That wasn't how I expected that to go

I've gotten into the habit of taking our two doggies to an off-leash hiking trail nearby.  The trails follow a creek where the dogs can wade around and, most importantly, run their tails off.  They do much better when they are able to get their vigorous exercise.

Today, the kids didn't want to go with me.  Each one went to a friend's house, I loaded up the two furry friends and we were off.

Since I didn't have the kids with me, we took a more meandering route.  The trail was damp from the heavy rain we had yesterday and the creek levels were somewhat higher.  At one point, we crossed the creek and I got my shoes wet.  "Oh well."  I thought, and squished along.  The place where we crossed had a steep bank, but there were places where there was dirt packed into the spaces between tree roots that I could use as steps. 

The dogs and I spend about 40 minutes tromping around, splashing and watching for wildlife when I noticed that there were clouds rolling in.  For the last week, we've had bursts of rain followed by hot and humid weather.  I felt a cool breeze and figured we might get a sprinkle.  I thought it was time to turn back and head for the car.

As soon as I turned, thunder rumbled.  Peavey hates thunder.  He whimpered and looked at me with a worried expression on his face.  I called for the dogs to follow and started walking briskly in the direction we needed to go.

Five minutes later, when we got to the creek crossing, it was sprinkling.  I just waded across, trying to save time, and found I couldn't get a foothold on the bottom of the bank.  It was too muddy.  My feet just slipped.  It took me five full minutes to finally find a place where I could get a tiny toehold and grab a tree root to haul myself up that first couple of feet.  Then I was able to go from tree to tree.  My feet went out from under me once but I had a good hold on a tree trunk. 

I got my bod up to where we needed to be and continued on.  Then the rain got heavier.  I took an empty dog poo bag and put my phone in it.  Just as I put it back in my pocket it started to pour. 

The dogs were looking back at me, trying to shake themselves dry but seemed to be okay as long as we kept moving. The more it rained, the muddier the trail became. I had mud stuck all over the bottoms of my shoes, making me slip and slide around. 

This wasn't a Bear Grylls situation, but I was worried I was going to fall down.  I went carefully, but was still trying to go as fast as I could.  And it kept pouring. 

Squish squish, splash, stomp, scrape, whoa, goddammit!

That's what it sounded like as I was trying to get back to the car.  It took me 20 minutes to get us back to the car.  All three of us were dripping wet and had muddy feet.  I'd stayed upright and avoided injury.

We went home where I took off my wet socks and got into some dry clothes.  The dogs gave themselves a shake and settled down for naps.

The good side, I got in over an hour of exercise today.  My legs are complaining but I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.

Amanda's beauty tip of the day:  Use tea tree oil on your mosquito bites to keep the itching down.