HIKE!

This afternoon Amanda, Richard and I drove to Westwood Lake, parked, and after walking on the trail to the (north?) end of the lake, started picking trails [left or right....straight or left?]. We were using a map Amanda found online to the 'Westwood hills'..explored lots of trails, found something that was supposed to be an old Scout Hut, and got to several points on trails where my brain said 'NO' (my fear of heights). We backtracked a bit, and finally ended back on the Westwood Lake Trail. By all the signposts, it seems the Lake Trail itself is app 6 or 7 km, and then we did at least 3 km up and down the other trails, so I'm guessing that we did about 10 km. The morning started out cloudy, but by the time we got to the lake it was sunny, and the beach was full. Unfortunately Amanda forgot a hat, so the sun was bothering her when we were out in the open areas. She was a bit disappointed we didn't get to the points of interest mentioned in the onine article, but it was still a good, enjoyable, attractive hike. And, hey, it got Richard out of the house! When we were back on the Lake trail Heather took a couple of pictures of a wild turkey:

PICTURE OF WILD TURKEY TO GO IN POSTING~

we think it was a male protecting the female who was probably on the nest. After the hike we headed into town and stopped at the Dairy Queen at Country Club Mall: I had a Sundae [with coffee & hot caramel sauce & nuts...yummy!], Richard had a Brownie Dough Blizzard, and Amanda had a Cheesecake Blizzard.

When we were out hiking, Grant took Rod out in the boat in the Newcastle Island area: they both said it was quite windy and too choppy to really do much fishing. When we got home Grant was crashed on the couch and Rod was watching cartoons.

Spring..just maybe?

I think maybe, finally, Spring is here! I heard the unmistable sounds of California Quail just now, and glanced out the window here in the Den hoping to see them. Usually they are so well camouflaged that it is difficult to see them. I found a group of four wandering through the grass heading for the field next door. I saw a streak of orange, and looking down spotted out mostly-orange cat, George, who obviously thought he was fast enough and smart enough to catch himself a Quail for lunch. No such luck: Quail 4 : Cat 0!

Other signs of spring, besides the truly weird, mixed-up weather we've been having for the past few weeks, are:

• way too many big black flies..they seem to be everywhere outside. At least they are on things and not on people
• grass getting greener
• perennials showing life
• Bunnies!
• lots and lots of birds. Robins all over
• Frogs. FROGS. and MORE FROGS! Another reason why I wish our bedroom was at the back of the house instead of the house. The frogs are very loud, but if we were at the back we could hear them even with the window closed, and they would definitely drown out the sound of cars going past at night. Though, admittedly, there aren't that many cars going past our place in the middle of the night.