Sharing my passion

Today, I had the great pleasure of spending some time with Mel at 2nd Chances. If you ever get the chance to meet this lovely woman, go to great lengths to make that happen. You will not be sorry!!

I had been thinking, for the last few days, of where I could take Mel today. I know that she and her friends were doing lots of sight seeing in San Francisco so I decided I would take her out for a hike. My first thought was to take her to the Marin Headlands where she could get great views of the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. I had even asked Victoria for advice on which loop to take Mel on. Yesterday, however, my husband came up with a great idea. Take her to one of your favorite running spots. THAT sounded better. At least doing this, I was more comfortable with where I was going.

I had Mel take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) over to my side, (the east side) of the bay. From where she was staying, it took her 45 minutes. Not bad at all considering there was also bus rides involved. Boomer and I picked her up a little before 10:00 and drove up to Redwood Regional Park. Boomer was very excited to meet a new friend. He gave Mel a lot of kisses. He was so excited!

We hiked for a couple of hours. I took her on the West Ridge Trail, down Fern Trail and back on the French Trail to Redwood Trail. She really seemed to like the big trees. It was a beautiful day there. The smells were incredible because of the rain yesterday. Not muddy, which was a nice surprise. It was 53 degrees when we pulled up. She thought that was perfect! Personally, I thought it was a tad chilly but as always, I warmed up quickly.

We went back to the car and picked up the food and drinks I had put together for us to have a little picnic. Lots of fruit, some cheese and bread and some sparkling fruit juices. We sat for an hour or so, continuing to chat and laugh. One little wasp wouldn't leave us alone for the longest time. I finally trapped him under my plate and released him when we were done eating.

Boomer was enjoying the snacks as well. I made him his own plate but he went to Mel for more and she couldn't tell him no.

When I took this picture I thought it was absolutely perfect, with both Mel and Boomer looking at the camera. After I uploaded it, I see Boomer's eyes are looking elsewhere - Mel's food! LOL

BFF's

This is the area that we had our little picnic.

After our picnic, I was going to drive Mel back to San Francisco but she said she would be just fine taking BART back. Since that would save me about 1.5 hours of driving, I agreed and took her down to the BART station. She sent me a text saying she was at the house when I had only been home about 15 minutes.

I feel so lucky that I stole Mel away for a few hours today. She is such a genuinely nice human being. She is so "down to earth" and made me feel at ease today. I feel like she thoroughly enjoyed hiking on my trails and she never complained, even through some pretty steep sections. Although, even I know, the beauty outweighs the pain in this park. She was so grateful too, for me taking her here today. No need to thank me. ;)

Thank you Mel, for agreeing to meet me today. Anytime you come back this way, plan on spending another day on the trails with me and Boomer.

Until later.............