It was only about three to four years ago when I was in the best physical shape of my entire life. I've recently made a commitment to myself to get back there.
I have set lots of mini goals for myself on this quest to good health. One of them was to get our annual pass to the Indiana Dunes State Park and get back on the hiking trails, which we did. The next one was to make it to the water's edge on Trail 9 (that's what I call it) in less than 40 minutes. We did it in 35 minutes this morning. As you can see in the photo above, it's so worth the view once you get there. I was sweating, and times it was a struggle to meet my time, but we did it! I have several other little goals to meet before reaching my final goal for fitness, which is to once again master Trail 8 without stopping once.
I hope I don't bore you all with healthy recipes, and beautiful photos of my hiking at various places. But I know that I've done this before and I have a good feeling about it.
As for the Deep Wood's Off, it is my new best friend! We had some old stuff in the trunk the last couple of times we were on trails and we were still attacked. I bought some fresh cans and what a difference! So we keep a can in each car, and a pocket sized one in our pockets. No bug will get in our way!