First Day of Winter?

December 21st is supposed to be the first day of winter. While it was been cold here, the weather took a quick turn for the better and brought 2 days of relative warmth. I had the day (night actually) off so after dropping off Charlotte we went to a local hiking path to spend a little time outdoors. Here are some shots of the hike with a few comments.  

Buraksan is located only 2 miles from the base. It runs about 3-4 miles long and is full of lots of trails making it fun to hike and run (more on that later).

Most of the hikers were 40+years our senior but were out moving quickly.

Zachary was content to ride as much as possible on my shoulders.

Here we are atop a lookout enjoying a mid-morning snack of grapes, pretzels, and oranges.

Along the trail, they have a series of exercise equipment one can use for sit-ups, stretching, pull-ups, dips, and many other things. 

Koreans go trekking in style (matching hat, jacket, pants, gloves, poles, shoes, day pack both in color and named brand) so it should not have been a surprise that they had a mirror up there to check yourself out and make sure you still look nice.

Side story: Yesterday I went for a run in the hills here after dropping off Charlotte at school. I was about 2.5 miles into my run when Jari called to tell me Charlotte had a fever and they wanted us to pick her up from school. I had the car so I told Jari I would get her. I picked up the pace and about 1.5 miles later I stubbed my toe on a small branch/stump like the one pictured here and took a tumble. The two older Korean ladies coming in my opposite direction gasped, then seeing the scrape on my knee offered a tissue. All I could do is laugh. Right now I am considering a 50Km trail run in Busan South Korea so I am sure this will not be the last fall I experience along the way.

Here is Hazel holding an acorn she found.

Along the way, they have these posts that make you aware of where you are so that if you have an issue you can all for an ambulance (119 rather than 911). 

Fun hike. I love that Koreans have these air compressors at the base of many hiking trails to clean off the dust from the trail.

After the hike, we went to Emart where I bought this cool pan. I enlisted Charlotte's help cooking to put it to use.

It is a heavy-duty non-stick pan that can bake and be heated on any surface. The lid got me really excited. The handle is firmly fixed and doubles as a steam port so the contents don't just spill out or spit all over the stove like most bots or pans. Pretty cool. 

And look, the lid can rest on its side! Go on and admit it you have had a moment where you don't know what to do with the lid because it is large and dirty. Problem solved.

I also splurged on these new non-stick pans. It was the demo video at Emart that sold me. I feel like a sucker for buying them but am super excited to put them to use tomorrow.