We spent the day in Ouray, Colorado, nicknamed the Switzerland of America. Now I've been to Switzerland, and to tell the truth the southern Colorado Rockies are not the Alps. However, I understand what they mean by the nickname. Ouray is in a steep sided valley with a river running through it. There is hardly any flat land. The little village surrounded by high mountains does have a Swiss look.

My son and I asked the manager of our motel to recommend a trail. He said he thought we would like Silvershield. He said it was a little more than four miles and that he often ran it.

It was a steep climb, but oh the views were spectacular. As we climbed to the top of a ridge there was one beautiful view after another of the valley below. It was as if we were in looking down on the town from an airplane.

The trails criss cross each other, and the manager had said every time we came to a fork to take a left. We followed his directions, but wound up on the wrong trail going down. It was nearly vertical and the gravel was loose. I could hardly walk the trail, and I knew there was no way anyone could run it. After nearly taking a couple of falls, I decided it was safer on the worst parts to just sit down and slide.

The trip down was not fun while we were in the midst of it. But at the bottom, my son and I both felt a sense of accomplishment. And we had taken Type O strenuous exercise to an entirely new level.

I wanted to bring trail mix on our vacation, but our needs and likes are all different. The As can have peanuts, but the Os cannot. Figs are beneficial for all, but I'm the only one who likes them. So I bought a variety of dried fruit and nuts, but did not mix them. They were all their own containers in a plastic grocery bag called "the trail mix bag". Every morning, each family member would get a zip lock bag and pack their own trail mix for the day.

We had almonds, walnuts, pecans, pineapple, papaya, cranberries, prunes, raisins and more. The combinations were endless. My mix was a little different each day. I was certainly glad I had a snack in my camera bag for the Silvershield trail.