Friday afternoon, Joey took me hiking at Rainbird (though, at first, I thought he was saying “rainburgh” – I mean, I’m from Pittsburgh. C’mon now. And he’s flapping his arms, going “No. Birdddd”) – a quick trail just past the Rec Center. Along the way, we stopped by a baseball field made of gravel, not grass. Joey informed me that in Ketchikan, they play all of their sports on gravel, and that everyone has scars on their knees from sliding across the field. Um, no thank you. We also walked past the newly-renovated public library, which was beautiful. Not to mention the view you’d have from inside. Joey did better on the hike than I did (I mean, hell – he’s got longer legs than I do), but I managed to keep up and not fall on my ass. The view was phenomenal. Stopped to take some pictures, but looking at them now makes me realize that they’re not even close to how it looked in person. We ran into a woman and her dog on the trail. I could initially hear her telling Joey that the pup wasn’t good at warming up to people right away – that is, until I came around the bend and she ran right to me. Always knew I was a dog whisperer. The woman was so impressed – she wanted to know where I was from, what I did, and what magic I possessed to make her animal like me so quick. Told her I was from Pittsburgh and was a Spanish teacher. And a dog person – no magic needed. She chatted about the weather and the upcoming blueberry festival. Joey thought she was a bit crazy, but I found her to be friendly enough. At the end of the trail, we ran into two guys on bikes who were just starting their ride. They asked us if we had seen a guy with a camera on the trail – and we told them that we had, just about 5 minutes ago. As we walked away, Joey said “We should have lied. Said he was a good 4 miles back.” Goof.