Well-Behaved Bear Reward

For being so well-behaved (and not packing himself in a box that went with the movers)... Sandy got to go for a lonnnggg hike today! This was a new place which is very exciting. Seeing the same old places can get a little boring after a while. Today Sandy went to a place called Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area.

 Sandy was thrilled to see his named carved in stone but wondered about the "Cross" part.

Apparently Ann and Sandy Cross had a ranch out here which they donated as a conservation area when they passed away. Which is very nice for little bears! There are even trail maps to help little bears navigate...

But sometimes the maps weren't all that clear and Sandy thought that it might be more helpful to have a bear at each sign post, pointing the way for people!

But then some people are afraid of bears so... that might not be so helpful for some people! But Sandy figured out the map and happily trotted off through meadows and forests.

Sandy was very excited to see a bunch of familiar flowers... bee balm, basket flower, and blue bells...

He was even more excited to see some new flowers that he hadn't met before. The first one was a bit dangerous to approach and Mama says it is a real thistle (as opposed to a Milk Thistle - which is a fake thistle).

Sandy also saw some red berries which he thought were new... but Mama said that they were actually Saskatoon berries - getting riper - but not quite ready yet!

And then Sandy saw some very weird things - they weren't flowers... they weren't animals... what could they be?? They looked kind of like rocks... but weren't... Mama says that they are mushrooms...

This one looks kind of like a pancake so Sandy called it a pancake-mushroom (remember the egg-flowers??). Another one was a lot bigger and Mama said it was edible and Sandy wanted to nibble on it right there but Mama said it was a bit old and might be kind of wormy (icky!!).

Wow... there was a lot of new stuff to see at this place - too much for one blog posting... Sandy got very tired posting this after his hike and needed to go and have a nap!