A Reason to Hike

Here's a cute story (see Animal Sighting #5) about a pregnant hiker. This reminds me of two stories: 1. When I was in Hawaii in November, I saw a guy driving his car with a parrot on his shoulder. 2. A few years ago, Hubs and I were hiking with the late great Flynn when we came around a bend in the trail where a man was squatting on the ground giving his two Jack Russell terriers some water. He was wearing no shirt, but whatever. We passed him but Flynn had to sniff some (dog) butt, so I turned around to call her, and la voila! the dude was totally naked except for hiking boots and, yes, a fanny pack. Gag me with a Smurf. I sort of freaked. Not out loud but I just started walking fast and my heart started racing. Hiking: Good. Nudist hikers: Not good. Sorry, it's just a position I have to take.

Week 12: Not Much Hiking

Because of the holidays and the rain, rain, rain, we have not done much hiking. During one those days when the rains were unrelenting, I took my son to the Emeryville IKEA and we spent 2.5 hours walking slowly around. I let him play on everything in sight and then we spent an hour playing on the toys in the children's area. A lunch of chicken nuggets is $2. After we left, he fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. It was a great exercise day for him. The place is so huge that I felt like I got a decent walk in, too, at least compared to the 1/4 mile I was getting pacing the hall of our apartment the day before.

I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday, and everything looked great. I meant to ask the Nurse Practitioner about hiking tips for pregnant moms but forgot, of course. GORP has this article (thanks to tom) on healthy hiking for pregnant women. As I come across more tips and ideas, I will share them here.