Jamie Thingelstad

Outdoors

Today I learned that these cactus are incredibly sharp. The needles will go right through light hiking shoes. Ouch. They are very pretty though, particularly when the sun lights them up. ☀️🌵🥾

Teddy bear cholla cacti with pale yellow spines cover a rocky Sonoran Desert hillside, with mountains and hazy valley in the background. Cholla cactus covered in dense pale spines glowing in sunlight, with desert landscape and blue sky in the background.

Tammy, Mazie and I were looking for a long hike today so we drove to Lebanon Hills Regional Park and hiked the Voyager Trek Loop for 5.4 miles. It was Lucky’s longest hike and she did great.

Trail selfie, with my silly looking scarf.

It was very pretty out. This was our first time hiking in Lebanon Hills but definitely will not be our last. We definitely want to retun in the summer.

GPS route map of a 5.4-mile hiking loop at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Dakota County Minnesota, overlaid on a satellite aerial view of forested land with ponds. Three people smiling in a winter forest selfie, wearing hats and puffy jackets, snow-covered ground and bare trees behind them. Snow-covered frozen pond surrounded by bare winter trees under a cloudy sky at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Minnesota.

We take Lucky on a walk nearly every day and usually go through Pamela Park for a 1.2 to 1.6 mile loop. With the pandemic the ice rink and ponds have been very busy with lots of skaters. It makes the walk more fun to see people out and having fun. ⛸🏒

Outdoor public ice rink at Pamela Park with several people playing hockey under an overcast winter sky, surrounded by wooden boards and bare trees.