Part 1 of 3 so you don’t have to spend 3 hours reading my post! I had a great weekend becoming an outdoors woman! A nice 3 day weekend, too 😀
There are different BOW programs in other states and Canada, most sponsored by the DEC. Classes range from archery, shotgun, kayaking/canoeing, campfire cooking, map & compass, hiking, biking, fishing, and lots more! I would highly recommend trying a weekend!
There were women of all shapes and sizes – and ages! The oldest woman there was 90 years old, and there was an 83 woman who did the air rifle class (who was affectionately called ‘grandma’). She rocked! There were approximate 118 women at this workshop.
We stayed at Silver Bay way up north on Lake George – a YMCA facility. It was beautiful! This was the inn, which I was not staying in.
Front porch of the Inn:
What a nice way to destress and unwind:
This was my building:
Accommodations much better than my last outdoor adventure! I was totally expecting to be roughing it.
It pretty much rained all morning, but it really did not rain much in the afternoon, which was lucky! We had a nice lunch. It was buffet style with salads, soups, and sandwich fixin’s. I decided on egg salad, a salad-salad and some baked potato soup. Tres delicious. Oh, and a pear in the background.
Then it was time for my first class.
We spent time learning about how to prepare for a hike, what to bring and the types of equipment available for various hikes. Then we did a short hike on one of the trails. My class had about a dozen women in it.
It was very well marked. There were white diamonds on the trees to mark this specific trail, plus a really nice branch pathway, which you can see at our feet.
Poison ivy anyone?
Even on well used trails, you have to be really careful.
We ended up near the lake and saw the kayak class:
I want to do that one next time!
Even though we are close to July, it is still really, really green around here. All the soaking rains recently helped with that.
We did around a 2 mile hike. It was nice. Very easy terrain.
Then it was dinner time!
And dessert:
They fed us well this weekend.
And I went out for more pictures of the grounds:
The ubiquitous Adirondack chair!
I had to use the zoom lens – this kitty wanted no part of me 
Ladies Mantle:
You all expected flower pictures, right? 😉
Allium with some asian lilies in front.
Then I listened to a talk on invasive plant and animal species. That was really interesting, and I should mention more about it some time and how we can all help prevent the spread. I found out I have one in my garden! The burning bush – oh no!
Then my sister got there!
44 and 43, respectively. LOL! I think I am the bigger goober. We had a least 5 times where people asked us if we were sisters. I was saying to Colleen that almost never happened before I lost all my weight. Now it happens all the time.
Next post tomorrow will be Wild Infusions and helping my sister set up her deer hunting class (she taught).
That looks like so much fun! I will have to check out if they have any Becoming An Outdoor Woman around me.
I’m glad you had a great time and got to spend time with your goober sis LOL!
I was just outside complaining the flies were biting me so I wouldn’t last there.
Great Part I. Looks like a lot of fun…that is the kind of roughing it I can handle.
You and your sister certainly do look alike!
Sounds like you had a great time 🙂 great first day for sure.
What a beautiful place to spend the weekend!
So awesome! I’m looking forward to hearing about the infusions class, I was interested in that one. I’ll definitely be there next year!
This is so lovely. What a wonderful experience and so nice to spend time with your sister–who, BTW, looks just like you or vice versa.
Lori, you were a goober even when you were a toddler! I’ve seen that same expression in your baby pictures. I’m so glad you had a good time. Looking forward to hearing more about it.
Thanks Mom 😀
I love that lodge. And the shot of the lake is so peaceful. That would be so fun to take the kayaking class. And of course, it would be fun to have chocolate cake afterwards…
Oh my goodness, what a wonderful looking getaway!!! Love the photos and stories, look forward to part 2!
I adore and NOW wanna be an outdoors woman, too.
LOVE all the beauty & the pics Lori. How fun!!! I don’t do camping so the housing looked fine to me. I could think about trying it as long as I could stay in a decent room with indoor plumbing & showers. I have some horror stories from camping as a kid so no adult camping! 😉
Thx for sharing the beauty! That mans you & sis too!
What a great weekend adventure. It looks like lots of fun and good food. I really enjoy getting away and having an educational experience at the same time.
This looks like my kind of weekend! I love it! What a blast. How did you like the hiking? I love hiking.
I liked the hiking. It wasn’t much different than some trail stuff I did before, but it was not a very challenging trail. It was a gorgeous trail, too!
Oh Lori. This is practically camping! OY. I am so much a spa trip type of girl, even though I know all this outdoorsy stuff is probably healthier 😉
I’m glad you had fun.
What a gorgeous area! Love that inn and the view from the front porch – ahhhhh!
You can definitely see that you are sisters, you look alike a lot.
What a great place you’ve stayed in.
I like the whole idea about this concept. We don’t have that here.
R. and I have been talking about walking the “Pieterpad”, it’s a hike route from the North to the South of the Netherlands and it’s about 310 miles. The route is divided in 25 pieces and a lot of people do 2 days in a weekend once or twice a year. The introduction to day hiking you had would be perfect for us because we both have no idea how to start with this, what we need etcetera.
Look forward to your next post.
Lori – that scenery is amazing! So happy you are having fun with your sis – and you do look a lot alike!!