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We went to O’Fallon park somewhere in the mountains, only 30 minutes from where we live, and took Coda with us.

Bob didn’t warn me that hiking would be involved, but it seemed like it could be fun, so we started hiking up a dirt trail. There were 3 problems here: 1. We are way out of shape. 2. The altitude makes it even harder to catch your breath. 3. My thermos was filled with lemonade (not water) because I didn’t think we would be hiking, thus, I had to spit a lot. Attractive, I know. We reached the top of the “hill” a short time later- Bob had the help of Coda pulling him up. There was purple heather all around (heather is a type of flower for you non-green thumb people) and since the sun was getting ready to set, there was a nice golden colour on the mountains.

We started the descent back down, and I was feeling very accomplished and thought we had hiked uphill for at least half a mile. Bob laughed at me and thinks it was more like 1/4 mile, but according to “Jen’s Encyclopedia for Non-Hikers”, I deem any distance uphill to be double the actual distance. Thus, we hiked 1/2 mile. Go ahead and laugh all you people in flat, upstate NY… but the altitude here really does a number on people that aren’t used to it so any sort of exertion is a big deal. Bob enjoyed it so much he wants to join a hikers group for beginners here. I’ll give it a few more tries and see how it goes. I don’t mind “being one with nature” and all, but can’t I do it sitting on a dock with a fishing pole in one hand and a wine cooler in the other?