Hiking into Fall

My husband, Mike, and I took a trek north to Marshall, Indiana, this past weekend in honor of a new family tradition. This is the second year that we've met up with all of my siblings and their significant others to go hiking at Turkey Run State Park.

For me and my siblings, Turkey Run holds a lot of sentimental memories. My parents used to takes us there when we were kids and we just loved it. Looking back, I have no idea how they managed to take four small children there and bring them all out alive, but it made for some fond memories.

If you've never been to Turkey Run, you must go. I'm not a real outdoorsy girl, but even I love it. It's heavily wooded and you hike through creek beds and gorges, climb stairs (natural and manmade) and generally get lost in the middle of nowhere. It's especially wonderful in the fall -- it isn't too hot and the crunchy, colorful leaves make you feel like your hanging out on Walden Pond.

We hiked the hardest trails, worked up a sweat and then parked at a picnic table to enjoy some pumpkin bread (which turned out beautifully and is a total keeper) and apple cider. All around, it was a perfect fall day.

The only downside to the whole thing was that it made me realize how out of shape I've gotten. Granted, my triathlete brother was leading us all along at a pretty quick pace, but I was definitely having a harder time than everyone else. And two days later, I'm still sore.

So two good things came of hiking: I got a great day with my brothers and sister and it gave me incentive to get back in shape (starting next week -- I swear).