I can't say that I'm sorry Noah did not come over (although Linda is still a little bummed) because we just got home from the longest trail walk of our lives! The morning was beautiful and it was such an adventure. Yes, I walked the entire trail except for the muddy parts and water where both Chim and I had to be carried. There were no deer this time, but we did come upon a very snippy Border Collie with a bad attitude and a very sweet Pitt Bull. When we got back to the neighborhood, I started really slowing down and limping a bit, so Linda carried me back to the house. (She wishes there were someone to carry her, she was limping a bit too.) Here are some photos we took along the way. The first one bought back a lot of good/sad memories for Linda. Snickers used to love to swim in the stream. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the bank is pretty steep. He was so excited to hit the trail for the first time that year. Even though he wasn't sprinting anymore, Snicks was still walking and even slow jogging at points. When they came to his spot, he went down the bank and relaxed in the water for awhile. But he could not get back up. He tried and tried but his back legs were not strong enough. Linda had to climb down and try to lift all 80 pounds of him and pull herself up the bank too. It looked like she would have to leave him and go get help, but finally one last try (and a prayer for strength) they both made it up. She cried all the way home because she knew it was the beginning of the end of Snicks. It was the last stream swim of his life.
