Take a hike

Story
The morning of a Saturday of a weekend dawned- perfectly bright and sunny. Having rained overnight, after many false alarms from the weatherman of long overdue summer showers, thus cooling the surroundings to the comfortable 70s. Yes, like I said, a perfect summer day...just right for a summer hike, of course!

The venue chosen for this outing was Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland.

Preface
- Catching an early morning chat with my old buddy NN, I informed her of my plans for the aforementioned outing and generously shared the website with her. After perusing the contents, what does she do? Does she say, wow, good for you Altoid, proceed and enjoy??? Does she wish me luck, goad me to hasten, encourage me to take some spectacular shots of the waterfall???? No, no and no people. She kindly directs me to the line 'be aware of snakes, especially the copperhead' in the website. Now, its a little known fact that yours truly belongs to the breed that believes "ignorance is bliss" and "what you dont know cant hurt you". I suppose the Leos of the world sit on the other side practising "forewarned is forearmed". Alright, I have rambled enough.
Though, as a side note I have to add, I have another friend to whom if I were to recite my plans for the weekend, upon being asked, he would say and I quote "I hope you know there's a tropical storm moving towards the area, all counties have been issued a tornado warning and power might go off for some time" for what weather.com would merely say "Chance of rain-30%".
Yes, an extreme case of forearming. Incidentally, he isnt a Leo.

- A wonderful breakfast of some delicious Berry Almond Swiss Oatmeal and coffee from Corner Bakery(yumm)was a must-have before heading out on the long drive and hike. I love the ambience of this place and their right-around-the-corner location coupled with healthy, fresh fare is a welcome start for any kind of day. Their soups and salads are of course to die for, the lemon-poppy-seed bundt cake- one of my favorites. Alright, enough said!

Main
So coming back to the hiking story, I packed a wonderful lunch of grilled sandwiches, in true desi style, with paneer, the trio of peppers(red/yellow/green)and some mint chutney. Armed with some bottles of water, my faithful camera off I went. A 3/4 mile long hike, some peaceful reading near the lake, some picturesque memories captures with the lens, and thus the trip ended with a hurried gulp of sandwiches. And I was ready to head back.


Time for a quick break....here's something to chew on












For quite a few years, I would snigger at the many antique stores that dot the countryside with a nonchalant "WHO would want to stop by these places?". Well I just realised, being a new home-owner and all, one cant help stopping by "Antique" stores. 'Cause you see, yours truly is in search of a "bench" to adorn the deck. Of course, the exhorbitant price tags attached to these "antique" fares, paired with the grumpy faces of the owners is enough to drive one out to the closest "Country farm produce" outlet and pick up cantaloupes and some cherry tomatoes for a bargain and call it a day. Which is exactly what I did and even stopped to take pictures of this painted horse in a private property which also hosted a ranch . My take is the owner's dream horses would be as colorful as the wooden one that was placed as a welcome sign near the entrance.

Conclusion
The last stop was at a nursery where I picked up some herbs like lavendar(my favorite scent!) and mint!


A very eventful span of 24 hrs indeed! After all....tomorrow is another day.