»»» Shoe Test    September 18th, 2005:
  I've been wearing my new aquatic shoes around town, but I hadn't yet made the time to test them out in the environment they were intended for. So this weekend, I went hiking up my favorite trail wearing my Sebago Wave Extremes. (see 8/11 for more details on these shoes). The mile-long trail dances from one side of a stream to the other, where most hikers would need to jump from rock to rock to stay dry. Not I! I had more fun than Fred Astaire on a rainy day. While I watched my sister and parents plan on which rocks they would use to get across the gentle stream, I just sloshed on through the water. The first time I did it, my sister looked at me perplexed. I explained to her that they shoes were designed to be used in water. "So they're waterproof?" She asked. No, but they don't soak up water like your running shoes do. You step in the stream and your shoes would feel more like heavy sacks tied to your feet. I step in the stream however, I get wet, but my shoes don't soak up the water! She looked at me a bit crooked. "But why would you want shoes like that?" Sigh. Life would be so much easier if my family read my blog...

  Yes, I love these shoes. After an hour or so of splashing around, my shoes didn't feel any heavier than when they were dry. Of course, my feet were a little chilled, but not a single annoying pebble or sliver of bark made it into my shoe. Best of all, they didn't cause any blisters to form, even after wearing the slightly wet pair on an evening walk around South Pasadena with my family that evening. I give the shoes two big toes up!

Link of the Day: Golf GTI commercial ~ (Right click and save target) Speaking of Fred Astaire, I absolutely love this commercial. I've watched it just about every week for the last eight months and I'm still not sick of it. In fact, I can't get enough of it. Enjoy!