I can't believe that trail misled me AGAIN!

I slept in again this morning.  It feels so good!  It will be hard to get up on time tomorrow to go in to work.  C'est la vie.  At least I had a few days of slack. Next week will be a regular work week, but I just checked the calendar and noticed that I have a tea date with JD on Monday the 16th.  Day off = woot!  Although this year that's a floating holiday for me, so I don't have to take it off if I don't want to.  I was not informed about our new holiday schedule until after I made the reservations, so a holiday it will be.  Lots of long weekends (when it is dark out a lot) agrees well with me.

Today I thought maybe I'd do two laps around the park, for a total of about eleven miles.  I still felt great at the end of my first lap, but did not have the mental fortitude to revisit ground I had just walked over for hours.  Instead, I did some trails around the interior of the park for an hour.  I got lost (again!) on the Dogwood Trail.  Some day I am going to go there with my GPS and find the daggone trail intersection that I have missed EVERY TIME I've tried it in the last few years.  Maybe I'll start out clockwise instead of counter clockwise.  Maybe I'll take flour to mark the trail.  I don't know exactly what I'll do, but something's gotta give.  I am tired of that trail getting me turned around.

So today's hike was around 9 miles rather than 11.  I felt great at the end, though.  Probably should have done a couple of loops of the Azalea Trail to wrap it up.  Instead, I texted JD to meet me for a meal at Chanan's.  Hiking around in the cold boosted my hunger.

I always get cold after eating a meal post-cold-hike, so today I tried out something different.  Before I left the park I put one of my new insulated Skhoop skirts on over my warm hiking tights.  It definitely slowed down the chilled feeling to the point where I didn't feel the need to wear my warm upper layers in the restaurant.  By the time I got home, I was chilly enough to want to keep my layers on for half an hour or so.  But the skirt made a big difference for me.  I must remember to carry it on future winter hikes, and it is definitely going in my backpack for cold weather backpacking trips.  I think it will help a lot with Cold Butt Syndrome in the sleeping bag.

I know I said today would be chili day, but lunch was held near dinner time.  So tomorrow will be chili day.  And the day after that, and the day after that.. I love that a pot of chili feeds me for so long.  The habaneros keep me warm.  So do the beans, though the officemates appreciate it less.