It's Been a Long Time

With highs nearing 65 lately snowboarding plans went out the window and we went hiking. I tried to take photos, but the camera was completely dead. I need to get that charged before our trip to NYC. I really can't remember the last time I went to Susquehanna State Park. We didn't go swimming in Deer Creek there last Summer. It has been a long time. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours hiking a couple of miles. It was good to get out and be active. I didn't feel totally out of shape, which is good.

Critter spotting: cows, geese, various small birds, a chicken, sheep, a small snake, flies, and other winged insects.

I didn't see any horses or deer, but I did see their tracks.

I need to make sure and get back there again soon and keep going back. We should go swimming and berry picking there this Summer.

To Hana and Beyond

Wednesday was a very long day. We drove around the North side of the island, past Hana to get to Ohe'o Gulch. The drive was loooong, slow, winding, and narrow. It took us nearly four hours to get there. By the time we arrived Ross and I were both a little car sick. After eating a little lunch we felt much better.

The goal was to hike up to the Waimoku Falls in the Haleakala National Park and then go for a swim to cool off. When we arrived the signs said that no swimming was allowed due to high water conditions, but that the trails were open for hiking. We were both a little disappointed. I was wearing my bathing suit under my clothes, which made me very sweaty in the super-humid rain forest.

The hike was really amazing. We took the side trails to see the smaller falls and pools along the way. The bamboo forest was the bomb. When the wind would blow the bamboo would sway and creak. It was entrancing. When we reached the top we stayed at Waimoku Falls for a while. I even climbed up into a cave. When we started our hike back down I was soaked from the waterfall.

Back at the trail head we decided to take some pictures of the Seven Sacred Pools from the road. The fact that no swimming was allowed made for some really nice photos. We walked back to the visitors center to use the restroom and one of the park rangers told us they had just opened up the pools for swimming. Score! We were going to get to cool off after all!

We hiked up to the second or third pool and I jumped in. It was cold, but refreshing. Swimming against the current to get to the waterfall at the head of the pool was a work out. Ross finally got the courage to get in and swam across the pool also. We had our own private pool. It was spectacular. After a few photos we decided it was time to go. The drive back took about three and a half hours. After something to eat we passed out. This vacation was very tiring.

I think these are the Falls at Makahiku.
Top of the bamboo forest.
Me walking the trail through the bamboo forest.
This photo cannot even begin to convey Waimoku Falls. It was loud. The air and mist were flying off it. It was tall (400 ft). I can't believe people hiked all the way up (about 2 miles) then just turned around and came back down. It was really something to take in.
Seven Sacred Pools. I think the small round one in the middle is where we went swimming.
Our private pool.

Many Random Things

1. Pleaded v Pled

I kept hearing on the radio this morning how "Faisal pleaded guilty." That makes my skin crawl. I prefer pled. I remember the Editor in Chief and the Managing Editor having this argument when I worked at the Texas Law Review (ah, those were the days.) I think the Editor in Chief was arguing the the case for pled. We agreed on that one, but not "an historic". I'll never agree to that one.

2. I'm sad about the Supreme Court's ruling on aid to terrorist groups. Any group that advises a terrorist group, even about nonviolent means of conflict resolution, can be prosecuted for giving "material support" to that group. Sad.

3. Dawn dishwashing liquid is being used to clean the oil-covered animals in the gulf. This was in the news because Dawn apparently contains petroleum. Like dissolves like! That's why the first step in cleaning the animals is to rub cooking oil all over them. Who cares if there's petroleum in Dawn--as long as it gets the animals clean!

4. I went to H Mart today. I go crazy in H Mart. Today I bought these strange drumstick snacks:

The snacks are just drumstick-shaped-fried shells. No real seasoning. Odd. I can't believe how many of them in the box were intact.

5. I saw this sign this weekend when we were at a stoplight. Used Refrigerated Bodies? Really?

7. I went hiking on Sunday. I was hoping for raspberries, but didn't find many. I did find this butterfly wing.

More Surprises

I dragged Ross through the raspberry patches yesterday and we came upon lots of critters. We saw a bunch of tiny frogs, dragonflies, a box turtle, a deer, long legged spiders, iridescent spiders, butterflies, fish, and birds. I was much more selective about my berry picking and came home with a bag of very ripe raspberries. I used some of Wednesday's berries to make flax muffins. I think I'll use the rest of the raspberries to make smoothies and ice cream. The blackberry bush had some nice ripe berries and a snake. Yep, a snake, high up in the bush! I reached for a berry and something moved. I noticed a small striped rope hanging by my hand. I called Ross over and he got to see it too. Half way through the hike Ross was sick of the humidity and was done picking berries. At the end we were both really, really worn out.

Surprise!

I didn't think there would be anything to report today, but there were lots of surprises on my hike. The hike went much slower than usual, but not entirely because I haven't had a real hike in about a month. Before I could even get on the trail I was attracted to something bright red on the side of the road. Berries. I always want to eat berries when I find them, but I'm not sure what most of them are so I resist. Not today. They were raspberries! I was picking and eating them, but then I decided to take my sandwich out of its ziplock bag and use the bag to collect berries. I got an entire bag full! So, since I kept stopping all along the trail, the hike that normally would take me less than two hours took me two and a half. I had so much fun. Free, organic raspberries! When I got to the end of the first trail I found another surprise--Blackberries. There was one large blackberry bush, but not many of them were ripe. I found one huge, black blackberry and it was so juicy and sweet. I managed not to get too scratched up--I remember climbing around in the berry patch behind my great grandma's house and getting pretty torn up. I used my long arms to reach as many berries as I could.
These really ripe ones were just out of reach! My bag was full about three-quarters of the way through the hike, so after that all I could do was pick and eat--so that's what I did.
Critter spotting: Today was also a great day for critter spotting. My hearing seemed especially sensitive today (maybe because I didn't have headphones in and I was paying attention) and I caught sight of 5 deer! This particular deer was walking right towards me. I kind of wish I'd waited just a bit longer to take the photo. When he finally saw me he freaked and took off. I also saw a few squirrels, birds, bees, wasps, spiders, and lots of zebra striped butterflies. I finally saw one of the woodpeckers too. I picked a few bugs along with the berries and had to pull a praying mantis nymph and a couple of stink bugs out of the bag.
I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it smelled good, like a tuberose, but not nearly as strong. The bugs seemed especially attracted to it. There are at least four insects in the photo, and I'm pretty sure there is a butterfly on the backside. I sure am glad I forced myself to get out and go hiking today.

Rocks Park Excursion

For a change of pace we headed to Rocks State Park today. I wanted to check it out because it has an outcropping that people rock climb on. We headed straight to the area, called the King and Queen's seat (I have no idea why, it doesn't look anything like seats to me). I scrambled around on the really large rocks and we took a few pictures. Okay, this photo doesn't show it, but this mushroom was rather large. It was just calling out to me saying "I'll make a great mushroom burger!"  I resisted it. We didn't see as many critters as we usually do hiking, but we did see a really large bird of prey.  It got really close, but we didn't get the camera out in time to take a photo. It was buzzardy-looking. I am more interested in birds of prey than song birds.

Someone pointed out a snake between a couple of the boulders and Ross got a good photo of it. After playing around on the rocks we hiked the white trail loop (about 2.25 miles). I have to say, the trails were very well labeled, especially at the intersections (which isn't the case at Susquehanna). The whole area was different from Susquehanna. It was really rocky in spots, and the rocks were covered in moss. We saw a lot of moss, and at least 3 different kinds.

It was a pretty good hike. Maybe next time we will check out the Falls Branch area of the park, which is further North.

On Track

After last week's laziness I'm aiming for 500 minutes of exercise this week.  I'm right on track after hiking a little over two hours today. I think I am learning the trails and I managed to stay on course today.

I hear and see a lot of birds on the trail. I don't know a thing about birds. I'm not really that interested. I hear a woodpecker most days I go hiking, and it reminds me of Fort Worth. We had a woodpecker in the birch behind the house. I'm more interested in the different kinds of mushrooms I see. Maybe it is the food potential! 

I took a couple of different trail spurs today just to see what they were like.  One had a barn along side it and another couple of buildings. The hay field that I walked through a couple weeks ago has since been mowed.

The best part about today's hike was the smell. The honeysuckle is in full bloom and I love it. I'm sure the honeysuckle in Texas has already bloomed.  I miss Texas, but I'm sure going to miss these hikes when we go back.

I keep seeing these berries all over the park.  They look kind of like strawberries, but close up they are spikey.  Strange.

Susquehanna with the Lusters

We had a great weekend.  On Saturday we cleaned house and then just chilled out all day long. On Sunday the Lusters came over for lunch and then we headed to Susquehanna State Park for a hike. Ross, Troy, Valerie and Evelyn checked out the mill while Julia and I checkout out the river.  We then hiked the green trail.  Evelyn did a great job hiking.  I managed to sneak up behind Ross and scare him toward the end of the hike.  Good times.
Evelyn got a piggy back ride from Ross.
Julia took a nap for a while.  She looked like she was going to fall out of her carrier.
Oh, of course we went to the dairy after our hike.  How could I forget!  Everyone, including Julia, had yummy ice cream.  We drove back from the dairy with the top down and finally got a photo of us girls in the car.  Julia did not actually ride with us.  And poor Evelyn barely fits in the back seat!

Check out more great photos on Valerie's blog post.

Fun With Tejal

Tejal came to visit for the weekend and we had lots of fun.  On Friday we had yummy Greek food and went to the dairy for dessert. 
On Saturday we went hiking. The big tree looks totally different now that it has leaves. Tejal and I climbed up and Ross took photos. He kept teasing us because we were scooting along the lowest branch instead of standing up and walking. Ross jumped up onto the tree, stood up, took two steps, and ended up on the ground on his back. See kids, don't be a Ross.  
After our hike we took a break along the river's edge.  I even put my feet in for a while.  The water was cold, yet soothing.
Saturday night we went to Longwood Gardens and walked even more.

On Sunday we drove all the way to College Park for Boba.  It wasn't as good as it is at Bethany Boba back home. I was able to buy some of my favorite kind of oolong tea, so I'll be getting hyped up on Chinese Power Juice nearly every day. After dinner (I made enchiladas!) we ended up at the dairy for dessert.
On Monday before we took Tejal to the airport we went to the dairy one last time.  We really didn't want to let her go.

Extended Hike

I was intending to hike for two hours yesterday, but I missed a fork in the trail and ended up hiking for more than two and a half hours! Thankfully I had the map with me, so I didn't panic when I realized I was no longer on the blue trail.

I'm going to rant a little now.  Halfway through my hiking I stopped on a small bridge and looked down into the water. I saw some money floating in the water.  It didn't look quite right, but I climbed down and picked it up anyway (and some more that I found).  When I unfolded it I saw a fake five dollar bill drawn on 2/3 of it and the other third said: DISAPPOINTED? SATAN also Deceives, but JESUS SAVES!  Uh, yeah I'm disappointed. Someone freaking littered in the park! Purposely!  In the water!  I hate religious tracts. I often see them thrown on the ground, but this one is designed to be litter.  The back of the thing of course tells me how I can be saved.  I saved them for the recycling bin. That wasn't the only trash I saw. I also picked up a reflector from a bike, and well, I didn't pick up the diaper and toilet paper I saw.  The toilet paper was under a branch, but right in the middle of the trail!  The dirty nappy had been dropped right on the edge of the trail.  Gross.  People are nasty.

The rest of the hike was great. The smell of freshly 

mowed hay was nice. I mostly saw small things this week:

butterflies, lots of flying insects, beetles, a slug, a worm, caterpillars, 2 dead mice, a small squirrel, lots of flowers, different kind of mushrooms, bright red ticks and mites, and two horses.

Sugarloaf Mountain

We had to go to Leesburg, Virginia to pick up the plates for the Lexus yesterday.   Valerie's place is pretty close to Leesburg--as the crow flies, but not as the roads wind.  We thought it would be fun to take White's ferry across the Potomac to go see the Lusters.  We made it to Germantown, but we had to drive the long way around because the ferry was closed. Grrr! 

We joined the Luster clan for a hike up to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain. We took lots of photos and scrambled around the rocks.  Without Evelyn there I would have been a lot crazier (more reckless), but I wanted to set a good example, so I didn't go jumping from rock to rock or running off-trail (too much).

On the way down Ross and I helped Evelyn with her hiking skills. Ross always says you don't have hands on your butt, so if you want to grab onto rocks on a steep decent, then turn around. Evelyn did a great job. Check out Valerie's blog post for great photos.

It started to rain on the way down, but we were well protected by the forest canopy.  We had snack time at the head of the trail then headed back to the Lusters' house for dinner.

Ross looks so great with a baby.  We don't need a baby, just friends with a baby!  Hahahah.

Back on Track

Even though I keep hearing that abs are made in the kitchen, and excess food consumption is more to blame for obesity than lack of exercise, I know I still need to work out.  I didn't exercise at all last week. I decided to get back on track this week.  Yesterday I did a 90 minute yoga podcast.  Other than 2 scoops of ice cream instead of one last night, I think I've been eating pretty well this week. 

Today I went for a hike.  I saw a few deer, and one of them didn't mind having a little photo shoot.  I ended up hiking for 2 hours!  I went off trail for a little while and ended up getting pick pocketed by a thorny bush.  Thank goodness I noticed my camera was missing just a few steps later (when I tried to take a photo of a grey squirrel) and I was able to go back and get it.

Up for tomorrow:  The Firm videos.

Hiking, Biking, and Milling

Yesterday was a really nice day, especially after days and days of rain. Ross and his coworkers were going to meet at Susquehanna to go mountain biking.  I decided to go with so that I could hike along Rock Run River.  I didn't start off on a trail, I just wanted to stay as close to the water as possible.  One of the times I was crossing the river I slipped and fell in.  Well, I was just standing there, both feet in the water, with 3 folks on horseback staring at me.  The water actually wasn't very cold, and I managed to shrug off the whole thing and keep hiking.

Ross and his buddies had fun mountain biking. Of course Ross flipped over and got a little banged up.  His buddies were going to continue biking, but Ross said he'd had enough and we were going to leave until Ross noticed that he'd lost his headlight.  We hiked back up the trail to where he had wrecked and he found it.  All in all I got at least an hour and a half of hiking in.

Before we left we stopped at the mill, which was running, to check it out.  It was pretty neat. The mill was grinding corn, and they even gave us some as we were leaving.  I hope the mill is running if and when we go with the Lusters.  Evelyn would love it!

Critterspotting:  On the way to/from the park I saw horses, sheep, cows, and a donkey.  In the park I saw frogs, millipedes, dogs, horses, cardinals, spiders, iridescent green beetles, a large black beetle, a worm, a duck, a blue jay, other birds, some really large ants, and Ross saw a skink.

Tree Climbing

This afternoon we went back to Susquehanna State Park. We hiked the Deer Creek trail and found a tree that we couldn't resist climbing. I insisted on getting up by myself and almost fell off because I was laughing so hard. Getting down was just as amusing. I jumped down, landed on my bum, and my glasses flew off! No harm done though, and we had a good laugh. Now it is time to make chocolate matzo.

Our First Excursion

When I lived in Maryland before I didn't get out much. This time I'm going to see and do as much as I can because I'm not sure how long we will be here. One thing that we have here that we didn't have in Fort Worth is nearby hiking. Yesterday we headed to Susquehanna State Park (only 15 minutes away) for a hike. It was more of a nature walk than a hike this time, but I really enjoyed it, and it was great to get some exercise and fresh air in my lungs. Next time we will try out some more challenging trails.
The first part of the walk was along train tracks. It is hard to tell, but the ground is about five feet under the tracks at this one spot. Ross thought it was too easy for me and started stomping on the tracks when I was almost across. I still made it without falling (can't say the same for Ross, and I wasn't anywhere near the tracks when he was crossing).

We walked out along the Susquehanna River's edge, and walked back along the train tracks.
I didn't try to walk across this section. Here you can see one track still pretty straight, and the other has sagged down to the ground below.
This is the water that runs along the inside of the island we explored.

After our hike we headed to the dairy where we met up with Valerie and Evelyn. I think Evelyn really liked her ice cream (we all did). Ross had a good time playing with Evelyn--reading her a book, playing with her outside, and trying to get her to pet a lamb. Ice cream was the perfect ending to our excursion.