Someone had mentioned maybe going for a hike or something, then the next thing I knew I had planned a group hike and BBQ at my place. :) I was stoked because it's usually pretty hard to convince people to come all the way out to the boonies for dinner or drinks or anything. Everyone thinks it's tooooooo far. Hmmm....I wonder if they notice that I go into town like a bazillion times a week to visit them? Mhmmmmm.
So the six of us met up at my place just after noon, and then set out for our walk (hike!) around 1:00. Neighbor Jen and I brought the dogs....and yes, my car really needs a good interior detail! All we had decided at this point was to head for East Sooke Park. Jen was the only one that had even been there in the last few years. I think I was the only other person that had EVER been there.
After a few minutes of looking over the posted trail map, Jen and Robi led us off on the loop trail to Beechy Head. The dogs (OK, mostly our dog) acted like a barky asshole for a while, but once we got to a good off-leash spot they were all happy and much better behaved. We arrived quickly at the white sand beach (dude, I didn't even know that existed here!) and it was a good place for the dogs to get some running in and start to tire out a tiny bit.
We took some pictures and carried on along the beach, then found a connector back to the main trail. The trail mostly sticks right along the bluffs overlooking the ocean. It's definitely more of a hike than a walk, with lots of rocks and hilly bits to climb over. We had all worked up a pretty decent sweat by the time we got near Beechy Head. There was a fairly steep rockface to climb up, so Mike and Charmaine chose to carry on to check out the monument, while the rest of us stopped for a little rest and a doggy water break.
Mojo was so well behaved on this walk. I couldn't have been prouder!! I am so used to him trying to pull my arm off and/or taking off through the neighbor's yards when we walk around home, but he was a fairly good listener and mostly stayed on the trail. Of course, it helps that there were six of us to call after him if he got too far away!
After the little break, it was just a short walk through the end of the loop back to the car. All in all, it took about 2 hours. I will definitely be going back there and checking out the other trails. I love that it's a dog-friendly park and Mojo can go off leash. I love that it's right on the water. I love that there are several trail options to check out, so I can go for any length of hike I like.
We then returned to my place where we had all contributed something for dinner. Robi and Charmaine brought pre-dinner snacks of meats, cheeses, hummus, pita, chips and salsa....plus I had a spinach dip. Apparently we were all hungry from the activity, because we plowed through this stuff like there was no tomorrow!
By the time dinner came, we were all pretty full, but funny enough we were able to "suffer" our way through the meal. :) I prepared my famous horseradish turkey burgers (OK, fine, they are Rachel Ray's burgers....but I'm making them famous around here!), plus a cucumber salad. Tiffaney brought yummy potato salad and fresh corn on the cob. Mikey made baked zucchini topped with garlic butter & parmesan. Jen put together her fantastic homemade caesar salad, complete with homemade croutons. Dude, that's a lot of food.
And then there was dessert. I made Mandy's Crustless Pumpkin Pie. Yum! But Mikey brought one of his Mom's Chocolate Zucchini Loaves too. One of my personal favorites. So good!
Needless to say, it was a good thing we went for that hike. We were all stuffed to the max. I hope everyone stayed awake on their drives home!! I know I fell on the couch shortly after they all left and had trouble dragging myself up. LOL.
Good friends, good food, good fun!
1 comment:
Ohh, looks fun! I love walking on trails :)
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