Stay-cation: Day 2

Naturally after all that fabulous food the night before (and lack of gym trip on my part) this morning was a perfect day to set out to Carney Park to hike along the ridge. Carney Park is the military recreational facility located in an extinct volcano, Campiglione. (The one with yurts!)

With the sun shinning and a great breeze, Cynthia and I met with with another Laurie and her pup. They had warned me yesterday that there were steep sections and since I'd seen the big old crater, I had some idea what to expect. Then again, I've hiked Garrapata enough times so when I hear "steep" I kind of panic. I had also been told to expect lots of chances to "take in the view." Translation- we're going to by dying after 10 steps so we'll be stopping. I'm thinking fabulous because it's warm here and my body still doesn't quite know how to react.

Well all I've got to say is THANK YOU! to whoever was the first person who drug me out to Garrapata for that hike I love to hate. There were some a vertical climbs on today's hike that resembled the valley segment but over all it wasn't that bad! My SF Giants hat and I kicked butt and even now, several hours later Stanley is cool with it all. Then again, I guess after all my falls on the way down from Garrapata on that last night hike anything would make Stanley happy?

It was a great time walking through the forest like area. The trees provided a great canopy to protect us from the sun, while berries, grass, and other thorny plants provided excellent obstacles across the path. I'm really hoping that I'm not allergic to any of the plants I tromped through and got scratched by, since I'm really only used to looking for poison oak! We did 1/2 of the loop but already have plans for the other side next time around. I've also scoped out a few flat trails for running so I'm excited that this parks is kindda on my way "home", again, once I find a place out that way to live.

We did have to laugh about how the rustling in the bushes due to those pesky lizards made them sound much larger than they actually were. At one point I saw a whole branch move  and being the bio nerd I am, had to stop to look. Well, that grasshopper looking thing was so large that it's what caused the movement. No, not Kenya bug status for those who saw that one, but it was a good 3 inches? And check out those colors!

What else? Oh! The views! Amazing. I guess the wind blew out a lot of the haze/humidity so we were left with clear skies. So yeah, definitely another stop on our tour of Naples for those of you who hang out for a while. Don't you love all these previews of your trip to visit me? And yes, that is the neon green top I scared the desk clerk with earlier this week.