On Top of the World & Black Bean Burger Failure

Okay, so I wasn't on top of the world, but it looked like it!  

Yesterday I read Tina's post at Faith Fitness Fun on her hike, and it got my butt in gear for my adventure today.  Generally hiking up the bluffs in La Crosse is something my friends and I do multiple times a semester, however this year I was just too busy.  Thanks for the extra push Tina!  

A girlfriend (Angie) and I decided today was a great day to adventure up to the top of this bluff!

The weather was gorgeous for our hike... almost TOO gorgeous!  It got up to 92 degrees! (Side note: it was only 55 degrees yesterday!  Only in the Midwest!)  Water bottles in hand, we started our trek. 

Our adventure began on the Myrick Trail, where we enjoyed the scenery and some beautiful wildlife...

There were TONS of turtles out today!

Otter?  Beaver?  I think it's a beaver... and this is why I don't work for the DNR.

After we made it through Myrick Trail, it was just past the river...

Through the tunnel...

Over the tracks...

And we finally arrived at Hixon Trails where our hike up the bluffs officially began!

Up we go!

Finally we made it to the top!

Angie and I :)

EATS

English muffin with peanut butter, cottage cheese and banana... a surprisingly delicious combination!

Nice cold smoothie... so nice that I had two of them today :)

Yogurt-frozen berries-spinach-milk

Pre-blend

Post-blend!

For lunch a hummus wrap with red peppers, spinach and ranch dressing

The failure you've been waiting to hear about...

I got this recipe for black bean burgers from Kelly, Lord only knows what I did wrong to mess these puppies up (help Kelly!)!  The flavor of this recipe was AwEsOmE!  In fact my roommate commented on how great it smelled and when she tried it she said she loved it!  The problem: the presentation.  They weren't so much burgers as they were a warm tossed salad type thing.  I am normally not very big on presentation of food, I mean who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good right?  The issue is, is that I loved the flavor of these so much that I would like to make them for family and friends, but I do not want to throw a slop of food down in front of them that looks like it just came from a pig's trough.  I guess I am going to have to play around with it or wait for Kelly to save me so I can make a presentable product :)

What were your favorite eats today?

Mine was my mess of a black bean burger. 

When was the last time you went on an adventure?  What do you want your next adventure to be?

I want my next adventure to be skydiving!  

Sorry for the lengthy post, I had a lot of exciting stuff happen today!  Hope you were entertained!