Getting Our Ducks In A Row

Many of you wonder how we (me anyway) keep ourselves so fit and trim, it starts with a healthy and balanced breakfast.  Below is an example of what I mean.  Healthy, because it can “heal thy” soul and balanced, because I can balance each bite on the end of my fork and treat it as if my nose were in a glass of fine wine, detecting every nuance.  From the type of sugar cane and what country it came from to the wheat and what time of year it was harvested.  A connoisseur is a connoisseur mon frere.

This could be right out of the magazine Bon Appetit!
(How bout this Willbo Baggins, mouth watering yet?)

I know there are those of you not here with us that have to go to work each day or do your daily do list, but this retired stuff, traveling specifically, is hard duty.  You have to figure out each day how you are going to best fill your time without doing something that will hurt you or land you in jail.  Maybe that is a bit over stated, but we have to work at not working.  For example, we spent part of today visiting with our “moose/comedian” ranger from the other evening’s program.  She’s not so bad once you spent a few minutes stroking her ego and acting interested.  She gave us tons of great advice on hikes, one of which will save us $30 (more on that later on).  She evidently spends a great deal of time in the backcountry and was nice enough to shed some light on hikes that would interest us (me)…FISH!

We also were introduced to one of the seasonal workers, whose brain we picked.  He and his wife are retired from the education field and have been “camp workers” for 8 years now and love it.  On our list of things to try.

After lunch and a dog walk, we headed out for a 2 mile hike nearby that would take us by two lakes that would possibly have moose.  We fell for that not thinking that they would say that to give certain areas more foot traffic or to keep us away from where the moose really are.  Off we went, for nothing else but to work up to some big hikes later on. 

The trail lead us along the edge of Jackson Lake for some time and we saw some aspen turning (or suffering from draught, like everywhere else?).  Not many, but a few.  We then made a new acquaintance on the trail that quickly became a dear friend.

Our dear deer friend!

First stop was Heron Lake, on which we did see a big heron upon our first glimpse.  It was full of what looked like lily pads and would be great moose country.  Very serene and peaceful.  I think Miki would have been just fine had we ended our hike there.

Miki Muir seaches for the elusive moose and her twins.

We continued on to Swan Lake.  What was to be a .3 mile stroll blossomed into an extra 3 mile trek as we missed the sign for it and continued as if we wanted to walk 5 more miles to Jackson Lake Lodge, down the road a piece from where we are staying.  We did see the sign “To Jackson Lake Lodge” and quite cleverly did not take that turn, but kept on the same path as it got smaller and looked less traveled on like a game trail.  Eventually we ended at a stream crossing with no way to cross and a sign that said “End of Trail.”  We took that hint and began retracing our steps.  This enhanced our total trip from a fraction over 2 miles to 5.3 instead.  No hill for a stepper, but our dogs were tired (not Tuck and Tooga).  We found our mistake and began the correct way back, still keeping our eyes peeled for possible moose sightings.  Unfortunately, the only moose we saw was wrapped around a kid’s head for a hat.

We filled this day and here I sit again.  Tooga seems fine (knock on wood), we have multiple trail recommendations, and we are not hurt or in jail, so it has been a good day!

My Zen from the Road:  We tease our working friends and they tease us about being old and retired.  John, the seasonal worker at the visitor’s center, loves working and you could see it in his eyes and his smile.  I can only hope that everyone, whenever you reach that point, can smile and show in your eyes that you love what you do next, the way John does.  Miki and I have not stopped smiling since May of 2010.  We loved what we did, but we love what we are doing now, without the blowouts!