Blog Anniversary and Event Filled Day

     Many of you knew that today was the day I took James and Manny for a walk along the Allegheny trail. We were going to walk about 12 miles originally but this morning decided that we were only going to walk about 2.5 miles one way and then walk into the town of Franklin.

     After a couple of false starts we got out of the house and on our way by 7ish. Judy (hooman2) and I discussed how we should work the walk and came to the agreement that the ferrets and I would meet her at the local coffee shop.

     First I had her take a picture of me wearing my brand new tee shirt from Pet Wiki holding James and Manny. Manny decided to be a ham for the camera and James was attracted to the bright colors.

     After that we started down the path towards our goal. I took a couple of videos but not as many as I would have liked. I think sometimes a picture tells a lot more than a video at times and this was one of those times. Videos will be uploaded at a later date.

This is the Allegheny River and across the way is the town of Franklin at this point we are headed south.

     After walking for about 15 minutes both boys decided it was treat time and they wanted one of their favorite treats. Feline Greenies they love them so much that they will do tricks for them. Again the video will be uploaded later. Off we went again only I noticed that the trail is lined with poison ivy and James wanted to play in it. Not an option I would ever vote for so we turned around and headed the other way. At this point the plan was to walk into Franklin and be early to the coffee shop.

     20 minutes later we were back at our starting place and now I needed a potty break and a few minutes to sit down and look at the map so I wouldn’t get lost. LOL. While sitting there I had several people come up and ask me about James and Manny. They were amazed at how active they both were and were they ever hamming it up for the attention.

     15 minutes later we were on our way again we stopped to read about the old oil refinery that had once been a crossed the river.  

      We went under a bridge and found the trail map posted on the billboard. the boys rested in the shade while I followed the trail line to my destination. Although they were a bit vague.

I snapped two pictures to show how far I was and how far I was heading

and it is at this point I should have realized I was going to make a mistake.

     See that bridge in the first picture? That is where I should have gone but no I followed the trail in the second picture. Now don’t get me wrong it was a beautiful walk and the boys loved it but it meant I went two miles out of the way and were now off schedule.

     These pictures of what remains of a 3,000-acre farm and thankfully it was at this point someone asked me what I was doing and I asked about the path to Franklin and found out how off base I was. I am sure my twitter followers had a good laugh about James ordering me around.

     Now I knew I needed to some how get back on schedule as close as I could before Judy got worried. Lets just say I know I can hoof two miles with two ferrets in their carrier and a five-pound backpack in a decent amount of time.

     We rounded the corner to where we should have gone in the first place   and there Judy was getting ready to bike in the direction we were suppose to have gone.

     Once the last effects of her scare wear off she’ll be teasing me about being wrong way Harrigan and that is a running joke in our house because I could get lost in a paper bag without landmarks to tell me where to go.

     And so ends the first year of Enlightened Ferret what a learning experience it has been and I sure it will continue to teach us many more things.

             

Jo