The Alumni Activities Club decided to unplug for a couple of hours in order to take in the natural world nestled within Capital City. We stopped any Facebook chatter and put the phones in our pockets unless it was needed to take one of several beautiful photographs. On that note, Mia Carr and Dora Butner (left to right in the photo) ventured out into the Pine Bush Preserve on Sunday, August 29th to enjoy a beautiful, lukewarm summer day free from the threat of rain!

Included are some of the photographs we captured along the trip. The ladies decided to take on the yellow trail, which is one of the longer and more challenging ones in the preserve! They were patient and persistent until the yellow trail finally looped around to the parking lot signaling that rush of accomplishment. Mia and Dora were impressive hikers and walked nearly two miles within Albany’s version of Central Park. Mia and Dora also listened to their Volunteer Coordinator who told stories about his hike of the entire 2,174 mile Appalachian Trail back in 2005 that lasted for seven months! The lesson he learned from being out in the wilderness for so long is that if we continue moving forward there is not much anyone can take away from us or stop us from reaching the physical and metaphorical destination.

As our calendar inevitably turns into September, we will anticipate milking out a few more summerlike days as we slowly transition into colder weather. The Alumni Activities Club is already considering a trip to one of the nearby apple orchards once the leaves turn crisp and the pumpkin spice latte returns to Starbucks!