Grumpy Days

I haven’t had a bad cold for awhile, so I guess it was my time.  And then it was my son’s time and wife’s time, who are both annoyed at me for “making them sick.”    Yesterday Julia and I were feeling better so we headed off to Blue Mounds State Park to blow the stink off. 

The hiking was not ideal.  The trails were groomed for cross-country skiing, so the shady parts  were often covered with ice.  The sunny parts were a bit muddy.  Still, it was a great day to be outside.  In the middle photo above, Julia was channeling her father’s geology expertise, searching for precious stones and fossils.

After hiking the park’s perimeter trails, we drove over to Stewart Lake Park for the first time.  This is a Dane County park just outside Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.  We scouted out some hiking trails for a future visit and enjoyed the view of the lake.

 
We couldn’t leave the Mount Horeb area without visiting the Grumpy Troll, the local brewpub.  Julia had a Bock beer, half of a turkey and swiss on marble rye, and a cup of cheddar beer cheese soup.  I had a stout, a full Reuben sandwich, and a cup of the soup.  Our beers were good, but we both agreed that the cheddar beer soup was the best we have ever tasted.  It had little chunks of spicy sausage and was delicious.

 I am counting the days (three more weeks) until my trip to the Roan Mountain, Tennessee area.  In the meantime, I hit my goal of 90 consecutive days of 10,0000 steps or more and have increased my goal to at least 12,000 daily steps.