Sugarbush

Sunday after church I took a drive out to North Salem, Indiana to visit the McCloud Nature Center with family.

The drive was full of picture perfect Indiana landscapes.

 Heading down the road to the sugarbush:

We packed a lunch and had a winter picnic in the sirup shack.

It was a building with one open wall, and a nice place to picnic.

The lunch fixins were not anything fancy: salami sandwich, apple slices, carrots, and snack mix; enough food to fuel our hike. 

The McCloud Nature center was small, but quite charming.  

I'm definitely planning to return for a fly fishing trip here.  As the Black Walnut creek winds through the park and looks to be very wade-able.  Also, I noted they have a canoe launch-- Yay!

 We had a guided tour of the maple sirup making process.

Our guide told us all about collecting sap and boiling it down.  He mentioned how they found a dead mouse in one of the sap buckets, then he offered us the maple candy made from the sap.  :/  True story.

Next, we went into the actual nature center building.  They had snowshoes by the door for people to borrow, but there wasn't hardly any snow on the ground, so we didn't get to try em out.

We looked around the nature center and I liked the display of Indiana bird eggs. As Troy and I posed for a pic, the snake in the cage across from us came out and said, "hello".  Don'tcha love the expression on Troy's face!

After leaving the nature center we went on a brief hike.

I didn't find any critters, dead or otherwise, or even any sap in the collection buckets.

 I did find a fire, which felt great to my cold bones.

The campfire was part of the wigwam display.  I always thought a wigwam in my woods would have been cool.  When I was a kid I remember trying to make one, but never got very far with it.

 I think the main reason the sugarbush allows visitors is to have free labor haul the full buckets of sap. JK

Not sure, but I thought I was seeing fish in this pic of a small tributary creek of the Big Walnut:

McCloud was a nice place to visit and hike.  I can't wait to get to know those fish in that creek a little better.  :)

Monday evening I surprised everyone, and took Taekwondo (tkd) class at the Y with Jean.
 

Since it has been forever and a day since I've worked on my form, I needed some refreshers.  The others students helped my memory to kick in.

By the end of class, I was nearly halfway through camo belt form.

Sparring is my favorite part of Taekwondo, but due to space issues at the Pendleton Y, (they are in the process of expanding) it wasn't happening.  Jean and I practiced board breaking instead.

When I got home from tkd class I went for a RUN!  Yeah, it was my very first time since the surgery that I actually ran!!!  I'm not counting the 7 minute treadmill run in physical therapy.  Before and after my run I stretched thoroughly.

Ironically, right as I completed a mile, it was time to go pick Glady's up from Girlscouts, and her cookies.  So, I go for a great run and then pick up a truck load of Girlscout cookies-- nice.      

 

Before Troy went off to bed that evening, he lost a tooth.  Lemme tell ya, these kids are making a killin round here off teeth lately!

Tooth Fairy Night!