Red River walk/potluck

Our road walk condition today

Today 21 Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center and headed to the Silver Reef Casino parking lot in Ferndale. We were met by Kim, one of our hikers, who led us on a lovely walk through farmlands, along the South River Road going out, and then returning via the North River Road. It's all open, and we had a light breeze and quite cool weather to make the six-mile walk very comfortable. 

See the big eagle in the tree?

We chatted as we walked, saw lots of wildflowers growing along the sides of the road, and the occasional raptor overhead. One alert hiker saw this mature eagle in a tree, and we all stopped long enough to get a good picture. There were also many little ducklings following along their mother in the river, but try as I might, none of my pictures showed the event properly. I suspect that the eagle might have been eyeing lunch as we watched them paddle by. So many little ones just don't make it very long which is why, I guess, there are such large broods. 

Large estuary that separates the two river roads

Finally we turned back north and began our walk back to the casino, where we had left our cars. There was intermittent sky between the clouds, but we never did have totally clear skies.

Heading back to the casino

Most of us are not so accustomed to an entire walk along flat roads, and by the time we finished, many of us were complaining about hips, knees, and sore feet. However, we climbed into our cars and drove to the lovely home of Terry, one of our regular hikers, who hosted a potluck for us after the hike. She lives right on Gooseberry Point, and we enjoyed a potluck filled with good food, desserts, and Terry provided delicious coffee for those who wanted it.

Setting up for a feast

We had so much good food, and I truly enjoyed everything I sampled. We seem to be getting in the habit of eating after these Tuesday outings, but this was just the best food anywhere: lots of salads, bread, and of course desserts. I had two helpings of Kim's trifle, with layers of sponge cake, fruit, custard, and whipped cream. You can see it in the middle of the table, off center to the left. Yum!

And now I am home, happy to have had such a great walk with friends. I think I will be skipping the Thursday hike, as it's quite long and a good distance away to boot. And I've done it many times before. I'll find a good substitute, I hope.

:-)