Two weeks ago...

Obviously I have been piss-poor about posts. So, damnit, I'm going to catch up tonight!

Here's the first thing to talk about:

Last year sometime I went on a bird watching expedition with Jeff/Judy and some other ANK folk. It was a nice leisurely walk through a nature preserve with stopping often and enjoying nature. Our guide was wonderful and I really enjoyed the outing. So, when Judy sent me an email about an 'Autumn Amble' that a wildlife refuge was holding with a guided walk, I thought that sounded like fun. It said it was three hours of a leisurely walk to enjoy nature and learn about the local prairie land, wildlife, etc. Now I may not be as active as Mike/Annette or Matt, but I like nature. I like being outside. And since Jeff/Judy are about the same speed as me, I thought, why not?

Here's the website:

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/balcones/events.htm

It's about an hour outside of Austin, in a really pretty area out by Lago Vista. When we got there, we were greeted by a volunteer that was going to lead our group of 12 people. She said that she'd point out all the local plants and whatever wildlife we come across. Then she said 'we'll be going over that mountain and then around the side. It'll be pretty vigorous, so I hope everyone brought water'. Uh, vigorous? What happened to a leisurely amble? Amble means stroll, walk, enjoyable time in the outdoors! Jeff/Judy and I kinda looked at each other, and thought, hey, we can handle this. Most of our group were older people (40s-60s) so it's not like we were surrounded by heavy duty hikers.

At first, it was a great time. We ambled, we stopped, we looked at the pretty plants. Then, we got to the edge of the mountain side where our guide practically sprinted up the side. By the time we got up, I was....not enjoying myself as much. Then, it all went downhill from there (unfortunately I mean that figuratively). Our guide never really stopped long enough for us to ENJOY the countryside or take a rest. I'd stop to take a picture and then have to jog to catch up. Judy told me afterwards that one of the women had fallen and our guide didn't even stop. By the end of the three hours I was actually starting to feel faint. Our guide began talking about this random plant and I basically just interrupted her and asked if we stay on the path if we'd reach the parking lot. She said yes and that we were close. I just headed off, and most of the group followed me. I think we were all done. When we got to the parking lot I talked to a park ranger that had been in the back of our group and I asked him how long we just hiked. It was 4 1/2 miles! I told him if the website was going to say LEISURELY AMBLE it should have been more like two. That was a HIKE! Judy said she was close to taking our guide out near the end. But, it was nice to be outside and enjoying the great weather we've been having.

You can kinda see in this picture all the colors in the grass. Yes, it was pretty. I just didn't need to see 4 miles of it.