Technically, the road trip ended when we got home yesterday, but hey, we’re on a roll. Plus, there are more photos of Sweet Potato; who could possibly object to that? Today’s hike was about four miles on the loop around Blackhills Regional Park in Boyds.

One of our regular stops when hiking this route is just to the South of the visitor center parking lot. Where the trail goes into the woods, there’s a post with a bracket on it where where you rest your phone (or even a camera) and take a photo of the scene in front of you. There’s a sign on the post with an email address to send the photo to.

This is part of a “Citizen Science” project. In 2016, there was a fire at this location (probably caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette). By submitting a photo, you’re helping to document the forest’s recovery. The photo below shows how the site looks today, but there’s also a “time lapse” available online, made up of photos other people have donated over the past three years.

Sweet Potato has been taking canine agility classes at day care; today provided an opportunity to demonstrate her skillz in a non-traditional setting, using some of the fixtures present at the park. She was quite happy to oblige with a couple quick photo ops.

Finally, a quick public service reminder — if your car has more than one “cup holder”, it’s OK to put your beverage in one of them. But remember, the other so-called “cup holder” is for dog treats.