I missed posting last week, but nobody is reading this yet, so I’m forgiven! This was a 3-day weekend, as today is President’s Day and there is no school. So 3-day weekend meant that I should travel somewhere, right? Well, no, not this time. After much thought and consideration of weather, physical energy, and things to do around the house, I decided to stay in town. One of my ideas had been to visit the trolls at the NC Arboretum in Asheville, NC. There are also permanent trolls in NC cities between Asheville and home. I am really glad I decided not to do that. The Arboretum had to close on Saturday due to the large volume of visitors and no parking. Shocking: holiday weekend + last weekend to see the trolls before they travel to a new location. Also, the weather was nice Saturday, but gross yesterday, and outdoor activity would not have been fun at all. Today is cold, damp, and dreary.
I also would like to have driven over the mountain to see my family, but I’m going up that way in March and decided to wait on that trip as well. I’ll talk more about that in a future post. I have been keeping my eye open on jobs closer to family, but this just doesn’t seem to be the right time to move. I am happy with work right now and am part of a great team. There are pro’s and con’s, for sure. So, anyway, no travel, and happy with my decision.
Instead of traveling out of town, George and I just traveled across the water to Hampton VA. I chose the Trillium Trail at Sandy Bottom Nature Park. It’s a beautiful 4 mile loop, more or less depending on side trails. My pup was walking very slow and smelling absolutely everything, so we barely made the loop. It’s nice and flat, noisy when walking on the section next to the Interstate, of course. So here are my notes that I made in Google Keep during the hike:
I forgot training treats for George. The training treats help when we encounter other pups, but he did great without them! I would like to get a bag to put his poop bags in when I am on trail. If anyone has a good waste belt of some type of bag for carrying used poop bags during hikes, please share! I would also like to do some training with him since we will be traveling in the van more in the future, so I am looking for recommendations for trainers/training programs.
I should probably keep an extra phone charger in my van at all times. I’m using AllTrails to navigate/track, Merlin to ID birds (Great Backyard Bird Count), and taking pictures. I stopped navigating in AllTrails and used my Garmin watch to track the hike. My phone is fairly new and my battery life was fine. I was on PowerSaving mode, which helps a lot.
This is a pretty simple place to navigate, and I feel like it would be very hard to get lost here. However, I completely relied on my map downloaded and All Trails and did not bother to grab a paper map at the nature center. They have a very nice nature/visitor center here with restrooms, water fountain that accommodates water bottles, and live animals: snakes, turtles, and ?? I can’t remember.
I am practicing using my Garmin inReach Mini 2 for when I travel where there is little or no signal. Note to self: if I send a message to family members that I am checking in and beginning a hike, I should probably let them know when I am finished :-). Oops.
Nutrition! I did not eat enough at all. I was slow moving in the morning and decided to clean my bathrooms and run a load of laundry before leaving for Hampton. I stopped halfway through the trail for snacks and a water break. I left George’s bowl in the van, but had his water bottle, which was full so he actually drank out of the Nalgene. All I ate before the hike was one pumpkin muffin. And all I brought with me was half a cup or less of a mixed nuts trail mix. I also need to bring a hearty post-hike snack for George. He was okay since this was not a strenuous hike and zero elevation, but it was more miles than he is used to walking. What are your favorite post- or mid-hike snacks for your pups?
After the hike, we drove to Paperbacks Inc. & Tastefully Philly Cafe. I ordered a Dirty Chai Latte and a Veggie Delight sandwich after tasting the chickpea salad … yum! I perused the books while waiting for my order then hit the road home, taking the sandwich home to share with my 22 yr old vegan child.
We hit a major traffic stop on the way home, I-64 at Witchduck Road, but I was not too bothered. I had a wonderful day, beautiful weather, and a warm beverage to drink on the way home. It didn’t hurt that I still had 2 more days off ahead of me, too.
Thank you for dropping in and reading. I am just beginning this writing thing and open to advice, suggestions, constructive criticism to improve my blog.
Happy Hiking!
~ vbkaren
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