This is a pretty short one. We took a day trip with Jim’s mom, Sylvia, around Governor Dodge State Park, which is about 50 miles west of Madison. It was a brilliantly sunny day, which was good for (some of) us, but not great for photos. We hiked a bit around Cox Hollow Lake. I guess it goes to show that 1. Going from sea-level up any sort of hill pretty much kills us and 2. The fact that we live at sea-level in Seattle does nothing to undermine our assumption that everything in the Midwest is flat as a pancake compared to what we have in the Cascades. Basically, this hike was unexpectedly hilly, as well. We had some great views of the lake over piney granite cliffs, though. And we saw a toad!
We also walked through another part of the park, where I am pretty sure my cousin Suzy and I would have been extremely happy traipsing through in our childhood, meaning that it was the perfect place in which to pretend to be an elf. Little creeks babbling under wooden bridges, and ever-falling leaves in a quiet wood, carpeting the ground in stony-brown foliage.
Anna A. Snook 