boom boom ouch

Today Lydia and I did the Tail on the Trail event at Jacobsburg State Park. It was so much fun. I love winter. It's the one season where I regret living in a city.

It was a snowshoe event. I got mine from the garage. Lydia had to borrow hers. There was only 15 pair available, so I was sure to reserve our spot. You all know how much I hate reservations!

Snowshoes are based on weight and height. It's all about achieving maximum balance. Lydia was right in the middle of two sizes, so the Ranger decided that the larger and considerably longer ones would be better for her. As a first-timer, she'd have no balance issues.

Since the lot and the sidewalks were shoveled, we had to walk to the trail without them. We were with another woman, and I gave them the skinny. Walk more like you are marching. Turn 45 degrees at a time. And be sure to keep a wide stance, otherwise you'll walk on your shoes.

Thankfully there was a picnic table to sit at when we arrived. The shoes went on, pictures taken, and off we went.

The trail was a figure eight with a bit of a hill in the middle. Everything was going terrific. Lydia had four layers on, I only had three. I left my sweatshirt in the car. We were joking that we looked like the Michelan man!

I did perfect the first loop. Then I guess my figures were too frozen to take pixs and I was fuzzing with the camera instead of paying attention. My gloves started to fall. I tried to catch them. Down I went. Thankfully I remembered the Ranger saying if at all possible land on your butt. Yeah, I did. It was like landing on a fluffy pillow.

The second loop was non-eventful.

It was suggested to borrowers that you only go for about 30 minutes, so more people would get a chance to borrow. We were out about 45, so we went back over to the ed center. But nobody was waiting for snow shoes. As much fun as she was having, Lyd decided to turn hers in. (Snowshoeing burns about twice the calories as walking. I think you need to build up for distances.)

We left the ed center and drove the short distance to the regular parking lot. We could have walked, but then it would have involved climbing mountains of snow. Car was a better option.

From the lot we crossed the bridge and took the trail into "Henry's Woods". I was trying to get a picture, and I went down again. this time on ice. And it hurt. My iPod went sailing away. Thankfully, it didn't break, and it takes just as crappy pictures as always.

The path itself was pretty good. It gets a lot of traffic so the snow was packed tight.

Driving home we were in Nazareth and Lydia said "I think it is snowing". We drove right into the storm. The weather people, wrong like always, said it would begin mid-afternoon. I believe that 12 pm is very, very early afternoon. The snow is fine. This is going to pile up.

Best part of the day was having someone to play with. Thankfully, Lydia's car issues are over. Then in spring, Bonnie, Megan and the (no longer a) baby will be able to come again.