Long Wet Grass, A Cardinal Sin, and a Toast

Team Roger is in Scotland! The dream trip has come to pass at last, 

and as I write this catch-up blog

Nerstrand Big Woods Hidden Falls

(catching up thanks to a few technical issues that needed sorting out now that we're overseas) we're settling into our new time zone and loving every minute.

But let me back track just a a bit to the weekend before we left the U.S. when we made our final group training hike of 8.5 miles at another of our favorite and oft-visited state parks, Nerstrand Big Woods. (As an aside, Scout and I spent many weekends family picnicking at this park as kids not knowing it would become a regular haunt as adults.) This time our blisters were healed, our socks were perfect, our stamina at its peak. It was a perfect hike--and then we were semi-thwarted. Not by injury or wildlife, or pooping out, but by grass. Specifically, calf-high, un-mowed, extremely wet grass. 

Several things happened when we hit the overgrown trails. 1) our pants got soaked up to the knees. 2) The waterproofing on our boots took a beating. 3) Everyone found out exactly how well their boots did in water. 4) Scout figured out that when your sopping boots are feathered with sopping dandelion fluff, they're very hard to clean off. 

Tall grass trail -- WET.

Finally, I, Babs, with the newest boots, was the only team member with wet socks--very very wet socks. 

After a long moment of crabbing at what seemed to be a pair of boots that were official lemons, the plan was made to commit a hiker's cardinal sin: get a new pair of boots only four days before leaving on a long-distance hike. This is normally a huge no-no because we all know it takes several hikes to break in new boots. But here's the wonderful thing about most Lowa boots--they are a bit like slippers, or at least your favorite pair of shoes, almost right out of the box. I wear a wide boot now and there isn't a single spot that pinches or rubs. So...thanks to REI's extremely understanding return policy, I got a brand new pair of Lowa Renegades and wore them for four days with zero problems. We'll see how that lasts. 

After our last hike we celebrated with Wagyu beef hamburgers at our new favorite restaurant in Faribault, MN called The Depot. And then we broke open a bottle of pink Prosecco to toast what was coming up. 

We all kept our fingers crossed the rest of the week and never once jinxed our trip by saying we were sure it would happen. The final preparations for travel were our personal little goofinesses--like getting pedicures and haircuts that involved designs and colors. Here are my Scotland-appropriate toes and hair. Note the toenails also include the Union Jack--a tribute to all of Great Britain because of our jaunt later in the trip to England.

Babs' Saltire and Union Jack and Scotland-blue hair

The superstitious behaviors apparently worked because our plane landed safely in Glasgow on June 11th. 

Coming up next:  Days 1 and 2 in Glasgow and an intro to our other two Team Lowa members--who WILL be joining us mid-trip: Jill "Nellie" Feuk and Chris "Geoph" Feuk.

 

Nellie and Geophysics

Four days, 33 miles, toads, sweat, hills, beauty.

Frontenac State Park, MN on Lake Pepin

Memorial Day weekend is over and I'm proud to say, Team Roger got in 33-miles of practice/training hikes in four days. We tried to hit every kind of terrain and weather we might find on the Rob Roy Way, and we certainly found the hills if not Highland mountains. One thing we feel fairly certain about is that we probably won't hit 90-degrees in Scotland. We can't rule out anything, of course, but the muggy, buggy Minnesota summer isn't likely to follow us across the pond. (70's and sunny would be lovely, however!) The last blog went into flooded detail about our Friday hike of nine miles at Old Cedar Avenue Bridge.

Saturday was supposed to be longer but was another nine-miler in, literally, our very favorite Minnesota State Park. Frontenac SP is in the southeast almost-corner of Minnesota along Lake Pepin (a large, wide lake formed by and in the Mississippi River) and is just plain a beautiful place. Betty and I find it has the most peaceful spirit along with many many steps down to the lake and river and back up, bluff walks, and the feeling you're walking through an enchanted green fairy realm with moss-covered rocks, logs, and fern-filled valleys. 

 

Enchanted Forest

Cap and Betty in a little Fern Gully

We made our longest hike of 11.5 miles on Sunday at an urban park reserve called Elm Creek. This was our hottest walk although it began in a slight rain. Cap and Scout scoffed at any use of rain gear, but Betty and I just had to model our Patagonia and Frogg Toggs storm couture. 

This was a hike filled with lovely water, woods and prairie, goofing around, breaking the rules, and some wildlife. Check out my little toad friend, our flying trumpeter swans, the Trail Closed sign and Cap and I with our fancy hats.

My toad friend was not amused.

Trumpeter swans taking flight.

Trail Closed. We went through anyway.

A

Babs' and Cap's next Christmas card pic for sure.

Finally, on Monday--Memorial Day--we made our shortest hike of 5.5 miles. This was a true test of Betty's grit since one of her toe blisters re-opened when the blister bandages slipped and got stuck to her sock, causing sharp stabbing toe pain. But, she made it with flying colors--and several walks downhill backward! This was the hilliest hike we've done in Minnesota. Fitbit declared we climbed 1200 floors. Every time we went down a hill we could see the next one dead ahead. Mind you, these were not long slogs, but they were steep. Scout loved them. Cap loved them. Babs liked the calories burned, and Betty just kept repeating her second-favorite mantra (which we will cover in later episodes) "D---it, Jan."

Aftermath of hills in the heat

Betty backward down the hill.

But--all-in-all it was a super-successful training run. We are now only 8.5 days away from leaving and we are all but ready. We certainly are excited. All that's left is to pack our bags for the final time, bring my orchid plants to my mother's house (Granny Grace) for plant sitting, and Cap and I have to hire someone to visit our house several times to make sure the mice aren't living in the kitchen. 

Next time: Scotch. Promise.