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Archive for the ‘Hiking’ Category

Got Mud? Van’s Winner Announced

Posted in Dogs, Hiking, Review, Snacks, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2013 | 4 Comments »

Happy Weekend! Wanted to start my post with the Van’s Natural Foods Announcement.

Van's Natural Foods

Using the Random Integer Generator. 

Here are your random numbers:

13      3

RANDOM.ORG

Congrats #13 julie

I love trail mix or a good gluten-free protein bar

and

Congrats #3 RunFastMama 

I don’t leave home without my GoSqueeze Applesauce, SunButter Packets and some Sweet Potato Chips! Matter of fact I’m heading out-of-town tomorrow for a quick trip and always bring tons more food than I need.

Congrats ladies, I emailed you with the prize information. I know you will Love the New Van’s Line. Please, enjoy. Thank-you to Van’s Natural Foods for Hosting this giveaway.

So I asked as your prize entry to tell me: “What’s Your Favorite Healthy Travel Food/Snack!” I loved all the comments, I really think I have some great snacks in mind now for my trip! Thank you all for entering. Stay tuned for another giveaway I have coming up soon from Stubb’s.

Now on to today’s post!

So I decided something….No excuses. I’ve waited all winter to hit the Farm Trail. So I planned a walk before work and thought to my self I’m walking the trail regardless of the condition. We had a long stretch of rain and I know how flooded the trail gets in the low areas, but I was packed and had the No Excuse Attitude. So when I arrived at work, I grabbed my co-worker Decal and hit the trail.

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My co-worker is laid back, she really did not care how dirty she got. She was just happy to be out walking with me. We have a hose hooked up outside our office so I knew we could get hosed off after our walk. Again, No Excuses.

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It was actually really fun to not care how dirty we got. I simply just enjoyed my walk. I figured everything would rinse clean afterwords. Life is too short to worry about getting a little muddy. Plus I had a change of cloths and I knew my shoes would dry out overnight.

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After my walk and we were both cleaned up, I had my favorite snack at my desk. Decal got a bone and went back outside to lay in the sun! It was a great way to start our day.

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I was also excited to put my Fitbit to the test. I have been wearing it for a while now, but this was first time back on the trail. I was really excited to see how far my trail walk was. I love this little Bit that keeps track of my Fit.

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Having a day time desk job, I do not get many steps in. I am tied to my desk and computer during the day. So having the Fitbit really gave my new appreciation and motivation for my before work and after work walks/workouts.

Check Ya Later.

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Corn Field Cruising

Posted in Dogs, Fresh Ideas, Hiking, tagged , , on July 13, 2012 | 11 Comments »

So back a month ago this was the starting grow of the corn field that I hike. That lovely red lab is my friend Decal, she is the next door neighbors dog to the farm and she joins me most days when I walk the farm. She is great company and she loves walking as much as I do. As soon as Decal sees me pull into the farm she comes running after me so we can take our walk together.

Look at the corn today. It has really grown.

Decal is my pal. She is really a great friend to me. She is loyal, honest and always has my back. She never judges me and is always super happy to see me. That is what I consider a true friend.

She loves to smell every inch of that trail.

Sometimes another friend joins us. That’s Molly. She is also another neighbors dog and she and Decal are good friends. So on occasion, Molly joins us.

Molly sometimes falls behind, but she always catches up eventually. I never worry about losing one of the dogs on our walk, they always come back and find me, plus they are at the farm everyday, and never wander off.  They are both good girls and know the walking routine.

I really love watching the corn grow, it is so fun to see the progress from week to week and sometimes even day-to-day depending on the weather.

This is field corn. These crops will be made into Ethanol. Field Corn is not meant for human consumption. It is used for several purposes, animal feed or as a burning source or for Ethanol. It gets super tall, and it normally gets harvested in late October through December and one year I remember them still harvesting some of the crops on New Years Day.

I walked the trail every day last week and I had a K-9 friend join me every day. Decal found me all week and Molly joined us two days in a row. Great exercise for all, and I love the company. When Decal does not see me on my way into the farm, I stop by her house to get her or I go to the farms shop where she sometimes hangs out. I do consider Decal to be one of my best friends. People always laugh when they see that I have pictures of her in my house, but to me she is like any another friend of mine, K-9 or not, a friend is a friend.

Check Ya Later.

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Hike on the Farm

Posted in Dogs, Hiking, Walking, tagged , , , , , on May 26, 2012 | 2 Comments »

I took all these pictures on my Blackberry phone, really happy how clear the pictures come out. Just wanted to share a walk/hike I took with my husband and my dogs on the farm trail. I am lucky that I live near a farm and the owners like for people to use the trails. My dogs love the hike and they know that after the hike we go and feed the chickens, I love visiting the Lovely Ladies.

A while back I posted a walk on the farm called I hiked. Well after Hiking the Flat Iron in Boulder, I feel like my Michigan trail is now more of a walk/hike in comparison.  But a walk is a walk and I love walking outdoors.

Kind of obsessed with taking pictures of shadows.

This years crop is going to be field corn, and field corn gets super high, so I hope to show the progress the corn is making. I walk this trail often so I will keeping posting pictures and share them. Last years crop was soybean and they are not as exciting as the corn is, as far as the growing process goes.

Stuart loved the trail. He smells and marks every thing.

Killian always leads us, he gets the long lead leash for farm walks.

Stuart gets tired on this walk, but he really pushes through it like a stallion.

So after the walk we headed to see the Lovely Ladies and give them my kitchen scraps, some bread and some shredded carrots. I love to feed the ladies, they really are beautiful.

They love human visitors. The dogs stay in the car, they stress the chickens out so we only let the dogs watch them from the car.

Then we headed home. Saying good-bye to the farm. I love being out on the farm.

But we left with a treat. Fresh asparagus that the farmer had on his personal vegetable plot. Score.  I think foods from the farm that are fresh always taste better than the vegetables I get from the grocery store. I am very excited that after Memorial Day my Friday Farm Market opens up. All the products sold are from local farms in my area.

Had a great day, perfect weather, and stayed active.

Question of the Day: Do you notice the taste difference from fresh farm foods over store-bought foods?

Check Ya Later.

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I Hiked

Posted in Hiking, Oatmeal, Recipes, Walking, tagged , , , on April 15, 2012 | 7 Comments »

Had a great Saturday for many reasons. I did one of my favorite things, I Hiked.  After a hearty Instant Oatmeal Pancake, Jeff and I took a nice long hike at a local farm. Here’s the Instant Oatmeal Recipe and Directions.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Packet Instant Oatmeal (any flavor)
  • ½ Banana , Mashed
  • ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ½ Teaspoon Vanilla
  • ½ Teaspoon Swanson Organic Cinnamon
  • 1⁄3 cup Egg Beaters Egg Substitute

Directions:

  • Mix and combine all ingredients.
  • Pour into non-stick skillet and when you shake the pan and the pancake moves, it’s time to flip.
  • Brown on both sides

     

The farm has a path that runs along the crop, it has not been planted yet, but they will be planting it soon. While we were walking a few of the farmers were out plowing the field.

There are also all these amazing trails through the woods just off the path.

We took a walk through the woods after we walked the path. We know the trails really well and only walk them when it is not hunting season. There are several hunters that hunt the property.

Today I felt brave and climbed up a tree stand. Well almost to the top. I was a bit freaked out about being up so high.

Jeff waited patiently for me to test out my fear’s.

I never realized I had a fear of heights, I normally don’t but I guess the climbing combined with the height is really what got me. I climbed to the top step, but could not step onto the deck, I just took a few pictures and stepped back down the latter really slowly.

I just love hiking through the woods and along the path’s I really cannot think of a better way to spend the day with my husband.

No rest day for the farmers, they always seem to be in the fields this time of year.

We got a bit dirty on the trail, but it was worth it, I had a blast.

I also planning on hitting the trails as often as I can before the Blend Retreat, it’s less than 3 weeks away now. We have a planned hike on the retreats agenda and I want to be ready for it. It always seems like Hiking engages different muscles than walking and the elliptical machine does. So getting a few hikes in before should help.

I’m attending Blend Retreat 2012.

Question of the Day: If you could choose, would you rather Walk, Run or Hike? 

Check Ya Later.

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