February Adventures

The weather this week has been up and down with snow and cold followed by temperatures near 40 which started to melt the over a foot of snow we got a week and a half ago.  Then the temperatures dropped into the 20s with wind chills near zero which froze all of our melted snow, creating an ice rink on my sidewalks and some slippery roads.  When the weather is like this, some days it's hard to get out for much adventure with the girls.  Lucky for us, each day brings us more daylight in the evening, so that helps me feel a little more confident about walking on potentially slippery sidewalks since I can actually see the danger ahead!  So we were successful in getting out every day for at least a little fun.  

Last Sunday, after a quiet morning at home, I was inspired to get out for a little walk on one of our local trails at Hunter's Orchard Park.  Despite the snow, we were able to get in a good walk and a little geocaching.  It was really a beautiful time to be outdoors and enjoying nature.  I love capturing snowy pictures in the woods and along the river in the late afternoons as we near sunset.  

The girls found plenty of good things to sniff and Ruby, who isn't usually a fan of the deeper snow, was even having a great time.  She was really excited in a couple of different areas, sniffing and wagging her tail a million miles an hour, and I think she completely forgot about this snow.

I always find benches covered in snow interesting and these two were too pretty not to capture.  It was just a great walk for us all and we all got a good workout because of the depth of the snow.  I was so glad I had made the choice to get outside!

When I can't get the girls our for a long walk, I like to take them places that give them plenty of mental stimulation.  I'm thankful for stores that allow dogs because they are great places to do just that.  This week we made visits to several places that allow dogs, like Tractor Supply Company and Home Depot, as well as a few different pet stores.  We practiced walking nicely next to a cart at both Tractor Supply and Home Depot, and I like to walk up and down each aisle, stopping occasionally to allow them to explore and sniff as much as they want.  Our visit to Home Depot was especially fun for the girls because they were very popular with all of the employees we passed.  I stopped to look at the washing machines there and I was immediately surrounded by four employees... all of them just wanting to get some love from the girls.  Tiny little Ruby with her very loving nature was especially popular!   

As you can see, Ruby was pretty excited about our trip to TSC, and Peaches was enjoying smelling everything!  Luckily I was able to bribe them to sit and pay attention long enough for a good picture!

Tuesday, after a long busy day of work, I was happy to be able to get the girls out again for a nice walk at Hawk Meadows.  We arrived very close to dusk, so we didn't have a lot of time to spend there, but we were able to get in a pretty quick 1 1/2 mile hike around the park and to get back to our car before the park closed.

It was a marvelous walk at sunset and the girls spotted plenty of deer which always adds to the excitement of our walks.

They decided to "help" me make dinner after we got home that evening.  They were rewarded with some veggies for all of their good help.

Wednesday was one of our warmer days this week and I knew we had to get outside to make the most of it.  We got a late start getting out the door, so we headed to campus for our walk because the sidewalks are generally clear and it is well lit.    It feels like a pretty safe place to take an early evening walk and I always enjoy walks there.

In addition to our adventures this week, we have been watching the Olympics every night.  I love the Olympics.  I know we all love to celebrate medal winners, but I also love the stories of people who are just happy to make it to the games; the stories of hard work and determination and sacrifice that people make just to be there competing.  I love the way it brings people together to celebrate all that they have accomplished.  There are so many touching moments and it gives me hope for our world.  Peaches just wishes I wouldn't interrupt her sleep by cheering!

Thursday we took a drive out to Dewitt to pick up a geocache and decided to take a walk around town for a little change of pace.  Peaches was pretty excited to be out for a ride in the car.  

The temps were falling, making some spots on the sidewalks here pretty slippery, but we were still able to get in a nice walk.  It is always interesting to take a walk around small towns and somehow I had never spent any time in downtown Dewitt before, so we enjoyed exploring.  

Saturday morning was cold and icy, but we were excited that we were going to get out for some fun.  The morning started with a visit from our friends Bonnie and Duke, although I didn't get any pictures of Duke and the girls out playing.   After their visit, we had some down time at home before Vanessa arrived for our afternoon of fun.

Our first stop was a visit with Barb, Tom, and Sherman.  Sherman and the girls had a good run around the yard, and then we headed inside for a bit to warm up.  I was trying to get one picture of all three pups together, but that was unsuccessful.  At least I was able to get individual pictures of each of them!

We then headed out for short hike on a portion of road walk on the NCT between Lowell and Ada.  We parked the car at Seidman Park and then Tom drove us to our starting spot a few miles away.  The first half mile of our hike was on a paved road, but we were quickly off of this road.

Most of the walk was on gravel road or paved trail.  Boy were we glad we brought our cleats to keep us safe on the icy roads! 

Despite it being in the low 20s, we were in a wooded area and, therefore, protected from the wind.  This made for a pleasant walk.

We finished our hike at the trailhead at Seidman park, a total of 4.35 miles hiked for the day, bringing our year-to-date total miles on the trail to 17.1 miles as we work our way through Kent county.  Both Vanessa and I agree that we were a lot more motivated on our Winter hikes last year, but we're still enjoying getting out there and making progress.  I am really excited for some Spring hiking this year!  I can't help but think that we're really only a month away from some nicer hiking weather.   We'll be back out there next week making more progress.

We hiked a smaller section on the trail yesterday because we had plans to spend some time in Grand Rapids doing some geocaching and exploring the World of Winter, an annual event in Grand Rapids that celebrates Winter with art installations and some interactive displays. 

We arrived in Grand Rapids, parked, and bundled up...but boy was it cold out there still.  The wind was biting and we quickly realized that we weren't going to spend as much time geocaching as we had planned.  Our first stop was at the Gerald and Betty Ford burial site at the Gerald R Ford Presidential Museum.  It's crazy to think of all of the Presidential sites I've visited, I've never visited their gravesites before this.  Peaches sat nicely, but paid no attend to me because she was distracted by a squirrel.

We quickly walked around some of the art installations, but it was so cold that we didn't stay long in any one spot.  We had a nice 1 1/2 mile walk around downtown, but that was all we could handle with the cold.

We enjoyed some of the displays and I'm happy that we stopped.  Maybe we'll make it back to explore more on a little warmer day before the event ends on March 6.

We left the event, picked up dinner at Fish Lads, and then headed home from our day of fun.  The girls settled down nicely for the drive home.  They had had a really good day!

It has been a quiet day here today.  Surprisingly both girls slept in and, after a late breakfast, settled themselves in the living room for a morning nap.  They made a couple of brief trips outside this morning, and happily watched me as I did some cleaning and meal prep, but spent most of the day relaxing and napping.  

I decided that I'd give them a mid-afternoon Kong, and they both seemed to enjoy the special treat, but once finished, they quickly settled back in for the afternoon.  I didn't get as much done today as I had planned to do, but I was pretty happy with what I did accomplish and at how relaxed the girls were all day.  I was also happy that we didn't have to go anywhere today and could just watch the snowfall.  

It's been a snowy, cold, dreary day, and the perfect day to stay home.  I got some meal prep done for the week, Kongs are filled and in the freezer, and the house is clean, plus I feel relaxed and refreshed for the week to come.  It was a good way to spend our Sunday.   The sun is finally shining and we're currently rooting on the US men's curling team.  The girls have had dinner, we've played a little fetch, and we are now preparing for an evening of watching some Olympics and rooting on Matthew Stafford in the Super Bowl.  

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday evening and enjoy the week ahead.