Hiking to the Rockbridge... or, "Gee, mom can sure run!"

Our last day in Ohio, we went to a sight we hadn't hiked to before, the rock bridge... located aptly enough, in Rockbridge. It was supposed to be 3/4 of a mile from the parking area to the bridge, taking the shorter of two loops.
The intrepid hiker twins forged ahead, leaving Mr C and I huffing along behind. I am amazed at how quickly one loses tone and endurance when walking is cut back from almost daily, to once a week or so. A few of the points in the trail were... steep. (huff hufff huff). Mr C soon got ahead of me as I stopped to catch my breath take pictures of interesting flora along the path. The path wended its way along the side of a pasture through fifteen foot high ragweed, which was just bursting into full bloom, and then into deep, shady woods. It was uphill every step of the way, in both directions.
Really.
So Mr C calls back to me, "Watch out, there is a hornets nest here by the trail! YEOW I just got stung by a hornet!"
So I stopped. I was fifteen or twenty yards from the nest. The hornets in Ohio build big paper nests, like deformed basketballs. This one was cantaloup sized, and not two feet off the trail.
Tom moved on ahead.
I stood very still several minutes, then detoured around the trail, giving the hornets nest a very wide berth. Hornets don't much seem to care whether you are trying to avoid them. They don't even care that you have stayed far from their nest... at least as far as one can get on a steep rocky hillside in the woods. They came after me for even daring to be within sight of their nest!
I will never be able to tease Chris about his fear of wasps again.... I screamed like a little girl and RAN, feeling them tangling in my hair as I swatted wildly around my head, running full tilt, pell mell down the steep trail towards the already stung Mr C. (Shhhh, I didn't say down the trail... It was up the trail... uphill all the way, both directions!)
I mentioned heavy woods and steep hillsides already didn't I? You know, these trees are supported by these pesky things referred to as roots. The path is choked with roots. The roots are all that keep the dirt from washing down the steep paths into the creek at the bottom.
The roots also make it really difficult to stay upright when running shrieking through the forest swatting at ones head, pursued by hornets. Especially when you hit the mud on the trail next to the footbridge.
 I did a lovely trip slip flip slide right into the mud at the end of the bridge.  I was flat on my back in the muck. Tom stomped the hornet that I slapped from my hair.  The rest of the (flock? crew? pursuers?) gave up and went back to guarding the trail.

Took me a minute to get up.
I was covered in mucky mud from shoulders to toes... looking every bit like I may of slid into second base on a close call in a rainstorm.

We hiked on to the rock bridge, where Dan and Sam waited. They hadn't seen the hornets nest at all. I got several pictures of the bridge... a natural expanse of rock spanning a creek, forming a rock bridge that people are actually allowed to USE.

We took the longer loop back from the bridge, and warned other hikers we encountered that they might prefer the longer route to the bridge... even if it was even more uphill all the way than the shorter route.

I am fine, no broken bones or other injuries, other than sore muscles from my muddy impact. Too bad the twins missed seeing the sprint... I bet they have never seen Mom run!

I was going to post pictures of the rock bridge, but it blends so perfectly with the sides of the gully it spans, you cannot tell by the pictures that there is even a bridge there.

Grace Strikes Again

Or is that Grace(less) is STRUCK again?

To go back to the beginning of the morning....
You know how your Mommy always tells you to wear clean undies so you (or she!) won't be embarrassed if you get in an accident ? Well, this morning it wasn't undies I had trouble with, it was socks. I looked and looked for a matching pair. With time running out, I finally settled for mismatched socks. After all, who will see them inside of my shoes anyway?

Mr C asked if I thought today would be a short day. Saturdays usually are.

I walked in to face TWO pallets. Most Saturdays, there is about 1/3 to 1/2 a single pallet of stuff. So I already knew I was there for a fairly long haul.
At about 8:45, I was on my LAST two items that I had to actually physically handle today. They happened to be wheel hub assemblies.
These were "small" as hub assemblies go. Each weighed about 8 lbs., where some of the larger ones are well over 20 lbs. I had put one into the returns tote, and just as I let go of it, the box from the second assembly came unglued.

The hub assembly was acted upon at once by gravity.

It landed on the "start" of my foot. Just where the tongue of the shoe offered a bit more padding. I'm afraid I said the word my mommy always told me not to say... the one that ends the " Poo Poo, Doo Doo, CaCa.... my Mommy always told me not to say ____"! phrase. (Sorry Mommy, I said it)
I called the boss to come back there. He was laughing as he came back, saying, "I know I'm in trouble when she says Mr. Mc_______!" He quit laughing the minute he saw I was hurt. I already had my shoe off,  and the sock. There was a bit of skin scraped off, clean through the clothes!

My foot was already starting to swell where it was hit. Boss got me some ice. (He used freezer frost, LOL)

The ice helped.

I kept my foot up on a chair, with ice off and on (On as long as I could stand it at a time) for the next 45 minutes. The swelling went down. I could stand on it, move it freely without undue pain. So nothing is broken. But I will have a nice bruise, I'm sure. I used the chair (rolling office chair) to glide over to the computer and finish up my paperwork. Got my shoe and sock back on, and gave the foot the official "stand on it and walk" test. Then I drove on home. (It is my left foot.)

I am still hobbling just a bit... but hey, it is a deep bruise!

I have kept of it since then, except necessary trips. I had a nap. After my nap, I was getting a drink in the kitchen, and asked who had left water boiling in my whistling kettle, which was boiling away, but NOT whistling. (Should of been my first clue!) It was Mr C. He was watching football and asked if I minded pouring him out a spot o' tea. So I poured. The tight fitting lid of the kettle fell off as I poured... "someone" had not pushed it on tightly! I got a mean owie owie owie steam burn on my hand.

Maybe I ought to just go on back to bed.

Really folks, I am FINE. Just a bit battered and steamed!

Dad always said he didn't name me Grace.... for a good reason!