Mud Boggin'

I finally downloaded all the photos from my cameras and found that I had some that I had forgotten about. Like these, from a walk I took when Desert Boy was in preschool. I took Desert Girl in the stroller and decided to take a different route from my usual three-mile loop.

The weather was overcast and it had rained recently, so the desert smelled great.

Nearly all the roads in the area are gravel, which isn't a problem.

It was when I got to the dirt roads that I had some trouble. Because water + dirt = mud.

I take the jogging stroller about everywhere, but this trip was a first - I literally couldn't go any farther. The mud bogged the stroller down so much that the wheels wouldn't turn.

At all.

When I pushed, the entire stroller just slid in the mud.

The stroller weighs 45 pounds empty. And Desert Girl is pushing 20 pounds, so I felt like I was getting a very good workout.

I quickly decided I had better turn around and get back to the gravel road.

Desert Girl was blissfully unaware of all this.

The mud on my shoes was several inches thick, making it not only hard to push the stroller, but also hard to walk.

I had to laugh at myself. It's not often we have to deal with mud, and I was obviously woefully unprepared.

The clouds over the recently harvested fields were a welcome change. They made me glad that I had tried a different route, even if the mud had impeded my progress. Sometimes you just have to try a different path. The stroller still has little bits of dried mud on it from our little adventure, reminding me of the fun walk.

According to the weather reports, we're going to be seeing some more clouds in the next few days, with maybe even some white stuff coming out of them. We've been enjoying some wonderfully warm autumn weather, with golden leaves blowing in a southern breeze and the warm sunshine caressing our faces. I think we'd better get the hats and gloves ready.

Goodbye, Indian summer! We sure enjoyed you while you were here!