Peggy's Birthday Hike

Thanks for the invite to celebrate your 77th birthday Peggy.  Good friends are a gift.  We hiked Riverside State Park along the Spokane River for Peggy's birthday.  

The Bowl and Pitcher. It was a beautiful day and I will let the pictures tell that story! 

The Spokane River!

We shared the trail with horses and their riders!

Almost done!

We saw these guys on the trail riding their bikes. We got out of their way of course.  I was taking a picture at the time.  I mentioned they might be on my blog.  I didn't take a picture of them at that time. I kept thinking the guy in the gray shirt looked familiar.  I finally figured out he sold my new bike to me. They were finishing at the same time we were. The guy in the green shirt asked if they were in the blog yet and snap! I took a picture and said you are now!  

We ended our hike with lunch.  It was the lunch of Peggy's choosing.  Taco Time! Perfect!  Gotta love tacos.  Happy Birthday Peggy. It is so fun to hang out with Bonnie and Peggy!  Can't wait until next time!  

Hiking, Fort Mukogawa to the Bowl and Pitcher

6.87 miles and 3 hours of hiking.  We were concerned about the weather because it was raining.  By the time we started the clouds were still around but no rain.  We live in a beautiful place!  We took time to take pictures and just enjoy our surroundings and each other. I love to take pictures of reflections in the water!  Not much to say in this blog post but there is a lot to see!  

 Just love the clouds in this picture!!

 The gang! Sheila, Bonnie, Peggy and me!

 We made it to the Bowl and Pitcher!

 Not sure what happened to the color on this picture.  My phone must have changed a setting!

 I bet this is a great picture of Bonnie and Peggy.  The river was right behind them.

 Headed back!

Well, we took a wrong turn and the trail we were on ended.  We didn't turn around and go back we just saw the river and headed toward it through the woods.  Bushwhacking style. Kind of fun.

 We could see the river!

As always we ended our time with some coffee, food and fellowship.  I have to say hiking is really fun! Especially with good friends.

An Adventure with Grizzly Gleason, January 1, 2016

Well, I was going a little nuts at home.  I did not have my happy face on and Mike noticed it.  My back has been bothering me and it is hard to sit much.  Remnants of my knee surgery and I am working on getting it fixed.  Let's go for a walk Mike said.  OK.  It took us a while to get going but we headed to Riverside State Park by the Bowl and Pitcher.  The Bowl and Pitcher is a rock formation.  The temperature was cold, extra cold.  Below 20 degrees.  We bundled up for a beautiful afternoon.  

 Our first stop was the overlook to the Bowl and Pitcher!

 Come up here Jackie, we can get great pictures!

 Up the stairs to the tippy top!

 Time to head to the hiking trails.

 Over the river and through the woods to the suspension bridge we go!

 We are back in the shade for most of these pictures so the pictures aren't as bright.

Icicles.

After the bridge up another set of stairs and we have arrived at the many trails.  There were a lot of people around!  Cold or no cold we love being outdoors in the Pacific Northwest!

 We didn't go on this trail.  I followed the rules.

 Grizzly Gleason at his finest!

 Our selfie.  My camera takes them and it is easier than using a phone.

How do you describe scenes like this.  Inspiring, beautiful, marvelous, pretty?  It's all about God for me.  God created this for us to enjoy and the fact that it is hard to put this into words speaks to how awesome our God is!  He created this for us!  

I really didn't want to ask someone to take off their gloves and take a picture of us.  I did and he was happy to do it.

Bambi was here! We actually saw several mule deer on the other side of the river just walking along the ridge!

 Remnant of the wind storm!  I was surprised I didn't see more downed trees.

 Someone took the time to build a snowman for all to see!  Fun!

Boy did I need to get out and about.  Mike knew just what I needed.  The more I move the better my back feels.  That was one great thing about hiking!  Another was spending time with Grizzly Gleason outdoors in the woods.  We both love being outside and enjoying nature!  It is relaxing and peaceful!  A gift from our God!