More Gizzy Wandering and training hikes

When the realization hit us--we agreed to hike a 12 miles up/around an active volcano--we had exactly one week to prepare ourselves. Sarah decided we should try for two hours of walking/hiking around town every day beforehand to get ourselves mentally and a bit physically prepared.

It's pretty easy to agree to a walk into this neighborhood:

And stumble across a tree that dropped seedpods like faux baby hedgehogs.

 This is the view on top of Hospital Hill with houses like this on it:

And with a view from their backyard:

Every time we came back from a walk there would be an endless assault of walnuts scattering the driveway that I scrambled to collect before the birds or critters took them. When walnuts or an avocado dropped from the tree, from inside the house it can sound like a gunshot.

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There was a cactus garden in the middle of a park. The prickly pear right in front here is bigger than any one I've ever seen. Amazing even desert-like plants grow bigger here.

The next day it was awful and rainy. Weather good for reading inside and drinking tea, not getting lost and walking up Kaiti Hill with no proper rain gear and a bad attitude. Two of my companions that day. I decided, cold and clammy and grumpy, I would be taking five layers of rain protection for our big hike. But again, worth it for the nice GREEN STUFF view.
Sarah and I ended up walking for about five hours that morning.

Turret house:

Tree house:

Deer farm!! This is a random shot from out in the country, but how cool! I learned deer became a popular animal to farm long ago, because Asian countries would hunt them for their horns as an aphrodisiac. .....at least that's what I've heard. Anyway, these creatures are huge and majestic.