Hot Spot Vacation Trail Hike

Yesterday:

Lion, Eclectus, Peacock, Penguin, and I went on a Trail hike near our Hot Spot Vacation Cabin... we had INTENDED to go on a moderate hike of anywhere from 3-8 miles, mostly on flat or gently rolling terrain and walk-behind waterfall of a certain trail, but the Park road with access to the -jump-off point for the the Trail was closed for maintenance.... so, the gentle relatively easy hike we had planned got preempted and we had to roll with the punches and take was what was available....We started on another trail, intending to go from there to the jump-off point for the Falls Trail... we figured this only added 3 miles to the hike... no big deal right?? WRONG.

the before picture

We ended up hiking 3 miles with up-down STEEP terrain with a total elevation gain of 953 feet & 3 creeks we negotiated without a bridge... considering I'm 20 weeks pregnant, 4 of 5 of our hiking members are overweight, 1 member has diabetic neuropathy in her feet, and another has asthma, this wasn't going to be an easy hike! Lion and Peacock were really the only ones who hiked it with little to no difficulty, the rest of us were struggling to various degrees. I really enjoyed the hike, but found the very steep uphill portions very difficult, having to stop every 20-40 feet to slow my breathing and ensure I wasn't pushing my pregnant overweight a$$ to much... Unfortunately Penguin and Eclectus got the worst of it... Asthma and Diabetes are not good thinks to have on long strenuous hikes... Penguin did great on the downhill and mostly level parts of the trail, but those steep uphill portions that were making me stop so often were really causing asthma issues with her... Eclectus, contrarily, did great on the UPHILL portions and of course the level areas - it was the steep downhills that did her in... knees and feet weren't feeling great. BUT WE ALL enjoyed the hike... mostly (at least the pictures made it look like we were having a good time!!)!!

I admit though, that we DID NOT hike all the way back to the truck... Penguin, Eclectus, and I weren't sure we would make those steep uphill climbs again, and we were almost out of water (even though we brought 2 gallons!!)... so we decided to try to take the road back to the truck... unfortunately, the road way was a LOT longer. Wonderfully for us, a park service truck happened by and graciously allowed up to hitch a ride down the mountain to the truck... YAY forest service guys - - GOD BLESS YOU!!!! So we all made it back to the cabin, exhausted!! Now after showers and Papa John's Pizza, we are heading out the the hot tub for a good soak!

the after picture - - you may not be able to tell, but we were ALL soaked - - and of course this was AFTER our forest service truck ride!! LOL

Bubba Gump Birthday dinner

I have to say, my birthday this year was AWESOME!! I thoroughly enjoyed the lazy morning -even though I got up with the kids while Lion slept in- and I made my own (an everyone else's breakfast) - Homemade from scratch Blueberry Waffles - I DID get to pick breakfast and I *could* have asked Lion to get up with the kids... but then, in the afternoon, we headed out for dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co!!!! If you haven't been there, it. is. AWESOME GOOD EATIN! LOL. As soon as we got seated - very fast because we came for dinner early - I took a quick video of us at the table

... 11 people.. it was expensive, but it was OH SO YUMMY!!

Many big huge thanks to Mom - Eclectus - and Dad - Tiger- for picking up the entire bill!!

We got appetizers (2 orders of super yummy Hush Puppies - & I don't *like* hush puppies- and 1.5 Lbs of Cajun Shrimp), then our dinners (I got Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi!! totally FANTASTIC)

AND desert (we all shared 2 orders of the Choc Chip Cookie Sundae and 1 order of the Georgie Mud Pie).

Then cause it was my birthday, and practically everyone at the tablet told the waiter... they "sang" Happy Birthday to me - they "made" me stand on a chair

and *shake my boo-teh*... lol, since 2 people in our group took videos of it... here's Penguin's - might as well make a fool of myself on the internet too!

Day 1 of Hot Spot Vacation

Vixen is upset this morning... Aunt Penguin has been trying to teach her to go down the stairs safely... Vixen was not interesting in this idea... at all! My obstinate little Vixen wants to go down HER was.. not our way.. but maybe if we can convince her to sit and slide down each step I won't have to rush her all the way down the mountain to an ER... I'd dearly love to stay away from the ER this week...

But anyways!! Here's a few pictures of the view from Cabin we are staying at at our Hot Spot Vacation Location....

<~~ And here's the "backside" of the cabin:

Here's the "ground floor" video

Here's the basement and Gameroom level:

and Here's the Top floor, where the kids' bedroom is:

Am hoping to convince Eclectus and Penguin that today is a good day to go get our nails done... :)

technology and other mumbo-jumbo

Gee, I really wish I were more tech savvy... drives me nuts that I have to search all over the place to find Where-oh-WHERE do I upload a picture to my blogger profile so when I make a comment it posts a picture instead of just the silly lookin blogger symbol.... took me over ten minutes just to find SOMEWHERE to upload a pic, and even then I'm not sure if I got it right.... although I found where to change my signature to "Mama Roo from Giggle's Zoo" which makes me giggle... I know, I know, I'm an idiot!! But on to weightier items!

so... what weightier items do I wanna discuss???? OH, I just figured out Lion has a Blog!! Geez, how could I not know he had a blog??? oh, I know!! cause he's had it for "several years" and has never - not even once- posted to it!!! LOL... It took Mama Bear and I together last night to get him to post his very first blog post!! Yay US!!

well, I guess you're right... that wasn't weightier at all was it... maybe I'm just TIRED! it's been a long day, driving from Giggle's Zoo to Hot-Spot Vacation Location after packing off 3 dogs to different temp homes (THANK YOU Meerkat, Ostrich, Hedgehog, and Wombat for taking care of doggies so Giggle's Zoo could go on vacation!!), loading up bags of clothing, food, electronic equipment (yes, we couldn't go on vacation without Rockband or ALL our laptops, cameras, videocameras, and internet router!!), let alone 6 kids (Tortoise, Elephant, Zebra, Monkey, Vixen, and Peacock) and 5 adults (Lion, Penguin, Eclectus, Tiger, and little ol ME).. I was already TIRED.. but then, after several hours driving (well, actually Eclectus piloted my van (with all the girls) and Lion was in charge of the other vehicle (with all the boys), and unloading all the STUFF we loaded up earlier, Eclectus and I had to head straight to our beloved Walmart to get even MORE groceries.... man it's amazing how much 11 poeple can EAT.... and I'm SURE we're just gonna have to go BACK again sometime this week.... so I'm tired... maybe I'll have something more interresting to post tomorrow... like pictures of our cabin at our Hot Spot Vacation!! But - just so this post isn't bare-nekkid... here's a picture of Vixen taken today on the car ride here...