Happy Bloodroot Day!
Bloodroot only blooms for a few days, so gotta enjoy them while you can! The leaves are pretty, too, once the flowers are gone.
These are the new hiking shoes, take two. After trying to make the new pair of Keens work, I finally had to concede, they just weren't comfortable. I was bummed, since my previous Keen hiking shoes had been perfect, but they'd discontinued the style (Boyce). This style (Voyageur) kept pinching the tops of my feet, and even though my feet were feeling better with the new cushioning footbed, they were driving me nuts otherwise. So crossing my fingers I shipped them back for return (accepted, yay!) and made the trek to a physical store to see if I could find any good hiking shoes in stock in my size (small-footed women apparently aren't expected to do a lot of hiking, or wear waders or rubber boots, usually I have to resort to online, or sometimes I can find in boys sizes).
Selection in my size was slim pickings, as usual, but lo and behold I found the same style of Keen Voyageurs, in a half size smaller than the pair I'd returned, and when I tried them on they were perfect! In the Boyce I wore a 6.5, but this style must run larger. And they were the display model so they were on sale! Not the brown/pale blue color combo I really preferred, but the olive gray/lime green is nice too. I've been wearing them all day and my toes are happy - so much wiggle room! The sole isn't bending and pinching me anymore! My arches are completely chillaxed! I may just wear them to bed.
These are the new hiking shoes, take two. After trying to make the new pair of Keens work, I finally had to concede, they just weren't comfortable. I was bummed, since my previous Keen hiking shoes had been perfect, but they'd discontinued the style (Boyce). This style (Voyageur) kept pinching the tops of my feet, and even though my feet were feeling better with the new cushioning footbed, they were driving me nuts otherwise. So crossing my fingers I shipped them back for return (accepted, yay!) and made the trek to a physical store to see if I could find any good hiking shoes in stock in my size (small-footed women apparently aren't expected to do a lot of hiking, or wear waders or rubber boots, usually I have to resort to online, or sometimes I can find in boys sizes).
Selection in my size was slim pickings, as usual, but lo and behold I found the same style of Keen Voyageurs, in a half size smaller than the pair I'd returned, and when I tried them on they were perfect! In the Boyce I wore a 6.5, but this style must run larger. And they were the display model so they were on sale! Not the brown/pale blue color combo I really preferred, but the olive gray/lime green is nice too. I've been wearing them all day and my toes are happy - so much wiggle room! The sole isn't bending and pinching me anymore! My arches are completely chillaxed! I may just wear them to bed.