County Hiking Challenge Hike 5/6

After our hike number 4/5 Mommy and I both got sick.  Mommy felt very run down that night and kept yawning while she was out at the theater. I just went to bed while she was gone.  The next morning Mommy woke up feeling sick to her stomach and she ran to the bathroom.  While she was in there I felt sick too and I tried to get up to go poop in the other room, but I had gotten myself stuck lying down in the middle of the hardwood floor and I ended up pooping as I was lying down and then getting the poop all over myself and the bedroom floor as I tried to get away from it.  Mommy came out of the bathroom finally and saw what had happened to me and we had to go out and I had to have a second bath in two days and Mommy had to scrub the bedroom floor.  Then, even though Mommy didn't feel well she went to work because she knew they were understaffed.  She only lasted two hours at work and then had to come home.  I had pooped in the back room while she was gone.  Mommy cleaned up that poop and we went to bed.  Later that day both Mommy and I got fevers. The next day I felt better, but still a bit poopy, but Mommy didn't feel better, she still had a fever so she didn't go to work that day and we slept almost all day.  That night Mommy's fever was gone and I was STARVED. Mommy gave me food and extra probiotics and a Carafate for my ulcer just in case.  Mommy still didn't feel like eating that day, but by the next day she was able to eat.  The best we can figure is that when I jumped into the lake on Hike 4/5 I picked up some kind of bacteria and then when Mommy gave me a bath (a full contact sport around here) she got lots of the bath water on her and in her and so she got the icky bacteria too.  Being a dog, I was able to fight off the bacteria a bit faster than Mommy was. Anyway, Mommy says, "No more swimming in lakes before Mommy has a chance to give them a good look-see." but I don't think that is going to happen.

Anyway, we took a weekend off to be sick, but then today we did our Hike 5/6.  We go to this hike quite a bit because it has a nice CLEAN lake that I can swim in so I know it well and have various places along the hike where I have to go down to the water. 

 The lake. We have never figured out what that smokestack belongs to.

I hiked the first mile which included going down to the water and chasing fish a couple times.  I love chasing fish.

 Where are the fish?

Then, after chasing the fish the second time I asked to get in the stroller and I rode for about a mile until Mommy decided to take a side trail we haven't taken in a long time.  This trail leads up to the far north trailhead of the river trail that goes through the entire county.  I rode for about a half mile and then I decided I wanted to walk and sniff so I barked to get out and walked the quarter mile to the trail head. Mommy got me some water from the pump at the trailhead and then we headed back to the official hike.  Since I had gotten my sniffs in I hopped back in the stroller for the end of the hike.

 The last time we were here this field was corn.  This time it was soybeans.  

Mommy thought the soybeans were very pretty with all their shades of yellow.

I rode happily until we got to a side trail that leads down to a fishing dock. Then I barked for Mommy.  Mommy asked if I wanted out, but I didn't.  I wanted her to wheel me down to the dock. So we went down and I got to look out over the water and then we continued on the hike.  When we got to the trail that leads to a bridge I barked again so Mommy would know to take that trail too.  We were part way down that trail when a horrible something flew into the stroller and landed on my head! I could feel it digging into my head trying to eat my brains so I started whining and barking for Mommy to save me.  Mommy stopped the stroller to see what was wrong and then she started laughing at me!  Instead of helping me she tried to get her camera out to take of picture of my brains being eaten. But then I realized that if something WAS trying to eat my brains Mommy probably wouldn't be laughing so I scraped my head against the side of the stroller and knocked the grasshopper that had been riding on my head off. Mommy was sad she didn't get a picture, but I'm glad she didn't. That would have been far too embarrassing!  We continued to the bridge and Mommy stopped in the middle so I could look out over the water.

 

Looking over the water from my stroller.

We retraced our steps back to the trail and went back to the car.  Total miles hiked by me about 1.25 ridden by me about 2.75. Total miles: 4.