Fall in all its splendor

The last week and a half or so have been just gorgeous!! It's been sunny every day, and warm too! Even almost as warm as 80 degrees! So we've tried to enjoy it as much as we can.

One day while I was driving around I discovered this lovely park right on Little Lake Butte des Morts. So on conference Saturday we rolled out of bed to check it out.



There's a trail called the Friendship Trail with a bridge across the lake. I don't have a lot of options for running routes from our apartment, so this is my new favorite. On a warm fall afternoon it practically felt like a little piece of heaven.

Burke had been wanting to check out a bike/horse/snowmobile trail called the Wiowash Trail that he kept hearing about at work. Since I don't have a bike, we borrowed one from Burke's parents. One day after work we rode for a while along the trail. It was a really nice evening and a beautiful place, although a bit swampy and a lot buggy in places. (I'm game to try it in the winter!...Anybody have a snowmobile??)



Then on Saturday we had been planning on a "picnic at the park." Since we liked the Wiowash trail and the park on the lake so much, and they are connected by the Friendship trail, we decided to do what was for us a long bike ride and pack a picnic. It totaled to somewhere between 16 and 20 miles. In addition, the friendship trail had a long section of gravel/dirt plus hills that was pretty tough to ride on. BUT we made it, and it was gorgeous, and our pasta salad picnic was de-lish.




We were a mile or two from the car when I took off down one of those gravel hills. Apparently I hit one of those bumps in the road and straight up CRASHED. Burke was coming behind me and yelled at me not to move... I was like "Oh crap, did I break something?" But nope, just scared both myself and Burke a little. Or a lot? I skinned up my hand and my elbow and my knee and got some beautiful bruises on my legs and ribs. Haven't done that for a while! Actually, I can't remember if I've ever crashed on a bike before. Probably so, considering how long it took me to learn how to ride a bike...

Anyway, the borrowed bike was just fine and has since been returned. I think I would like to get a bike of my own someday, but I'm not sure what kind. After our two recent rides I decided that I really like a leisurely bike ride, but I don't know if I would ever want to consider cycling as my form of exercise of choice.

It's almost halfway through October already. It's been lovely so far!