outdoor animals

You may be familiar with the phrase “indoor cat” and “outdoor cat”. My cat is an outdoor cat, Though when we adopted here from the pound we were sternly admonished to never EVER let her outside even if she begged, er… shh. We did. And every time we take her to the vet they go, “Oh, she’s so healthy! We can tell she’s getting lots of exercise and keeping down the length of her claws by scratching them on tree bark!”

So. It is good to be outdoors.

I think like pets, there are indoor humans and outdoor humans. All of us living in the modern world are too often indoor humans (she said, typing on a computer… indoors). It’s so nice to embark on an adventure in the great outdoors!

And sometimes when doing so one forgets one’s camera and the iPod must suffice.

The Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Vienna.

My first glimpse of fiddleheads! These forage-able treats are either edible or… poisonous. So we declined to forage, lacking expertise. Sweet little things!

It’s fun walking on the W+OD in Vienna because it goes DIRECTLY by Whole Foods. Ah, temptation. Ah, hydration.

(On sale!) My tummy had been upset, and this was just BURSTING with healthy bacteria. It seemed like everything was gurgling happy after drinking this.

More outdoor fun- GRILLING! I headed to a guilt-induced pre-Easter church service and my adorable boyfriend grilled for me.

I returned to a FEAST atop the weber!

As well as Frank Sinatra crooning on Pandora and candlelight. This boy!

Dim but delicious. Grilled tofu (one batch with Asian seasonings, one Cajun); grilled peppers; grilled kale (one batch regular with oil; the other a whacky Steve creation with bananas and vanilla that even HE said was weird but I actually, oddly, enjoyed), and a delicious sammich.

A Steve creation: tomato, cucumber, avocado, Sriracha. EXCELLENT.

 

The ultimate in outdoor human-ness is hiking.

Hello buns of steel!

Steve had a yearning to see the Shenandoahs and a recommendation of one of the best vistas. We made several important discoveries upon arriving to the Shenandoahs.

1. The Shenandoahs are only three hours away and feel like an entirely different world.

2. One can either buy a day pass for $15, or a YEAR PASS for $30! So… til April 2013 we will be going as often as possible ;D

3. If you take a right, you go south, not north. Which meant we sort of ended up fifty miles from our intended hike. Which meant we were not taking our intended hike.

Fortunately, the hike we more or less stumbled upon meant WATERFALLS!

 

Why yes, we did climb to the top of this one.

Steve and I with a waterfall bursting out of our heads :D

The hike was marvy, perhaps five hilly miles or so. So triumphantly we emerged to the parking lot! Followed closely by the most *adorable* family vacationing from Texas. There was a mother, a father, and two teenage girls and they all seemed to be happy and smiling and liking each other and posing for pictures smiling attractively and at a certain point they all started singing together. So cute. Tangent.

Anyway, so they went scampering over to their car and we went, “Wait… where’s our car?”

Well, funny story, it was three miles away.

So off we embarked. Can’t really complain when you’re walking alongside views like this:

      

Went balancing along a cool old stony barrier as the sun set. GREAT day!

Board games are fun outside. My easter morning:

Looking out on:

Was not going to top Steve’s excellent use of the blank:

Annnd now I will stop sitting at a computer.