TO LONDON AND BACK USING A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT AND MUCH BETTER ROUTE

 SOME FOREST TRAILS ARE DARKER AND MORE FAIREY LIKE THAN OTHERS AND THAT'S QUITE ALRIGHT WITH ME 

Knowing Pheebs and I would be walking a few forest trails at London's Westminster Ponds area this afternoon we only did half of our country road walk this morning.  I didn't want to push my leg luck in the morning and not be able to walk in the afternoon.

 THERE ARE A LOT OF HAY BALES IN THE FIELDS THESE DAYS

 THIS FARMER IS BUSY RAKING UP THE ROWS OF HAY IN PREPARATION FOR BALING

 THIS MACHINE WITH ITS LONG BOOM ARMS IS SPRAYING FERTILIZER

 I SURE HOPE THE 'TEXTING WHILE DRIVING' POLICE DON'T COME ALONG AND GIVE THIS FELLOW A TICKET:))

 I THINK THIS MIGHT BE ROWS OF CORN POPPING UP OUT OF THE GROUND

 LAZY PRE-SUMMER DAYS

It was 11 a.m. when all three of us piled into the Subaru and pointed her nose for London's Victoria Hospital.  We took our usual route to the north end of Adelaide Street but we did not turn south onto Adelaide and instead traveled another couple miles east to Highbury Ave and began our southern trek into London from there.  It didn't take long to realize that this Highbury route was far better than the Adelaide route we had been struggling back and forth on.  That Adelaide route is nothing more than a tightly packed stock car race through the city on a narrow construction-infested rough road.  We will not be traveling that way again.  Much less traffic on Highbury with wide newer roads and way more food stops along the way.  Pheebs and I dropped Kelly off at the usual time and quickly headed across the road to the Westminster Ponds area.

 'COME ON DAD FOLLOW ME'

 THE FOREST PATH LEADS DOWN INTO A RAVINE

 A COUPLE DAISIES ALONG THE WAY

 I'M SURE AN OLD TROLL LIVES HERE

 FOREST TRAILS ARE MY FAVORITE PLACE TO WALK.....PHEEBS TOO

 WE WALKED OUT OF THE FOREST AND UP A HILL INTO A MEADOW

 FOLLOWING ANOTHER WALKER HEADING BACK INTO THE FOREST

It was a great afternoon for a walk with much cooler temperatures and a nice breeze.  To be on the safe side, I took my walking stick/cane with me as Pheebs and I walked across the big baseball diamond and picked up a familiar trail leading into the forest.

 LAST MONTH'S MAYAPPLES ARE AT THEIR END

 MANY OLD CARVINGS IN A COUPLE BEECH TREE

 HEADING WEST ALONG THE MAIN TRAIL 

The trail we were on wasn't the main trail and wended its way along the forest trail up and over through several ravines.  We exited the forest into a meadow and then headed back into the forest again.  We only came across three other walkers as we linked up with a couple other trails and made our way back through the woods coming out near the area where we had left the car.  Our walk had taken fifty minutes and my hip did surprisingly well.

 SOME SECTIONS OF THE TRAIL ARE DENSER THAN OTHER SECTIONS

Back to the Subaru I hauled my gravity chair out of the back, set it up behind the car, left the hatch open so I could hear my music then opened my Kindle and tilted myself back.  Pheebs stretched out in the grass beside me for a big snooze.  We hung out there for an hour before I decided to phone in and see if Kelly was ready yet.  The nurse said she was just finishing up and would be ready for pick-up in ten minutes.  In the meantime, I heard a helicopter coming in low so I knew it was the Ornge Ambulance bringing someone to the hospital.  On the way to pick Kelly up I saw the helicopter on its landing pad.

 PHEEBS HAS A SNOOZE WHILE I READ MY KINDLE

 'I WASN'T SNOOZING DAD'

 I HEARD A HELICOPTER COMING AND THEN THERE IS WAS

 THE AIRBORNE AMBULANCE ANGLES DOWN TOWARDS ITS LANDING PAD IN FRONT OF THE HOSPITAL

 ON THE WAY TO PICK UP KELLY I SPOTTED THE HELICOPTER ON ITS PAD

It was three o'clock when Kelly, Pheebs, and I began our journey home using the new Highbury Ave route.  Traffic was much less congested than Adelaide and we briefly stopped at an A&W along the way for take-out coffee and a few snacks.  Heading north out of London the haze in the air from the Quebec forest fires was very evident.  That haze remained in the air all the way home.  Oh, and there was one more stop.  Kelly was feeling the need for a chocolate milkshake so she grabbed me one too.  Well, needless to say, my clean shirt and jeans that I had put on this morning are right now in the washing machine.  I hope chocolate milkshake stains come out.  Tomorrow morning I will be in Exeter for my hip physio and we'll be back in London on Monday.                

 HERE COMES LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

 HERE'S PHEEBS IN THE PASSENGER SIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR WAITING FOR THE A&W DOOR TO OPEN

 STILL IN THE CITY OF LONDON, WE ARE HEADING NORTH UP HIGHBURY AVE

Al's Music Box:)) Age Of Aquarius by the Fifth Dimension from the album 'The Age Of Aquarius'.  1969

 AND HERE'S THE BAYFIELD BUNCH HEADING HOME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Advertisements::   

- Guitar, For Sale Cheap...No Strings Attached.  

- Ad in a Hospital Waiting Room:  Smoking Helps You Lose Weight One Lung At A  Time!   

- On a bulletin board: Success Is Relative.  The more The Success, The more The  Relatives.   

-When I Read About The Evils Of Drinking.... I Gave Up Reading   

- My Grandfather Is Eighty And Still Doesn't Need Glasses....He Drinks Straight Out Of The Bottle.   

Sign In  A Bar: 'Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance.'     

Sign At A Driving School:  If Your Wife Wants To earn To Drive, Don't Stand In Her Way....  

- Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Surprised Woman.  

- The Reason Men Lie Is Because Women Ask too Many Questions.  

- Getting Caught Is The Mother Of Invention.   

- Laugh And The World Laughs With You,  Snore And You Sleep Alone  

- The Surest Sign That Intelligent Life Exists  Elsewhere In The Universe Is The Fact That It Has Never Tried To Contact Us.  

Sign At A Barber Shop : We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business.

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