Thursday

Our hike today was a choice between something called "Saddle," which I've heard is one of the hardest ones the FRidge goes on, and "Fern Gully," which is mostly flat with sand. Which one do you think I chose? Saddle, of course! If you look at the picture below, where the two rock formations come together in a "V" is where the "saddle" is. The hike is to climb through the ravine, then up the hill to the saddle and go down the other side. WHY NOT?

The "saddle" is right in the middle.

Just the beginning of the hike.

Some of the many rocks/boulders we climbed over and around.

Starting to get a better view of the saddle (and the route we are going to take to get there).

Can you see the saddle now?

Amazing rock faces, straight up on both sides of the ravine. 

Made it! A view looking back down. Whew!

Our little group that made the hard choice, and it was WORTH IT!

We're going back down!

The other side is just as challenging.

Interesting outcropping of rocks. Remember these rocks for the next picture.

Can you see those rocks about halfway up on the right side of the pic? 

(The other side of the saddle at the top.) Spectacular!

This is the way out! Lovely, isn't it?

The Sage Maze awaiting us at the bottom. It actually smelled pretty good!

As we entered this last mile (I'm not kidding, either) of sand, we heard someone playing 

a Native American flute. Very nice touch. Really made those amazing rock cliffs feel even more magical.

We still had about a 1 1/2 miles to go when we got to this road.

The van is in sight! Check Saddle hike off my list of accomplishments!

When we got back to the FRidge, there was a very nice breakfast awaiting us. It was very simple and delicious (of course!). First the menu for the day:

Sorry, it's a little blurry, but I had just climbed a mountain!

Doesn't look like much, does it?

A fabulous PBJ with a twist. (Actually, it's Almond Butter, and believe it or not, I did NOT pick off the bananas!)

This may become a regular breakfast for me! Yummo!

Yummy Tortilla Soup!

Again, delicious Hawaiian pizza, and very simple!

So, so good. Really, how many ways can I say delicious?!

Pure heaven! Real, dark chocolate on perfectly ripe strawberries! Fantastic :)

Another great day at the FRidge for working out, too. Stretch right after a hike is the BEST! (We also had another nutrition class and a cooking demo. Can't wait to try out some of these new recipes!) My three afternoon fitness classes were Treading, Total Body H20, and Ball Works. 

Treading is a cardio workout where you, after a warm-up, do 5 minutes at your highest intensity then a 5 min recovery, then 4 min highest intensity, 4 min recovery, etc. until you are done (then cool down & stretch). It is such a high intensity workout, they only schedule it once a week. After the last minute recovery the instructor had us go for another 30 seconds at our highest, and then challenged us to keep it up for a whole minute. . . and I did! Yay me!

The pool classes have become my favorite (especially when I get to go to more than once a day! It was 105 today) It is absolutely a workout, but it relieves any strain on my aching ankles. Love it!

And working with those big exercise balls is always challenging. Lots of arm work and abdominals work. I'm going to be sore tomorrow!

After the activities today it was nice to throw a load of laundry in (I'm going through 2 pairs of socks every day here), jump in the pool for some leisurely laps across the pool, and sit in the hot tub and chat.

I can't believe my first week here is almost over! I read your comments every day, and look forward to you cheering me on via cyber-space. 

Sending you my love and gratitude!

Goodnight =)