A Beautiful Day for a Hike

We decided that we would visit the Swiss Valley Nature Preserve and Nature Center near Peosta, Iowa, today. Ray was anxious to find some wildflowers to photograph and I wanted to just spent some time outside.

We stopped at the Nature Center to get a map. That's also where we saw two busloads of 3rd graders on a field trip. We could hear the happy sounds of children once in a while but this preserve was plenty big enough for all of us!

We decided to hike the Mature Forest Trail and never met another person the entire loop! The trails were well groomed.

Look at that gorgeous blue sky.

The trail followed Catfish Creek for a while. It is stocked with trout and the fisherman we met as we were leaving had caught and released quite a few trout.

We found steps,

bridges,

and a variety of wildflowers.

I enjoy seeing the new leaves on the trees against a blue sky.

 We found fungi on this tree.

This was the only swinging bridge we crossed. I'm not a fan of swinging bridges.

We went down these steps and then climbed them later.

We hiked a short distance on the Woodland Ecology Trail looking for bluebells. We found some mixed in with a few dandelions.

We also found a few more wildflowers.

We enjoyed a picnic on our hike and also Blizzards at DQ on our way home. It was wonderful to spend part of this beautiful day outside.

After we got home, a friend stopped with some shiitake mushrooms and purple asparagus. The mushrooms are huge! That is a 6" saucer in the photo with the largest and the smallest mushrooms. Tomorrow we'll enjoy sautéed mushrooms and roasted asparagus. I already have a few trays in the  dehydrator so we'll enjoy our mushrooms for a long time.

Update on Ray:

First, thank you for the concern and prayers offered on his behalf. We were at the University of Wisconsin hospital last week and met with an oncologist that only deals with prostate cancer and recurring prostate cancer. Treatment (hormone injections and IMRT, an advanced type of radiation therapy) will begin soon. Both Ray and I really like the oncologist and are happy with the plan he has set forth. Ray has also agreed to be in a clinical trial and we'll find out soon if he is in the control or the test group. There will be many trips to Madison and maybe some overnight stays in the next few months AND the prognosis is really good. Ray is doing okay but is more tired. We are very flexible with what we set out to do each day which seems to be working well.