Yet another fantastic hike at Weikwa Springs!
I think our little trio would go hiking nearly every weekend if there were more trails available close to home. Sure our hiking isn’t the same as hiking in the mountains of North Carolina, but Florida hiking is still a blast!
As usual, we followed the orange blaze trail which took us on a nearly six-mile loop.
We arrived at Weikwa Springs just after 9:30 a.m., which is a little later than our usual hiking time. We saw signs indicating that a 5k trail race took place in the park earlier, which gave us little hope that we’d see any wildlife during our trek.
With the exception of woodpeckers, squirrels and birds, we didn’t see any neat animals. No deer or wild turkeys… or bears, wild boars or snakes (thank goodness).
Sadie didn’t seem to mind the elusive wildlife because she found a sick the size of her body to carry around.
She wanted us to get in on the fun…
We finished our hike in about two hours and headed immediately to Starbucks for some cold drinks to rejuvenate us for the ride home.
Chia crème Frappuccino for Ryan and a mocha light Frappuccino for me…
And a cup of whipped cream for Sadie. 
The barista at Starbucks asked us if we wanted a cup of whipped cream for Sadie and I think it made Sadie’s day! She gobbled it up in .25 seconds.
Lunch
Once we arrived home, we got crackin’ on lunch. While I prepped the sides, Ryan threw a couple of salmon burgers on the grill.
In no time at all we had a lunch fit for summer ready for eatin’.
We topped the salmon burgers with a dill dijonaise and broccoli slaw for some added flavor and crunch. On the side we had roasted broccoli that I made by tossing the florets in olive oil and garlic salt before roasting them in the oven at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes.
After eating our lunch in the backyard, we were enjoying the beautiful weather so much that we decided to change into our bathing suits to soak up the sun and flip through some magazines for an hour.
Now I am officially nasty and in dire need of a shower.
Time to get clean!
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This makes me want to go hiking with my dad! He’s my hiking buddy 🙂 I can’t wait until we adopt another lab so we have a companion to come with us too!
Watching Sadie have so much fun on our hikes is one of my favorite parts of the whole experience! If you guys get a puppy I hope to see lots of puppy pics on your blog!!
what an awesome hike! that is a MAD stick! almost half the size of my dog!!
Love the family picture of you guys on your hike!! SO cute! 😀
And I am UNBELIEVABLY jealous of your weather!! Bathing suits?! Here in London I’d die of hypothermia! 😛
When I would go home for a weekend in college, I would always bring my cat, Kaylie, with me and we would stop at Starbucks for a pick-me-up for the long drive ahead of us. The baristas used to get such a kick out of Kaylie sitting in my lap. Unfortunatly, they never offered her any cups of whip cream. I think she would have been in kitty heaven if they did!
Sadie is way too cute. I want a dog just so I could take it on walks with me!
How fun! I need to find some place to hike around here in Jacksonville! 😀
That picture of Sadie barking is hilarious! Those salmon burgers look gooood :). Hope you two are having a good Saturday! Our formal is tonight woop woop! You just might get a little text from me later 😉
You are making me long for warm weather! We just got hit hard with snow here – it looks so gorgeous and summery there!
The hike and pics are awesome!
I love going hiking and don’t go nearly enough, well, I call power walks through green & scenic parks “hikes”, and canyon walks are “hikes” , too.
Enjoy the salmon burgers and showers 🙂
I can’t believe how much you get done in a day Julie! How long did your hike take! 6 miles! How long did it take ya’ll?
see above. 🙂 about 2 hrs.
Wow a morning work out and a six mile hike! That’s a lot of exercise!
I am so jealous that you got to hike and lay outside in a bathing suit!! I hope our snow goes away soon so I can get back outside!
Jealous of your sunny weather!
I can’t wait for it to be this nice in Michigan!
What a beautiful hike! Very jealous of that tanning and sun you may have gotten today…. 😉
Aaaand I am officially jealous of your warm weather. Can I have some, please??
Also, I’ve decided that Sadie is officially my favorite blog dog. She’s hilarious! Your photos of her always have me laughing out loud just a bit 🙂
Glad you had a great day!
Those salmon burgers look AMAZING! =D
Sadie is so beautiful! I love seeing pictures ofher because she is so much like my Bethe (especially with the whole stick thing).
I am so jealous that you went hiking, I can’t wait for summer. Have a great weekend!
– Lauren
My hubby & I hiked today too up here in WNC!! We too followed the orange blaze & had a blast! We were lucky enough to see a young little possum hanging around on our hike 🙂
You’re so lucky~! I’ve been wanting to go hiking since forever but never got around to it. Must. Go. Soon.
& the salmon burgers look mighty tasty! 😀
I remember the first time a Barista asked us if we wanted a cup of whipped cream for Toby….we were so confused!! But we hesitantly agreed and toby LOVED it! So funny…and random
Ah what a beautiful day! It sunny here but its staying below freezing. I’ll just do the magazine reading inside 🙂
salmon + roasted broc is my fave meal. had that yesterday!
weather was awesome today–i fell asleep by the pool and have tan lines! it’s only feb!
I LOVE hiking!! So fun!! I had no idea dogs like whipped cream!!
I am so jealous of your warm weather! I can’t wait to go hiking again. Fall is ideal time for me; no bugs. 🙂
Looks like a wonderful day!
whipped cream for sadie? too cute 🙂
That hike looks so pretty! I bet you guys had such a great time! I should really do some more hiking in my area! I never think to do it, even though the weather usually perfect for hiking! Great idea! 🙂
Question…does Ryan eat the sandwich thins??!!! My brothers make fun of me for eating them and would never everrrrr think of using them for anything, let alone a burger. Just wondering if Ryan was a little less picky..
I used to be a barista at Starbucks and I always offered doggie owners whipped cream…sometimes they were a bit puzzled at first…but they always thanked me 🙂
I had salmon burgers this week. Man, do those things smell fishy when you’re cooking them but they are GOOD when you eat them!
And come to think of it, my dog didn’t get any whipped cream at Starbucks today!
You totally make me want to move somewhere WARM! 🙂
best broccoli ever and kind of like what you made in this post! just add lemon and parm cheese!
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html
thank me later. OH and sometimes when im feelin crazy i add asparagus! yum!