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| This morning began like most other Saturdays. Everyone at our house was up and moving before 7 (actually by 6:30 today). Rather insane that this is normal for us.
Our Saturdays mornings are usually spent tending to the homestead or venturing about town. Today was different. We embarked upon adventure of a far grander scale.
After breakfast, we drove up to Pine Mountain/FDR State Park and stopped at the Ranger station for a trail map. Then our adventure began - Benji's first "real" hiking trip. He'd be walking, and on unpaved, uneven, unpredictable terrain. Our destination was Cascade Falls on the Wolfden Loop portion of the Pine Mountain Trail.
We followed the well-marked blue trail,
forded streams,
stopped for a snack at our turn-around point,
and discovered lots of cool stuff. Some of Benji's findings were . . .
a bird's nest (he found it totally on his own. I zoomed in a lot to take this photo. The boy has his dad's eagle eyes),
a tree that looked like a fireplace,
and a tree that looked like a boat (someone had cut a chunk out of a tree fallen across the path).
Other notable findings were half of a broken bird's egg, many rocks and stones (good for collecting, but mostly for throwing into the stream), various "wild animals" (ants, other bugs, chipmunk, dragonflies, caterpillars). Oh, and of course the waterfalls.
We didn't make it all the way to the Cascade Falls. At about 1.5 miles into the trail, we decided it was time to turn back. We still saw a few smaller waterfalls along the way. So we did find what we were looking for. 
William scouted ahead a bit to make sure we weren't missing out any spectacular scenery atop Bumblebee Ridge. (He went farther than what the pic shows. This is just him on his way back.)
Benji hitched a ride on the way back through the stream bed. It was quite slippery. Thankfully, it was a very short portion of the trail.
Benji was a real trooper. We hiked 1.5 miles into the woods and 1.5 miles out. 3 miles for the little guy - 3 rough miles. He did so great. He was careful, adventurous, daring ("I can cross that stream. Let me try!"), and enthused pretty much the whole trip. We're amazed and pretty darn proud of him.
Benji checked off another milestone on our expedition. He took a whiz in the woods for the first time, which he thought was pretty funny.
Yes, the trip took longer (the little dude has shorter legs and stops to pick up stones every 20-30 ft.). But it was immensely entertaining. The whole way we were serenaded by Benji's never-ending commentary on life. It's quite hilarious.
Ahh, must not neglect to mention our lunch - we found a little place . . . . We really did. Paradise Grill in Warm Springs. Scrumptious food "cooked to order." Customer Service dished out in the most genuinely hospitable and friendly way. We'll find our way back there, I'm sure. (I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the place.)
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| Well, we didn't know Benji knew the Pledge of Allegiance. He started reciting it one day last week. I chimed in b/c I thought I was helping him. Then he just rattled it off all by himself.  Surprised, shocked, impressed, proud? Yes, I was all of those. 
And William (amazing man) got B to do the Pledge for the camera. I'm about as impressed w/that feat as I was w/Benji.
P.S. I'm really hoping Nana can get this video.
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| Not long ago, when William or I said we were going to run the "loop," that meant 2 miles. Now, when we go run the "loop," it's 6 miles. Yes, it's a different loop. But we run it regularly. I love it. Half way through, above the stripmall roof line, is the grandest view of the sunrise - the best in town (at least that I've found). 
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| William returned from Iraq in the Spring. Over the summer we've moved to Columbus, GA (Ft. Benning). This new assignment should keep William state-side for a couple years (yay!)
We've had fun exploring the downtown Columbus area. Our location in Columbus is exceedingly more convenient than Savannah ever was. We love the area of town where we live. We've already found some good routes for running (Oi, we've had to get used to running on hilly terrain again!)
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| Yes, I've neglected my Xanga for quite some time now. I got busy . . . buying a house, moving, unpacking, painting , hanging out w/my mom (early December), and all the visiting w/family and friends at Christmas. Most recently, we enjoyed a visit from my dad and our trip to Pensacola where I ran the Pensacola Double Bridge 15K. Life is pretty good these days. Still waiting for William to get back home. Still about a month and a half to go. But Benji and I will find much to keep us busy in the meantime. I'd like to paint the master bath - RED (finally getting that out of my system ), and put up new fixtures that will 1) look better and 2) be more functional. But all that fun will have to be put off until after catch up non-urgent paperwork and filing our taxes (I need a lot of motivation to not put off all that stuff any longer). I'll be back later to post pictures. I'm on my lunchbreak now . . .and have a grilled cheese sandwich waiting for me. | | |
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