Snowshoe Course Recon with a Side of ABCs

We awoke to snow. Soft, fluffy snow falling softly outside, piling up quickly, but easy to brush off the car. After a few hours, it stopped, bringing with it blue skies and a lovely morning, just in time for me to  meet up with Mindy for some snowshoe course recon at the Brad. While waiting for her to arrive, I talked with Linda Raymond, who was getting ready to head out in her snowshoes. We sort of looked at each other a few times in the parking lot before both of us, almost at the same time, said "Don't I know you?" Ha. We've seen each other at the Bradbury races but have never been formally introduced. We had fun chatting for a few minutes before she took off for her run/walk and I got myself ready to run.

Although we could have worn snowshoes, both of us chose to wear screwshoes, and it worked out fine.  The course seemed in decent shape given the dearth of snow this winter, but I have a feeling, once you put a number of people on it in snowshoes, it is going to get sketchy pretty quickly. Still, we enjoyed tromping through the freshly fallen snow, and winding our way through the woods in an attempt to find Krista's Trail, which was unbroken. I think we actually did a decent job of following its twisty course, but if not, oh well! We were having fun (and working a bit too! Whew!). The woods were beautiful - the evergreens covered with a dusting of snow, hints of blue sky above, and a nice snowy treadway in front of us. We saw a number of animal tracks, some deer beds, and some cute little chipmunk or squirrel holes with little snack leavings at the "doorways." We ended up with 4 miles (we got a bit off track at one point, heading further up the Tote than we should have gone) in an hour, so pretty slow, but that included all our stops and consults regarding directions, and some slow going on the hills too. That course is a workout, for sure! When we got back to the parking lot, we stopped for a drink and decided to get in a few more miles on the east side, heading out the Link and up onto the Snowmobile trail until the meadow. There had been enough snowmobile traffic, along with the walkers, skiers and snowshoers, to pack the trails down pretty nicely, and they were good running. We got in another 2.25 or so miles before calling it a day. It was great to have another chance to run with Mindy on such a beautiful morning!

While we were running, I was telling Mindy about all the ridiculous kid songs I have coursing through my head these days. Elmo and Sesame Street songs. Wheels on the Bus. Bingo. Silly hippy songs from a CD my cousin Sean gave us for Sam. Everytime she gets in the car, she wants to listen to "Bobcat Walk." (click on the little teaser to hear what gets stuck in my head every morning after driving Sam to daycare!) Of course, Sam likes to sing her own songs too and tonight we tried to capture her singing her ABCs during dinner. We didn't quite get it either time, but the videos are sort of funny. Or at least, they are videos her grandparents and great-grandparents will love! :-)

Sam sings the ABCs (we didn't get the video started until "H"though)

From the top! With a few bites of bread in between, and a loss of steam and a bit of confusion with the order at the end :-)