The last time I took Soupo out hiking, we had a pretty good time. It was still a little cool out and I knew the trails were going to be muddy, so I made sure to take Stick with me. I usually take Stick with me hiking anyway, because that’s pretty much what separates hiking from just plain walking, Stick. But since the trails were a little sloppy, I used Stick to poke at the trails to find the least gooshy spots for us to walk through. That worked pretty well. Up until Soupo stole Stick off me and tried to find the ungooshy parts of the trail. Soupo is a child of many talents, but finding the ungooshy parts of the trail by poking around with Stick isn’t one of them. Actually he pretty much sucks are ungooshy-trail-parts finding. Just a tip if you hike with Soupo on sloppy trails.
Soupo was all jealous I had Stick and he didn’t have anything, so when we got home that afternoon I rounded up some simple supplies (an old broomstick, some rubber plumber’s tape, some parachute cord, and a little plastic foot for patio furniture legs) and whipped him up his own Mini-Stick. This made him happy and he kept it in his room where he could keep and eye on it.
Saturday we went back to the same park to hike a little more. (It was Sugarcreek MetroPark near Dayton. It’s a nice little park, but not my all-time fave.) I had Stick and he made sure he brought Mini-Stick. He didn’t even hardly trip himself up getting used to walking with Mini-Stick. And the trails weren’t sloppy anymore, so he didn’t have to poke around looking for the good trail parts. Which was just as well, since as I said, he pretty much sucks at that.
There are three big things along the Sugarcreek trails. One is a group of three big ol’ trees that have been growing since before Columbus discovered Ohio. They are like 550 years old and they’re real big. One’s sort of dead and the other two aren’t doing so good themselves, but they are still standing there and they are big. Another highlight is a tunnel of trees. There was a row of Osage orange trees planted along a fence line and they grew up and over the trail, so they make a tree tunnel. It’s kinda cool and looks very Hobbitesque. The last thing is a big tree that blew over one time and the roots are sticking up alongside the trail. Soupo thought this was way-cool, the root ball just ripped up right there. So there were three things to see along the trail to make the hike fun.
Only I let Soupo pick his own path and we saw the root ball.
We also hiked along and he turned off and we crossed a stream on a bunch of rocks (no one fell in oddly enough) and Soupo spent about half an hour throwing rocks into the creek. (Sugar Creek itself) Some of them skipped nicely, but most of them went plonk. Then we wandered up a little ways and there was this pool with big fish in it. Then we almost got run over by a bunch of horses that couldn’t find the bridle trail. Actually I think the horses would have been fine, but the drivers were having trouble. Then we came back to the regular trail to finish up, but someone was all tired from throwing rocks, so we skipped the rest of the trail and came on home.
Even skipping the big old trees and the tree tunnel, it was a good day. But Soupo got Mini-Stick dirty, so now he can’t keep it in his room. Mini-Stick is in the garage now, right by Stick.
Next time though, I’m leading. That way we get to see the stuff I like and he can just suffer.
-Rue.
I also dragged my wife along so that she could meet some of the people that post on this board. She had a good time and she may even start reading the board some on her own. If she does, she’s already been instructed to look for Rue’s weekly MMP, since there is not better way to start the week than by seeing what Unca Rue has been up to.
I have a friend whose Mom was just diagnosed with senile dementia (we all KNEW she was losing it, but now there’s an Official Diagnosis and all.) I could use a coupla “no bad news” weeks; how 'bout you?
Phew! My dogs were sore when I got home. So I took a nap.