...and one gram of protein

This morning was spent hiking with some of the gals from work that I'm friends with. We (well, I) decided that we should give Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park a try, since none of us had ever been there before. Like the rest of Orange County's parks, this was a pleasant place to visit. The weather was clear and not too warm, and the UV factor was low, so I didn't even need sunscreen. It doesn't get much better than this for a hike with some friends.

It was the shortest hike that our group has done so far (just barely over 2.5 miles), but we spent the entire time talking and laughing. Either because of our noise level or that it was just a slow day for critters, we didn't encounter much wildlife on the trail, which was a shame.

After the hike we enjoyed a potluck picnic and more laughter. For the most part the items we brought were pretty healthy, but one of the gals had brought some sinful marshmallow/cookie treats along. Out of curiosity, we looked at the ingredients on the box and were astounded not only by what was in it (3 types of sugars, partially hydrogenated oils, etc) but also by the sheer length of the ingredients list! Not surprisingly, the nutritional value of these sweet morsels was practically none, but the gal that brought them was quick to point out that at least they provided 1 gram of protein. I'm just going to leave that part of the story at that...

After the picnic a couple of us went to check out the park office and nature center. I wanted to talk to one of the rangers to see if they were open to allowing the placement of a geocache or two within the park. The ranger was very nice and told me that I could, as long as I worked with them when I go about hiding the caches.

We took some pictures, so hopefully the 2 gals with cameras will send me the pictures soon and I'll post them here.

This entry enjoyed a breath of fresh air on a lovely day.

Edit to add: Photos have been uploaded and posted here.