I'm starting to need to get outside for a walk every day. Yesterday, I had a hissy fit in the afternoon and I argued with Mike and Nick to go with me. I really wanted to go do this as a family, I told them. It took a while, but once we got outside and walking, even in the drizzly weather, I felt fine. We walked along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and took a mountain bike trail up one side. Unfortunately for me, Teddy pooped as soon as we got there and I had to carry that darn plastic bag of it the whole way up the hill and back down again.
Man, it was a steep trail, full of ramps and skid marks. I sort of pictured myself sliding out of control, catching that bag of poo on a root, getting it all over me while grappling to catch myself, and having to do the best I could to clean up along the trail using wet leaves and sticks. Ugh!
About half-way up, we found an abandoned car. There was talk of skeletons and how it might have found its way there. No skeletons, thankfully, and no obvious way to get a car half-way down a ridge like this. Creepy. We played a game where Nick was a well-armed scout, Mike was a gunnery sergeant, and I was a medic with few means of protection. There were snipers camouflaged in the brush and enemies trying to ambush us, but the guys battled courageously.
Because we started so late, we hadn't even gotten to the top of the ridge before we had to turn around as daylight faded. Meanwhile, Teddy ran back and forth like an airplane practicing touch and go. You could really see his Aussie herding instincts kick in. He never got more than forty feet away from us and managed to go up and down any section of trail three times in the time we traversed it once. Going down, Nick got into the habit of waiting for me so I could balance on his shoulder at the rocks and ramps. I liked that. It made me feel a little old, but it also made Nick feel strong and helpful.
One time I leaned on him too hard and he told me that I had him in a Vulcan grip like what they taught him at karate. I mentioned the cultural effects of Star Trek. Then, Nick and I argued over whether the term 'Vulcan grip' originated with the ancient karate masters or, as in my opinion, from a 1960s television show that Nick isn't all that fond of. Mike, even though he's not old enough to remember the original shows the way I am, finally convinced Nick that 'Vulcan' may have been the name of a planet, but wasn't connected to the ancient ways of karate masters.
By the time we got back to our car, our Goretex was limp and barely dry on the inside and it was almost completely dark, but we were mostly happy. A stop for dinner at the Raging River Cafe with a hot cup of mint tea and we were good for the night, though I have to admit that I'm sad they took the chop-chop salad off of their menu.
Today, I asked Nick if he wanted to go walking with me again. No hissy fit this time, thank you. He said he'd go if he got to choose the trail. Oh man. He wanted to go back up that steep, slippery trail. Well, whatever gets him out and about. It's all exercise, right?
Mike had to go rent some skis for the season, so he dropped us off at the trail head. This time, Nick's mission was one of stealth. There were eight wounded men inside enemy lines and it was his job to escort me, the medic, to help bind them up and get them out safely. Because I didn't have my well-armed gunnery sergeant, I decided that I had more weapons this time. I guess that's a state of mind. When Mike's with us, I don't need to even pretend that I'm well-armed. Since we'd seen some mountain bikes take off down the main trail, I expected to find them heading down toward us at crazy speeds after they'd looped around. I really didn't want to be on the downhill side of three guys coming over one of those ramps. Stealth helped, because we could hear just a little better. We weren't all that quiet either, so I'm sure they could have heard us moving along if they were listening. We kept our eyes on the up-hill slope, listened for their sounds, and prepared to leap for the brush dragging the dog aside with us.
When Teddy did his business, I cached the bag of poo because I knew we'd have to pass it on the way back down. Then I found Mike's walking stick from the day before, and kept my eyes peeled for those bikers. I really was a little better armed than I had been the day before. We didn't see a soul. We had gone a bit further up the trail than yesterday, to a particularly challenging ramp before Mike texted me to say he was on his way back. I would have liked to see what was around that next bend in the trail. We just had to be near the top of the ridge.
On the way down, Nick helped me at the ramps again, but it seemed a little easier than the night before. At dusk, it's a challenge for me to have good depth perception and I'm one of those people who can hurt myself if I take a step and it's deeper than I expected. Teddy was just as excited as before. He kept picking up sticks and whacking us behind the knees as he buzzed past. Good thing he's only 26 pounds and still using his puppy teeth. The abandoned car wasn't nearly as creepy in full daylight as it had been near dark.
Mike was waiting for us in the car when we got back to the bottom. Yes, I did remember to pick up Teddy's little gift bag. And we headed home. I could feel the endorphins working through my system and it helped to make some old-fashioned hot chocolate with real whipped cream after we hung up our wet clothes. Yes, I did make the hot chocolate with Splenda, so it didn't mess with my exercise-induced euphoria.
Here's to a year full of walks, successful missions with Nick, and endorphins.
Thank you for listening, jb
Man, it was a steep trail, full of ramps and skid marks. I sort of pictured myself sliding out of control, catching that bag of poo on a root, getting it all over me while grappling to catch myself, and having to do the best I could to clean up along the trail using wet leaves and sticks. Ugh!
About half-way up, we found an abandoned car. There was talk of skeletons and how it might have found its way there. No skeletons, thankfully, and no obvious way to get a car half-way down a ridge like this. Creepy. We played a game where Nick was a well-armed scout, Mike was a gunnery sergeant, and I was a medic with few means of protection. There were snipers camouflaged in the brush and enemies trying to ambush us, but the guys battled courageously.
Because we started so late, we hadn't even gotten to the top of the ridge before we had to turn around as daylight faded. Meanwhile, Teddy ran back and forth like an airplane practicing touch and go. You could really see his Aussie herding instincts kick in. He never got more than forty feet away from us and managed to go up and down any section of trail three times in the time we traversed it once. Going down, Nick got into the habit of waiting for me so I could balance on his shoulder at the rocks and ramps. I liked that. It made me feel a little old, but it also made Nick feel strong and helpful.
One time I leaned on him too hard and he told me that I had him in a Vulcan grip like what they taught him at karate. I mentioned the cultural effects of Star Trek. Then, Nick and I argued over whether the term 'Vulcan grip' originated with the ancient karate masters or, as in my opinion, from a 1960s television show that Nick isn't all that fond of. Mike, even though he's not old enough to remember the original shows the way I am, finally convinced Nick that 'Vulcan' may have been the name of a planet, but wasn't connected to the ancient ways of karate masters.
By the time we got back to our car, our Goretex was limp and barely dry on the inside and it was almost completely dark, but we were mostly happy. A stop for dinner at the Raging River Cafe with a hot cup of mint tea and we were good for the night, though I have to admit that I'm sad they took the chop-chop salad off of their menu.
Today, I asked Nick if he wanted to go walking with me again. No hissy fit this time, thank you. He said he'd go if he got to choose the trail. Oh man. He wanted to go back up that steep, slippery trail. Well, whatever gets him out and about. It's all exercise, right?
Mike had to go rent some skis for the season, so he dropped us off at the trail head. This time, Nick's mission was one of stealth. There were eight wounded men inside enemy lines and it was his job to escort me, the medic, to help bind them up and get them out safely. Because I didn't have my well-armed gunnery sergeant, I decided that I had more weapons this time. I guess that's a state of mind. When Mike's with us, I don't need to even pretend that I'm well-armed. Since we'd seen some mountain bikes take off down the main trail, I expected to find them heading down toward us at crazy speeds after they'd looped around. I really didn't want to be on the downhill side of three guys coming over one of those ramps. Stealth helped, because we could hear just a little better. We weren't all that quiet either, so I'm sure they could have heard us moving along if they were listening. We kept our eyes on the up-hill slope, listened for their sounds, and prepared to leap for the brush dragging the dog aside with us.
When Teddy did his business, I cached the bag of poo because I knew we'd have to pass it on the way back down. Then I found Mike's walking stick from the day before, and kept my eyes peeled for those bikers. I really was a little better armed than I had been the day before. We didn't see a soul. We had gone a bit further up the trail than yesterday, to a particularly challenging ramp before Mike texted me to say he was on his way back. I would have liked to see what was around that next bend in the trail. We just had to be near the top of the ridge.
On the way down, Nick helped me at the ramps again, but it seemed a little easier than the night before. At dusk, it's a challenge for me to have good depth perception and I'm one of those people who can hurt myself if I take a step and it's deeper than I expected. Teddy was just as excited as before. He kept picking up sticks and whacking us behind the knees as he buzzed past. Good thing he's only 26 pounds and still using his puppy teeth. The abandoned car wasn't nearly as creepy in full daylight as it had been near dark.
Mike was waiting for us in the car when we got back to the bottom. Yes, I did remember to pick up Teddy's little gift bag. And we headed home. I could feel the endorphins working through my system and it helped to make some old-fashioned hot chocolate with real whipped cream after we hung up our wet clothes. Yes, I did make the hot chocolate with Splenda, so it didn't mess with my exercise-induced euphoria.
Here's to a year full of walks, successful missions with Nick, and endorphins.
Thank you for listening, jb
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