FIRST WALK IN THE BANNOCKBURN CONSERVATION AREA THIS YEAR

 SOMETIMES A PICTURE CAN SAY A THOUSAND WORDS:))

Had it not been for an icy cold wind Pheebs and I would have been out walking this morning at our favorite country road spot just a few miles East of where we live.  The road is free of snow now with the only sign of Winter being a few frozen water puddles in the hard-packed gravel.

 WITH HEAVY RAINS PREDICTED FOR TONIGHT AND ALL DAY WEDNESDAY AREA CREEKS WILL BE OVERFLOWING THEIR BANKS

 OUR FAVORITE COUNTRYSIDE WALKING ROAD IS FINALLY FREE OF SNOW

  ICY WATER PUDDLES

WITH BETTER WEATHER ON THE WAY FOR NEXT WEEK WE WILL SOON BE PARKED THERE TO THE RIGHT AND RESUMING OUR WALKS UP THIS ROAD AND BACK

I SPOTTED SAP PAILS ON A NUMBER OF TREES ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

 IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE SUGAR SHACK IN THE BUSH AND IT EVEN HAD SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE CHIMNEY SO THEY ARE BUSY MAKING MAPLE SYRUP

Not far from our country road spot is the Bannockburn Conservation Area so we headed on over there knowing we would be protected from the cold wind there.  And so it was.  Luckily, there was nobody else there so we set off along the boardwalk.  Several creeks flow through here and they weren't as flooded as I thought they might be.

  HEADING INTO THE CONSERVATION AREA

 THERE ARE A LOT OF DENSE CEDAR TREES HERE

 PHEEBS LIKES TO GET OFF THE BOARDWALK AND SNIFF THE SWAMPY SMELLS

 AND SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH HOPPING BACK UP ON THE BOARDWALK EITHER

We didn't have much in the way of sunshine to bring Spring's colors out this morning but I did manage to find a few photos along the way anyway.  This is a very scenic walking area with the trails well maintained.  We just went to where the boardwalk ends before turning around.  Had we done the whole trail through the forest with all it's hills and hollows we would have added another forty minutes or more to our walk.  We'll try to come back and do the whole trail about mid-April when all the wildflowers and tree buds are sporting their Spring finery.  Heading back to the Jeep we passed a Mom with her two little kids plus a young couple with their dog.

 I THINK AN OLD TROLL LIVES HERE

 ANCIENT HIEROGLYPHICS??  NOPE, A WOOD-BORING BUG HAS DONE THIS

 YOU MAY THINK THESE ARE MOSS-COVERED TREE ROOTS BUT NOPE, THIS IS THE CLAWED FOOT OF A HUGE T-REX DINOSAUR THAT PHEEBS AND I ARE TIPPY TOEING PAST HOPING IT DOESN'T SEE US

 CREEKS WERE RUNNING FAST TODAY BUT WILL BE RUNNING EVEN FASTER TOMORROW

 TIME TO HEAD BACK TO THE JEEP

RETRACING OUR STEPS

THAT BURGUNDY VOLKSWAGON IS A LOT BIGGER THAN MY FIRST VOLKSWAGON,,,,A 1961 BEETLE

 AND YES WE DO STILL HAVE SOME SNOW LEFT IN A FEW SPOTS

HEADING HOME WE LEAVE THIS MORNING'S DRIVE IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR

From Bannockburn, it was a fifteen-minute drive back to our house for us guys.  I generally like to edit my photos as soon as I get home and make a quick start on the blog before venturing back outside again to do whatever needs doing for the day.  It's important I get things done in the morning while my energy levels are at their best.  When energy levels begin to wane in the afternoon it's time for doing some reading with a little siesta thrown in.  Sometimes, I will get an energy spurt and go roaring back outside again to carry on with whatever it is I feel energized enough to do.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom & gloom pessimist. Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.  That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.  "Why are you crying?" the father asked.  "Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read the all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin.  Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked.  To which his optimist twin replied, "With this much manure there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

-------------------------------