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| Me trying to keep up with Jeff |
Jeff and I had started trying some new walking routes over the past few months and we have ventured into "hiking". When I say "hiking" I mean walking trails in the more woodsy areas around our community and taking a lot of pictures. Not so much ascending new heights up inclines perpendicular to the Earth. Yeah, I'm not quite ready for that yet. Sounds strenuous.
We DID hike on Mount Rainier, the 14,410-foot-tall colossus that graces the landscape of western Washington. Jeff and I didn't quite make it to the top. By a long-shot. We drove up on a Friday night and started out the next morning after a much-interrupted night's sleep and a hearty breakfast. Our room was adjacent to a community shower that was being used ALL NIGHT. I appreciate fellow guests placing an emphasis on hygiene, but not when their bathroom fan and shower head vibrate my sleeping quarters throughout the night.
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| Our magnificent Mount Rainier |
We began on a short, level, one-mile walk through the woods right outside the hotel. It was a lovely day-sunny and not too hot. Next, we hopped into the car and headed up the mountain to a gorgeous region called Paradise. So here we are, ready to do some hiking on a mountain on the first weekend in April, dressed in shorts and hoodies. What do we find as we drive into higher elevations? I'll give you some hints-it's cold and it's on top of a MOUNTAIN. Yeah, so everyone up there is decked out in winter gear, snowshoes and the like. Because they knew. Because they looked at our beautiful Mount Rainier and thought, "Looks Cold". So we drove a big circle around the visitor's center parking lot like a couple of tow-heads in a groaner of a joke. "These two blonds head up a mountain in winter dressed for a summer barbecue..." BaDumBump-Psssshhhhh!
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| Who put all this white stuff up here??? |
Cut to a lower-but-no-less-stunning altitude. We are ready to hike! I've got my hiking boots and a lovely couple gives us two sturdy walking sticks and some helpful tips. We make our way to a delightful waterfall and take some photos. Selfie time!!!! We crossed a little bridge and guess what we found? More of the powdery white stuff! Shocking, I know. But it wasn't deep or super cold. At first. We continued our trek and found ourselves plunging knee-deep through the frostiness. And more surprises-mountains are STEEP! Who knew? I am quite proud of how much I managed to push myself to accomplish, even though to many others my feats would be considered "underwhelming". Being chunky, in my 40's, out-of-shape and having bad knees I'm easily impressed with even my most minuscule of efforts. Power of positive thinking! I know I could have gone a lot higher on this excursion, it's the coming back down part that had me all-kinds of panicky. My knees are weak and wobbly, so the descent can be difficult and often painful. Going down a flight of stairs can sometimes cause discomfort. So I figured it was best to turn around before the straight-up-vertical portion of the climb. I didn't want to lose my balance and tumble ass-over-end like a fat panda in front of my boyfriend! Embarrassing!
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| Me |
Jeff and I went back to the car and handed off the walking sticks to another couple. Then we drove to an even lower elevation. Wait! If I'm talking about something lower, is elevation still the right word? Because now it isn't elevated from our starting point. Well, whatever. You know what I mean. We did another short hike in an area that was brown and sandy. And far too hot for us. But we forged ahead! In total we hiked almost 6 miles that day. Our walks and hikes have been inconsistent, but we're getting there! And I have finally reached over 300 miles in my shoes! So to celebrate I threw them away! No, not yet. We've been through a lot together, me and my ratty old shoes. I'm not ready to part with them just yet. But I did buy new cross-trainers AND some trail-runners. Because I'm worth it. And the almighty "they" say that you should replace your shoes every 300 miles. Who am I to disagree with the experts? And if Jeff and I are going to walk on different terrains then I need to be outfitted properly. For better health and safety, right? Shoe shopping for health and safety! That's totally a thing!
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| Proof! I did it!!! |
On the low-carb front, I discovered an almond flour pie crust recipe that tastes really good and doesn't make me throw temper tantrums as I have been known to do when experiencing baking catastrophes with unfamiliar ingredients. You take almond flour, cocoa powder, artificial sweetener and butter, mix it all together and press into a pie pan. It's just like an Oreo cookie crust! Ok, it's not JUST like it, but it's chocolatey goodness you can fill up with a low-carb chocolate mousse and not break the carb-counting bank. Here's the recipe. I would have added a picture of the one I made, but it disappeared like one-hour photo marts and video rental places.
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| http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2016/04/low-carb-no-bake-chocolate-mousse-tart.html |
Try the recipe and tell me what you think. Link me to a new trail to hike. Tell me your favorite blond joke. Comment below or email me at sprout624@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!
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