A Bad Decision

I have to admit that today I made a bad decision. Everything worked out OK so now I can laugh about it…and type about it.

What was my bad decision you ask? Well, I tried to kill Kodie and myself this morning.

I had a great idea to go for a nice long walk on the hike/bike trail that begins in the park near my apartment before the heat of the day kicked in. We set out about 9:30 am.

The hike/bike trail is nice but I remember the last time I rode my bike on it I was a little miffed because it doesn’t make a complete circle back to town. For about a quarter of a mile you have to walk on the shoulder of a busy rode. I thought, “Ah! We can handle it.”

I also thought there was an outdoor drinking fountain at the midway point of Falling Springs Recreational Center (at the Woodford County Park) so Kodie and I could have a drink of water.

We started on the path and had a lovely walk for about the first hour…guessing it was about 2.5-3 miles to the recreation center. By the time we reached this point we were pretty well baked in the sun and both extremely thirsty. Realizing that I’m quite a ways from home now without a supply of water for neither Kodie nor I and the day is only getting hotter, I deduced I had made a very bad decision.

I never found the outdoor water fountain that I apparently dreamed up. So I set out to the area of the park where the horse barns and show rings are thinking I’d at least find a spigot. After finding a couple of spigots with no flow and getting more worried about water for Kodie, I finally found one with water. I made my hands into a bowl and she drank A LOT of water. I decided we should rest where there is some cool concrete so she could sprawl out and cool herself down. Which is exactly what she did as soon as we hit the concrete.

We rested there for a short while (I was afraid to linger too long knowing the day is just going to get hotter and we still had a LONG walk back in the baking sun) and then set out again.

We weaved through the soccer and baseball fields to reach the bike path. Kodie was already panting heavily and I knew we’d have to find some water for her again before getting home. Lucky us! We found a small drainpipe that made a little creek a short ways up the path. Kodie immediately belly-flopped in a pool and was so relieved to lay in the cool water. We stayed there about 5-10 minutes so she could have plenty of time to wallow in the creek and adequately drink and cool herself. With a soaking wet, refreshed dog, we set out again.

I was starting to feel like I should have belly-flopped in the creek too. I was getting a little worried about me now. Kodie was trucking along just fine.

We came to an intersection of a road that passes very near to my apartment. I looked up the path and felt like I was looking at a never-ending road with the ripples of heat rising from the asphalt. I knew there was no way I was going to finish that path without water.

I decided to turn down the road and leave the path. After all, this was the shortest distance back to my house. It also has no sidewalk. It also has virtually no shoulder. I was really cursing my decision to take this walk by now.

We carefully made our way by walking in the grass when we could and waiting for the cars to pass before darting around a ditch or other obstruction. Now I was really feeling poor and knew I needed to get home quickly for some water.

We finally made it home and we both were so happy to have a nice drink of water…or 128 drinks of water. I’m pretty sure we each drank a gallon!

Lessons I learned from today:
• I’m an idiot.
• Cool creeks, no matter how disgusting they may be, can be very important to a dog on a hot day.
• If you’re going to walk 5-7 miles in the hot sun, take some damn water.
• If you’re not going to take any damn water, take your cell phone so you can call someone to come and get you.
• There is not an outdoor drinking fountain at Falling Springs Recreational Center. If there is and I just couldn’t find it, someone please tell me where it is.
• It’s pretty damn hot by 10 am. If you want to avoid the heat, get up at 6 am.
• And finally, I’m an idiot.