Swine flu: This little piggy went to the market and came home sick

My apologies for an extremely lengthy blog hiatus.

Sadly, I had a visit from Mr. Flu (not his cousin Mr. Swine Flu aka H1N1 Flu) and then I had family in town for a friendly and lengthy vacation. (Very lengthy, as in: "Did you move in with us or are you still just visiting?")

The only problem with this blog is it involves seeing a pig. And given everything in the news lately including Vice President Biden on the Today Show telling the world not to travel, to my own doctor barring me from the office and taking my temperature in the parking lot while I sat in the car, I sense that seeing a pig may not be an ideal GirlsGatheirng.

Also, given:
-- Several Santa Clara county schools have closed due to the swine flu fear
-- A global fear of a pandemic occuring (from Wikipedia: The H1N1 form of swine flu is one of the descendants of the Spanish flu that caused a devastating pandemic in humans in 1918–1919)
-- The Egyptian government demanding the slaughter of 300,000 pigs for fear of the swine flu, which lead to a major clash between police and pig farmers.

I imagine that all of the above information may scare you from visiting today's suggestion. That’s fair.

So, I thought I would tell you about a favorite hiking spot that holds an adorable little farm, but ADVISE you NOT to go until the CDC stops counting how many cases of swine flu (H1N1 Flu) have been reported throughout America.

Enough healthy pessimism.
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If you head to FREE Rancho San Antonio, you can take a hike up through the mountains and pass by a Deer Hollow Farm, a 150-year old farm that’s kept up by volunteers from the community. Here you can see chickens, goats, **pigs**, and rabbits.

Additionally, you can take the Wild Cat Loop which is about a five mile round trip starting from the farm.

I will admit, the Wild Cat Loop is not easy, but when you reach the top: you overlook the entire city of Mountain View: NASA Ames, Shoreline Ampitheatre and the traffic of 101.

Once at the summit, you feel like you are granted a beautiful prize of feeling on top of the world.
Let me tell you-- you feel incredibly proud of yourself. I will sometimes sit at the top and listen to the wind whistle through the trees and imagine flying down to Shoreline Lake.

When everything settles, then you should definitely check out Rancho San Antonio for its quaint farm and beautiful scenery.