Little Dude’s Travel Gear Selection:

I was promised a cookie but that doesn’t mean I’ll go quietly.

Current Weather conditions: 68 and sunny with a light breeze!

Quotable Moments:
“That’s a puppy. He’s runnin’ with his friend.”
“Cookie cookie cookie starts with C…”

Distance traveled: 2.93 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 85.46 miles

I owe the babies: $21.37

Little Dude’s Travel Gear Selection:

Current Weather conditions: 63 and sunny!

Quotable Moments:
“Mommy, I’m sailin’ in my boat.”
“I’m workin’ in the garden with you, Mommy!”

Distance traveled: .55 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 82.53 miles

I owe the babies: $20.63

Current Weather conditions:

Distance traveled: 1.28 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 81.98 miles

I owe the babies: $20.50

Little Dude’s Travel Gear Selection:

Current Weather conditions: 66 and sunny!

Quotable Moment:

Look, Mommy, look! It’s filled with three poofy heads!

Distance traveled: .46 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 80.7 miles

I owe the babies: $20.18

Okay, so when you see what constitutes high adventure for me these days, you are going to have a chuckle or two at my expense. Trust me, being Ian’s mother is usually more than enough adrenaline for any one human being, but it was exciting for me to go out and take a hike and not even THINK about whether I could take the stroller down these trails. Okay, so I did think about it, but I didn’t have to DO it.

First off, I turned off the “beaten” path at the first opportunity and headed down a leaf-covered trail, which turned out to cross a stream three times before returning to the paved trail.

Two of the crossings had stable planks laid across them, but I did get the chance to hop from stone to stone here, and did it without getting wet at all! (Like I said, you’ll have a chuckle or two at my expense.)

It wasn’t long before I got another chance to turn off the paved trail. I had no idea where this path went, I had no idea what the conditions might be like further back, but, since I did NOT have a stroller or a potentially hungry/tired toddler along, I just went ahead and took it. It’s a lovely little cut through to what I think of as the “bottom” of the neighborhood- it being at the bottom of the hill our house sits on- and I got to see some parts of the neighborhood I’ve never been to before. Such fun!

Footloose and fancy free, hopping from stone to stone, crossing streams, wandering off with no idea where I’m going… well, for about 45 minutes anyway.

Current Weather conditions:
63 and sunny!

Distance traveled: 2.42 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 80.24 miles

I owe the babies: $20.06

79.2 miles from my starting point and just 18 miles and change from Gettysburg, PA, we arrrive at:

Catoctin Mountain Park
Second growth forest and second chances provided a variety of recreational opportunities. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created programs to give people a chance to rebuild their lives from the Great Depression. The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps gave this land a second opportunity and through re-growth, a new role as a recreation area.

Teddy, Puppy, Pooky, Teddy Bear, and Teddy Bear’s Elephant Pooky!

Distance traveled: .97 miles
Solo Miles: .97 miles

Current Total Distance Traveled: 77.82 miles

I owe the babies: $20.21

My husband very romantically observed this morning that “it looks like the day we got married. Everything was in bloom then, too.”

Current Weather conditions: 57 and partly cloudy!

Solo Miles: 1.71

Current Total Distance Traveled: 75.88 miles

I owe the babies: $18.97