September's end

While we have completed the first full week of Fall and we have reached the end of September, it hasn't really felt like Fall yet.  The weather was rainy and cooler earlier in the week, but today and the next few days are looking much more like Summer with warm sunny day.  However, I know it won't be long before it really starts to feel like Fall around here..  The colors are just starting to pop out around Lansing now, and after mid-week it looks like more Fall-like weather is on its way.  I know it is inevitable, but I sure am making the most of the nice days while we can.

Last Sunday I was busy around home.  I enjoyed some time in the garden doing clean-up and picking tomatoes, tomatillos, beans, and basil and trimming back the tomato plants as they begin to die back. Despite the fact that it is nearing the end of the season, the garden is still going strong, and I spent a lot of my day working on roasting tomatoes and prepping other items for the freezer.  

I did take a break mid-afternoon to attend an event that the Happy Feet Rescue was holding so I could go pet some cats.  I don't have the opportunity to spend much time with cats since the girls aren't really cat friendly, so I thought this would be a nice way to cuddle a cat and take a break from all of my garden work.   

Since it was nice outside, the girls spent much of the day out enjoying the yard and happily napped when they weren't outdoors.  They were very good girls and I got a lot done.

Monday arrived, and with it, a busy work week due to upcoming work events and work travel.  Because of my busy schedule on Monday, we didn't get out for any fun adventures, but we did enjoy a nice walk around the neighborhood and saw our first real signs that Fall is on its way.

After another busy day of work, Tuesday we headed downtown for the Fall Fest at the Downtown Lansing Farmer's Market.  The Farmer's market there never has many vendors, but they had some special activities going on and I thought we'd check them out.

We made a quick walk around Reutter Park and the market area.  The girls were pretty excited about all of the new smells.  We stopped to get our picture taken which was part of the event, but I have no idea where they were sharing the pictures, so I don't have a copy.  We grabbed a free pumpkin and quickly stopped to see what vendors were there.  

It was a cool and drizzly evening, but after dropping the pumpkin off at our car, we walked over to take a walk around the Capitol Grounds.  With the gray skies, rain sprinkles, and pops of color, it certainly felt more like Fall.

We walked from the Capitol Building to the Michigan Supreme Court Building before heading back toward Reutter Park.  

When we got back to the park, it was 6:45pm and they were beginning the clean-up to close down the Market at 7pm.  We took another quick walk around and I let the girls stop to check out the petting zoo farm animals from a safe distance.  They were both pretty excited about the farm critters, but they behaved pretty well.  I was shocked that Peaches didn't event bark once.  

Before leaving, we got to grab a couple more free pumpkins which will get added to my Fall decorations which will be going out this weekend.  

Wednesday arrived and after some final event preparations, it was time to head out for a night in Toledo.  Since the hotel where our conference was being held was dog-friendly, I decided to take the girls along instead of boarding them for the night.  Not only does it save me some money on boarding fees, but it gives us the opportunity to get out for some fun in a new place too.

Traffic issues and road construction made our drive to Toledo about twice as long as normal, but we arrived safely.  Since we hadn't gotten a chance for much of a break during the day, we headed South of Toledo to the town of Waterville, Ohio(about 8 miles from our hotel) for a walk on the North Country Trail.

A couple of years ago, Peaches and I visited this town and I had no idea that the North Country Trail was just down the road.  When I discovered that the trail was there, we definitely needed to go check it out.  

The trail in this area runs concurrently with the Buckeye Trail which is maintained by the State of Ohio.  This portion of the trail runs along the Maumee River and follows old tow paths from the days when boats were used to transport goods down rivers all over the country.   

The paths are straight and through some very pretty wooded areas along the river.  Some areas are paved and others are crushed gravel.  Nicely maintained and easily walkable, the trail was great for getting in some miles quickly.

We walked a total of 5 miles that evening, starting with a 3.5  mile hike in Farnsworth Metropark.  After a short break to grab a couple of geocaches and to stop at a geocaching event just a 1/2 mile away, we got back out on the trail to get another 1.5 miles.  We would have gone farther, but the rain was turning from a light drizzle to something a little more steady, and the daylight hours were quickly coming to an end.  

It sure did feel great to be back out on the trail again and especially to be able to check out the trail in a new area.  While I have hiked the trail in Ohio in the past, this area was new to me, and this was Peaches and Mina's first time on the trail in Ohio.  

We ended our day driving back to the hotel, grabbing dinner to go nearby, and settling in to do a little work.  The girls got in one good wrestling match before eating dinner and settling in for a quiet night.

We were up early Thursday morning so that I could get the girls out for a nice walk before I had to leave them behind for me meeting.  We had a nice nearly two mile walk in the dark before breakfast, and thankfully before the rain started too.  The girls had breakfast and another wrestling match while I got ready for work, and after a quick potty break in the rain while I took some of my stuff down to the car, they settled in for a nap in the room as I headed back downstairs to work.

This is the first time that I've left Mina uncrated in a hotel room for more than a few minutes and she did an excellent job.  I did hide the pillows in the closet when I left because she LOVES hotel pillows, but I knew she and Peaches would be very good girls, and they didn't let me down.  

They both enjoyed a Kong mid-way through the day and then I had to get them out of the hotel and settled into the car for a little bit after checking out of the hotel.   I'm pretty lucky that they are such good travelers and that they just go with the flow no matter what I throw at them.

After our meeting ended, we had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us to get to Ionia to watch Brezlyn play volleyball.  Before leaving Perrysburg, I made a stop at the Speedway gas station to get a drink and to let the girls out of the car for a potty break and to stretch their legs.  That Speedway was a regular stop for me for years when I used to travel with Jake and Imke to visit Nicol in Kentucky so I knew it was the perfect place to get the girls our before getting on the highway.

We had a little traffic on our drive home, but nothing too significant, and we made it to Ionia just in time to see the start of the volleyball match.  It was a quick match and Chesaning lost, but I was glad I got a chance to get there to support Brez. 

Since the girls had been so good all day, they were rewarded with a walk on the rail trail that runs through Ionia before we headed home.  I got to pick up a few geocaches along the trail and we walked just about a mile before it was time to leave.  It had been a very long day and I was ready to get home.  Boy was I proud of how very good the girls had been all day.  

Between catch-up from being out of the office for a day and a half, preparing for my next meeting this week, and just having a lot to get done overall, my work day on Friday was incredibly busy.  The girls were able to spend lots of time outside, but we only got out for one very short walk.  

After work on Friday, I headed to Chesaning for the home football game against Ovid-Elsie.  It was originally supposed to be Senior night and I wanted to make sure I was there to see Mason.  While there were changes to the Senior night celebration, I was still glad to be there to watch the game.  It was an excellent game which Chesaning won 28-19, and Mason even scored a touchdown.  

While the girls didn't get out much on Friday, we made up for that on Saturday morning by participating in the Parkinson Hero Walk held by the Michigan Parkinson Foundation.  We arrived early so that I could get in a little pre-walk walk and the girls were crazy with excitement. We walked around campus and got in about 1 1/2 miles before the walk started.  

The girls were still crazy and very happy to be out for the 5k walk.  They were on high alert for squirrels and dragged me the whole way.  But it was such a beautiful day to be on campus, I didn't even care.

At the end of the walk, they got to visit with their friends Arlo and Brooks.  The boys did such a great job with the girls and the girls were very patient with the boys.  Arlo loves Peaches and made sure to get into a picture with us.

 

Brooks loved Mina, and Mina loved Brooks because he had applesauce on his face.  She was very sweet with him, and we had to capture a picture of them together because it was the first 5k fundraising walk for both of them,  I'm pretty sure that they'll both walk in many more over the years.  

Overall, the girls and I got in about 5 1/2 miles yesterday and when we got home around 2pm, Mina immediately went outside to lay in the sun.  The weather was so perfect, and the girls spent a good amount of time enjoying it quietly in the yard.  We ran back out quickly to pick up a late lunch, and then I settled in to an afternoon of coring and cutting apples for applesauce.  I now have several containers filled and ready to put into the freezer for the Winter.  

I still have plenty of apples to prepare and I'm looking at some different things that I can do with them including dehydrating some.  I also need to make a trip out to the garden to pick tomatoes and tomatillos again, and I need to find time to make pesto to freeze for the Winter.  I have lots to do and could use an extra day to get it all done, but I also want to do something fun with the girls to take advantage of our amazing weather today.  Somehow I'll figure out a way to get it all done!

Looking ahead, we have a beautiful week of weather coming.  This is probably the end of the 80 degree temperatures for the year, and I'm going to take full advantage of it.  So now I'm off to the farm to pick up some Fall decor items and then a stop at the dog park with the girls because Mina could use a good run.  Maybe some of my prep work will just have to wait until the rainy and cooler days ahead.  

I hope you all enjoy our beautiful weather and have a great week!