Brunch Buddies

 The entire first part of the day was filled with an event at the Bridges Church of Manistee. The "ladies society" (or whatever such things are called now) put on a spectacular brunch. I was the speaker, and I gave my talk about the North Country Trail.

The event was planned by the oldest daughter of my good friend, Betty, who has shown up on the blog from time to time. Wendy did a wonderful job. First of all, she kept on top of the organizational parts, checking in with me often. She'd obviously kept in touch with all the other key players too. They had great food and lots of it. They had plenty of people there to help at the right times. Very smooth.

The decor was so perfect! I had to keep my napkin to bring home.

The centerpieces had camping themes too. I suspect there were more different ones, but I got pictures of two.

So, I gave my media program about the NCT. Then there was a question time, and then I sold books.

Got a picture of Betty, me, and Wendy. Great memories here and hopefully still more to come. Long ago, Wendy spent a couple of months with us when our Steve was a toddler, helping to care for him. Now, she's a grandmother of four.

Got home from that at 2 pm, and immediately went for a walk with Cathy. Maybe pictures of that tomorrow. I'll save the mileage update until I share about the hike. All in all, a great day, and very full.

Have I ever said that Betty was the first friend I made when we moved up here the fall of 1969? Wendy was in grade school!

See Gardening with Betty

Girl Trail Power

 
Today was devoted to Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts and the North Country Trail



The troop- 5th and 6th graders- from Ravenna was looking for someone to come talk to them about hiking, and specifically how to be prepared for day hikes.

I said I'd do it, and I sure had a good time. The troop wants to take on the challenge of 50 miles on the NCT in this next year for a patch. I think I talked too much, but the girls seemed to enjoy seeing all the gear, and they listened very attentively. I was impressed.



I couldn't both talk and get any action shots, but I did have someone take a group picture afterwards.

If you are wondering why I wore the "Bad Decisions Make Good Stories" t-shirt, that was my kickoff line. Sometimes we end up with funny stories to bring home and tell, but sometimes we end up with really bad things happening. My mantra is plan, plan, plan, and plan some more. I think I hammered that message home.



Anyway, we did a list of 10 things to take even on a day hike, and 10 things to do before you go.

Now I'm home, and I have to put all that stuff away again. But it was worth it.

	See Shamu is Packed
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FLT Hiking - Bainbridge to Masonville

 
On our fourth day out we walked 9.6 miles, and early in the day we climbed 280 feet to the top of a hill in a power line cut and were rewarded with this great view of the Susquehanna River Valley. It was extra awesome, because most of the way down the hill we had the same view, but could see it at slightly different angles.



On our first day of hiking, we had encountered this: frog eggs



This day, we got an instant lesson in the differences between those and toad eggs



Quite a bit of this day's hiking was on roads. They were back roads, so none of it was unpleasant. The weather was warm and we finished quite early in the day, so we treated ourselves to ice cream, and bought dinner to go. We got a "Hopped-up Dagwood" at Hoppie's. It was like a Reuben on top of a grilled chicken with pesto. We took it back to the campsite, so we could play Quiddler, and split the sandwich when we got hungry.



You have to understand; we are like two obsessed people about this game. We don't seem to ever tire of playing it!

Now to the present again. Today we cleaned the camping gear and put Marie's away, and mine back in my car. Then we weeded Marie's garden. She had set up a venue for me to give my North Country Trail Program to some of her friends in the evening. She arranged for the program to be signed, since one of her hiking friends is deaf. I was really fascinated by that, since it's the first time one of my presentations has been signed. I was afraid I'd get distracted watching the signer, but once I got into the program I just went on with the flow. In the picture you can see the lady in the green shirt with her hands up- she is signing for the lady in the black dress. (Not everyone who came is in the picture.)

	See Quiddler- the perfect game for word freaks
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