbing over a pile of old cars, covered in mud, and HAPPY!

I look so foreign to myself in this photo, this is when I just finished nursing school and started my job. I would not recognize this girl if I passed her on the street, and she is me.

Please let me be outdoors and moving!

This was about at my heaviest, not sure because I avoided the scale like it was the plague.

Amazing how losing about 25% of your body weight will lighten your load, both in your physique and most of all, in spirit. I love taking goofy photos now and I don't feel like everyone is staring at me.

A great hairdo and a dress can only go so far to make you feel pretty.

I look so tired and worn out at my heaviest, and now I look like I have tons of energy (sometimes that is true, sometimes it is not.)

Promise to self...Never again!!

Tribute to the many more races in the future (next is November), not having to hide photos anymore, and to feeling great and experiencing everything I can that this life has to offer. Bring it on!

Day 6 - Provo River Parkway hotel to Lake Utah

I headed out to the right from the hotel on the Provo River Parkway. The trail wound in and out of residential and commercial areas for about 1.5 miles then I ran into a detour.

This detour took me along a busy road in a bike path even under the busy interstate 15. It was an interesting experience but since I am not used to it I was a little apprehensive and I was very glad to get back into some residential communities. There were markings every 1/2 mile or so along the way to let you know that you were still on track.

I was hiking toward the lake and away from downtown Provo so I didn't notice the nasty rain clouds coming in from the mountains until I stopped to take the picture of some goats on the side of the road. At this point I figured I would keep going since I would definitely get soaked if I headed back the way I came.

It was the first day that I listened to my headphones while out and it sure made the time fly by. If you notice I do have the earbud out of the ear facing traffic, and my volume was very low.

This is where the detour ended and I was actually back on the Parkway.

It kept looking more and more ominous back toward the hotel. I just knew that I was going to end up soaked to the bone. It was about 5.5 miles out to the Lake which is the end, or beginning, of the trail depending on how you start. I was worried that at least 3 miles of the return trip would be in torrential rain.

Apparently it took me long enough to get to the lake and head back that they rains moved off in the distance. I caught maybe 50 rain drops on the way back but got to see 2 beautiful rainbows the whole return trip.

Then I went with Clay and stuffed myself silly on Mexican food and then frozen yogurt.

Day 5- Great Western and Lake Bonneville Shoreline Trails

I started this hike from South Fork Park outside Provo, UT. There were no signs but I think that I hopped on the Great Western Trail. It was a very remote trail and the path has areas that were barely perceptible. It was true exploration although I was a little nervous about running into a snake because the underbrush was so thick. Their grasshoppers here are very loud and sound some like a rattler when they are getting ready to fly so I was always checking my feet and hoping for the best.

Looking down on the park, you can just barely make out the white Yukon parked down there. It was a quick incline up the mountain and I was out of breath.

This part of the trail had caught back up with the river and was running almost parallel with it. The types of plants growing down here were a lot different. This thicket was low to the ground and I had to crouch down to get through it.

This is my new favorite plant. I am not sure what it is, I am guessing that it is some kind of thistle.

Warning: This next picture is gross but for the sake of science and curiosity I had to take a picture of it. I agree with Clay now that I should have used something to reference this dung's size, but all I had with me was my hands so I will estimate. This pile o' dung was approximately 10 inches long by 6 inches wide. What they heck poops like this???

It is amazing to see all these different shades of green in one place.

I was coming out of the trees into a clearing and saw the back of a sign (the first sign I had seen since entering the park.) I walked around it and to my surprise I had been trespassing all afternoon,YIKES! I am not a rule-breaker and I have to admit I was kinda freaked out, needless to say I headed back a ways where I had seen an access to the main road where I had driven into the park and hopped onto the main road to head back. No voluntary trespassing for me!

I did not let my worry over trespassing ruin my hiking lunch. I plopped down by the stream to enjoy a GIANT gingersnap cookie from Great Harvest. If you are not jealous, you should be because this was an awesome moment.

You see these lines of rock coming down all the mountains here. I got a closer look from the road. The larger formations at the top break of into smaller bits and just fall down the mountain leaving these lines. It sounds beautiful if you are standing there because this type of rock makes a "tink tink" sound almost like a wind chime as they bump into each other.

This is the view from the other side of the park, partially up the mountain looking down at the very green South Fork Park.

When I got back into the car from South Fork Park I traveled back to Nun's park and hit the Provo River Parkway again heading toward Bridal Veil Falls in search of the Bonneville Shoreline trail. I FOUND it!

This trail had a lot more elevation and climbed quickly. I couldn't wait to see the views after getting above the treeline!

Clay and I had seen this formation from the road but it looks so much more amazing up close.

There are a lot of trees hanging off the side of the mountains here that look like these. The dirt has been eroded and exposed the roots clinging onto the rock that was left behind.

Down below is the parking lot where our Yukon is parked. The road heading into the distance goes to Provo.

You can see how thin the trail is here. There are some crazy/brave mountain bikers that were tearing up the trail. I ran down the trail after getting lost at the top and I was worried that I wouldn't make it down before dark. I came around a corner and heard a biker coming up so I jumped off the trail to get out of the way and right into a tree, I hugged it while they passed then hopped back on the trail.

Back to my ride in Provo Canyon Glen Park just in time for sunset!