A pretty difficult week, hike with the pups and more miles on the Rachel Carson Trail!

I don't even know where to start with this post.   This year has been an extra tough one in the personal life area and last week I was supposed to have a vacation at Conneaut Lake like we do every year.  My grandfather built the cottage when my Mom was born and she grew up there and then I grew up there in the summers.  So I packed the car and was so excited to spend some relaxing family time up there.  I haven't really gotten to relax with the family as my sister just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and things have just been a tab busy. 

So we get to the lake and Chance started to not feel well immediately... to make a long story short I had to rush him home the next morning for an emergency appointment because he was allergic to something in the cottage.  He had a rash all over his skin, he couldn't stop shaking his head because his ears were bothering him and his eyes were red and swollen.  I drove home on literally 2 hours of sleep and then sat at the vets office for 2 hours after the 2 hour drive home.  They gave him a shot and did some x-rays since he also had been throwing up to rule out obstructions and they came back with the news that his quality of life should be questioned because his irritable bowel disorder is not resolving and his intestines looked horrible. 

Welp- I just about lost it.  She asked that I talk to the specialist at our appointment the following Monday (a week away) to see if there were any other options for treatment or to really think about his quality of life... We have been working with the specialist all year to help with his irritable bowel and thought we had everything under control.  I couldn't wait a whole week to get this news, I had to call today so after I came home and then had to go back to the vet because he was allergic to the allergy shot they gave him I then called the specialist to see if we could be seen sooner.  She said come on in tonight - we have an opening.  I jotted down everything I wanted to say and laid with my Chance until the appointment.  My husband and I went and told them all what happened.  He was already coming down off of his allergy attack and was feeling a little better.  She looked at the x-rays and did an ultrasound and it turns out his intestine are okay- he just had a lot of stool present.

 

Poop. 

 

He had a lot of poop.  Needless to say I was upset about the misdiagnosis at our first vet and so frustrated and angry but at least I wasn't going to have to lose my dog.  BEST NEWS EVER. I cried happy tears!  She checked him over and we left.  It was an expensive day. I can't believe how much vet bills can add up like that so quickly but honestly, I'd do as much as possible for him- he's my bestie!

So - we can't go back to the lake - all we could do was have our vacation at home- we took the pups on a long hike and cuddled and played in the yard. Those dogs mean so so so much to my husband and I. 

 

So on a good note, we got in 2.45 miles on the Rachel Carson trail towards our trail challenge of 100 miles in a year. We opted to not do the 15 mile race we were going to sign up for because Chance would have to go to Conneaut so my parents could babysit him and we can't have him there anymore.  But we will plan some other fun things in the meantime. 

 

This week has been a hard one.  I have cried several times and not just over Chance.  I feel like I need to find a new way to vent, a new vice.  I thought my art would be enough but it's not.  I need to exercise more and focus more on the little things in life... I have posted some photos of the hike with the pups and the hike on the Rachel Carson Trail along with the bench I got at goodwill for 20$ - not sure what I'm going to do with it exactly yet but I have ideas! I hope this next year will be a good one- it needs to be.  2018 has not been kind- but good news- I still have my family and my friends and that's what matters the most- the other stuff will fade away in time :)

 

"I feel the icy grip of depression creeping up on me just as winter creeps up on Autumn taking the last of the colorful leaves from the trees.  I feel bare, weak and vulnerable. Time will give me the strength to bloom again but for now my feelings are changing just as the seasons do..."

 

 

10 Mile Hike at Hell's Hollow

So I got this bright idea that I wanted to do an extreme hike- like a competition hike- a 30 mile hike...

                   Brian, who is a little more realistic than I am, decided we should take a hike near our home so we could get some miles towards thechallenges we entered for the year and to see just how far we could make it. 

 

Good thing we did cause it's FREAKING HARD!  We hiked about 10 miles and we were feeling it big time. I do have to say that it was hot and extremely humid but we hiked for 4 straight hours.  There is a time limit on the 30 mile hikes which you have to complete within 12 hours.  So that means you have to do at least 2.5 miles every hour to finish on time.  We did 10 miles in 4 hours which was great, but I honestly don't know if I could keep up that pace for 30 miles.  I know it seems like it's a slow pace to keep but when you are hiking up hills and over tree branches and on slippery paths, it's not. 

 

So- we decided to enter into the 15 mile competition in October!  https://sites.google.com/site/greenmonstertrailchallengepa/

 

The only problem is it's a 4 hour drive so we may camp out the night before and then head back home after the hike.  I'm pretty excited!

 

I also have to add that I'm pretty damn proud of us hiking the 10miles.  My legs felt it and I came home and napped afterwards but we did it! :) And we did it together! <3

 

I didn't take many photos of our hike since we were on a time limit but here are a few and then my screen shots from my Fitbit for the day! Most steps I've gotten in one day! WOO HOO!

Our Hiking Adventures

     Brian and I found a hobby that we both LOVE to do together and that would be HIKING!  We are getting super into it after visiting West Virginia.  Every time we are in the woods and around nature we get all giggly and excited and we love to exercise- it's truly a win/win.  So we signed up for two challenges:
1.  The North Country Trail Challenge which you can read about here
2.  The Rachel Carson Trail Challenge which you can read about here

We are really motivated to earn these patches if we complete these challenges! 

We really want to train to do a long 18 or 32 mile hiking challenge- we have missed all the ones around our area but there is always next year!  (one of our goals is to do one of these!)

I was thinking about blogging our hiking trips.  I usually only bring my cell phone and my polaroid camera because I scrapbook/keep track of our hikes in a really cool little journal so the photos are NOT the best quality but I'm thinking about lugging one of my better cameras around with me so I can get some really nice nature shots.   That got me thinking of blogging our hikes and I think it would be fun to share it on here!

We have done three hikes since signing up for the challenges so I will write about all three of them in this post then the rest will be separate posts. 


-Our first hike for the challenge was in North Park on the Rachel Carson Trail- we ended up on a really beautiful section of the trail with a creek - we love to be near water on trails!  We spent a good amount of time exploring and enjoying the scenery instead of actually hiking but we did about 4.5 miles total and put that on our trail log! These are a few of my photos I took with my cell phone during our hike:

     -Our second hike was on the North Country Trail and we picked up the trail at Moraine State Park.  We hiked a little over 4 miles and the trail was right around the lake so it offered beautiful views!  It was an easier hike than we were use to as it was pretty flat and not very challenging - but that's okay too!  We plan to go back and do a different section of the trail this weekend. 

Again, sucky cell phone photos but hey- it is what it is.


     -The last hike in this post was our first ever night hike and it was a group hike lead by a guide for the Rachel Carson Trail - so we got some more miles in for the RCTC!  We met at the park at 9pm and hiked until 11:30.  It was titled, "Full Moon Summer Hike" and it was pretty epic!  We did about 5 miles total and it was under the full moon (mars was out and very bright too- I think it was the closest to Earth in a long time) and there was lighting in the distance so it made for an erie feeling.   We all had flashlights and headlamps!  We ended up hiking right behind our guide and got to talk to him a bit about any pointers he had.  He was in his mid 60's and could really move- I did wonder if we could keep up with him!  He told us how to read the blazes on the trail (there is a little bit of science there!)  and what headlamps to invest in if we wanted to do more night hikes.  It was really a unique hike- you would shine your flashlight into the woods and see 20 glowing eyes staring back at you!  The deer were EVERYWHERE! 

Once we got back to the park, they had snacks waiting for us and the guide even offered us some beer- it was really fun!  We totally passed out for the night when we got home!  I tried to film and take some photos but it was really hard when walking and taking photos with just a flashlight in hand in the pitch black- so I did my best to document it below!

Here are some videos from the NCT in Moraine as well (very short clips):

  I will be sure to keep updating the blog with our hikes, I know I have kind of fallen off the blog wheel but I'm going to try to keep up with it a little better ( I think I say that in every post! lol)

Hope you all have a great week and see you all soon!