As a celebrity, I’ve come to accept that adoring fans can pop up in the most unexpected of places. Yet even I still find myself being taken by surprised sometimes by the lengths they will go through to see me. Case in point, as you may recall earlier this month, while on a hike Asa and I were followed despite all of our attempts to take new trails to avoid them. Flash forward to a more recent hike at the same location, and once again Asa and I find ourselves being hounded by adoring fans.
It was an even colder morning than on the day we were followed, but the sun was shining, and we all needed relief from our case of cabin fever. Therefore we were hoping that the bone chilling weather would make the trail less crowded, and thus we could enjoy fresh air while keeping our social distance. Once again when we arrived we were the only car in the parking lot. So we happily set off on our hike with the same plan as before, which was to take one of the many side paths if we encountered anyone on the main trail.
Because Mom was dressed like the little brother in A Christmas Story and moving rather slow, we decided to just walk the short 1 mile loop. As we were headed back towards the parking lot, another vehicle arrived. No problem we thought, we’re almost finished with our hike, and they have many trail options to avoid us. However, that’s when they did something we’ve never seen done here before. They started driving on the trail!
In the past we’ve seen ATVs and snowmobiles at this preserve, but never have we seen anyone drive an actual SUV on it. We all gazed in wonder as the SUV slowly made its way on the uneven surface of the trail towards us. We even stopped hiking and stood at a safe distance on the edge of the trail to let them pass. That’s when they stopped.
Dad assumed they were confused and going to ask a question. GPS systems have been known to send people in wrong directions. Considering their out of state license plate, Dad assumed they were woefully lost. Therefore he wasn’t surprised when they stopped near us and the back window started to open. What did surprise us is rather than ask for directions, a child in the backseat snapped our photo, while a voice from deep within the vehicle shouted, “Your dogs are beautiful!” And with that they continued driving down the trail!
