Got Out

Jake and I got out yesterday to enjoy the weather and get a little exercise (swim suit season is coming up you know...) :)

Hiking is, for Jake, simply an excuse to eat snacks outdoors but I'll take whatever I can to spend some time with him so we loaded up the pack with box after box of chicken and tuna salad, some Nerds, and a few bottles of water and headed out.

I had a few additional items in my pack. LOL!

We hit the trailhead and immediately noticed that it's still really flooded everywhere and the trails are all muddy messes.

Boys like mud so Jake couldn't be bothered by the conditions and he was wearing his Bogs (like Muck boots) so he was good to go.

After a bit of hiking, we left the trail behind and followed a deer path through the woods to find a place to have snack #1. It was warm in the sun and cold in the shade so we tried to stay in the sunlight until we were overheated and then we found shade.

There was a pond that looked inviting so we pulled up a seat and grabbed the snacks. I had an ulterior motive so I pounded my water and was left with an empty bottle.

After the snack, I asked Jake if he wanted to drink from the pond and he looked at me with a scrunched up face and said, "No way!" after pointing out that there was goose poo right on the bank.

Undeterred, I found a spot where the water was flowing into a culvert and loaded up the empty bottle. The water was COLD and felt like it'd just come out of the refrigerator.

Then I pulled out my Steripen, fired it up, agitated the water for 90 seconds, and then took a big drink.

Jake was both impressed and horrified. :)

The water tasted fine, was nice and cold, and the Steripen had sterilized any nasty stuff--I hope. If I'm sick as a dog in a couple of weeks I'll let you know.

I've got some pictures that I'll get posted here in a bit. There's even a short video of me stirring the Steripen in the bottle but, believe me when I tell you, it's BORING. I'll post if for you if you want though.

Thanks for reading,


B