Rattlesnake

Sandie and I went hiking this Saturday... it was so nice out (finally)! We did the same hike we did a couple times last summer: Rattlesnake Ledge . Last year it was a definite challenge for us, we had to stop at least 3 times on the way up for a break...and most of the time everyone (children included) were passing us on the trail. I'm proud to announce that we did really well this weekend! We only stopped 2 times on the way up, and that was only because we needed to give our dogs water. Buttercup (Sandie's dog) was thirsty, and rightly so. It was hot! Violet (my little "Facey") wouldn't drink the water. Boston's are known for overheating easily, but she would have none of it. She was SO over the top excited to be out hiking with us, she didn't want to stop for anything. I'm serious, if she were bigger (ie: not 14 lbs) she would have been dragging me to the top. Not only did we need to break less (without the dogs, I think we wouldn't have needed any stops), but we were actually passing other people. In fact, I think we passed almost everyone except the runners (why anyone would want to RUN up that trail is beyond me). I tracked the whole thing with an app on my iPhone, so if you want to check it out: click here to see how and what we did.

Here is a photo I quickly pieced together on my phone... not the best picture ever, but it gives you an idea of the view from the top. It really is pretty up there! (click on the picture to see it a little bigger)

  

I'm not looking so good here but the view sure is pretty!

Sandie and Buttercup

While we were eating lunch at the top, there was a family sitting a ways behind us and the little boy (maybe 5 yrs old?) kept talking about Violet and how he wants "a black and white dog just like that because it's so CRAZY looking" ... "but mom look how crazy that dog looks!" ... "mom I like that dog because it's so crazy looking!" haha, it was pretty cute. Eventually the mom brought him down and asked if he could pet her. He stopped by about 2 or 3 more times just to say hi and even fed her a few treats. I've said it a million time but Violet has a way with the kids!

And to be fair, she is pretty crazy looking:

Overall it was a great morning, and I felt SO good afterwards! Not nearly as exhausted as when we went last summer. We must be doing something right! And now I know how some people can go hiking for FUN. I used to think that was crazy (I STILL think Aaron is crazy with some of the hikes he does)... but now I see that when you are in good enough shape that you can do the hike without constantly focusing on how bad your asthma is, or how much your legs hurt, or whatever... there is actually some fun to found! In fact I kind can't wait to go again!