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).