Even when it was raining

Last night I came home to a happy husband and a hot meal! Remember when I wrote about loving where you live? Every week, a group of local farmers and small business owners gather with their goodies for us neighbors to purchase for our enjoyment.

The farmer’s market is up there on our favorite list with the more than 10 miles of sidewalks and one-mile greenway. Patrick bought dinner for us from Emma Keys, a wonderful local restaurant that is a vendor at our market every week, and we enjoyed it on our back patio.

Over dinner, he pitched an idea that we’ve never tried before. He says to me, ‘I was thinking. Instead of going to the gym, why don’t we go for an early morning hike?’

Is that even a question?!

So, after dinner we prepared the coffee maker, water bottles and lunches for the next day and set our alarms for 4:45 a.m.

The sound of soft music slowly getting louder graced us the next morning. Usually once Maverick hears our alarms he is up like a shot ready to take on the day, and we were right behind him.

We loaded the pups and packs into the car and off we went to the trail. Sadly, it was raining and was so humid. But we parked the car and once we got under the canopy of the woods we barely felt the rain drops. It was beautiful hiking among the sounds of the early morning birds and amphibians that were along a pond we passed. I will say, for someone who has been afraid of ‘nature at night’ since she was a little girl, it was creepy hiking in the dark with only a lantern and head lamps!

With each step, conversation and sip of our coffee, it seemed like the sky was getting a little brighter and it was!

Overall, we hiked 3.5 miles in rainy, humid conditions but the feeling of showing up at about 5:15 a.m. to hike and try something new was worth every minute! I felt energized that morning and the entire day when I was at work.

We hiked it and liked it at dawn! And it all started with a happy husband and a hot meal!