Clark's Sandals

 

Although my Trotter's black sandals will last through this summer, I was not sure about next year. I found a pair of sandals on sale at Zappos.

 I have worn Clark's shoes previously though not sandals. The good thing about Zappos is that you get free shipping and free returns. However, these fit fine.

 My current sandals have velcro across the front cross strap. I searched for Clark's sandals with velcro and found these. The velcro was especially helpful for the top cross strap as it felt a little snug. I loosened it a bit. Pretty good arch support in these shoes, too. Today was my first day to wear them. They are comfortable.

Give Zappos a try if you are searching for certain features. It beats walking around malls and shoe stores (which I can't do right now because of back pain).

I really like these sandals and will probably wear them quite a bit the next few months even though I was planning ahead for next summer.

More Zappos

I used to buy many of my shoes at Carson's, either locally in Warsaw or in Fort Wayne. I would usually wait for a sale or use a coupon. I try not to pay more than $65 for a pair of shoes unless they are hiking boots or athletic shoes. Unfortunately, Bon Ton which was the owner of Carson's shut down all of its stores last August.

I ordered a pair of sandals from Zappos last week. They only took a few days to arrive. I chose these based on the description and the customer reviews. I have a pair of brown Bare Traps sandals from T.J. Max. I did wear them quite a lot; I am disappointed they are wearing out after only 3 years though. Coming unstitched and a chunk fell off the outer upper strap edge. I only paid $20 from the end of season racks so I guess I got my money's worth. The Zappos pair are to replace them.

I have never seen Soul Naturalizer. I guess it is a division of Naturalizer Shoes? I only walked around in them in my house, but so far they are very comfortable. Cushy, padded footbed, pretty good arch support. I am looking forward to wearing them soon.

They canceled the Easter egg hunt at Winona Lake park today. Rainy, windy, cold. Tomorrow morning will start out cold, but should warm up to low or mid sixties. We have a potluck brunch at church at 8:45 a.m. 

Our local newspaper the Times Union changed over this week to having the U.S. Postal Service deliver our newspapers in the mail. Supposedly a budgetary decision. Our delivery person who has been delivering for over 40 years is out of a job though. I feel sorry for her. We will get credit if the paper doesn't come in the mail, but no replacement copy like we did when the personal paper carriers brought one if missed. At least in the winter we will only have to go outside once to the mailbox, no separate newspaper run. 

Third Time's The Charm

Remember the hiking boots I showed you when I went to Merry Lea? They were not water-proof, and the dew from the grass soaked through them.

They were about 12 years old. I bought them in a northern suburb of Dallas at an outlet mall. I wore them very little until we moved to Indiana; then I found them a good choice for walking on snowy or slick surfaces because of the good tread. I had repaired the left shoe 1 1/2 years ago where the toe connected to the "rubber" tip. The cobbler did a fine job. I planned to take the boots with me to Williamsburg for all the walking. They were comfortable. About 3 weeks before our trip, I noticed the side of the right shoe had separated from the sole. This was irreparable.

I looked at stores locally and finally in Fort Wayne. The selection of women's hiking boots was laughable. I wanted water-proof ones and could find only two different hiking boots to try on after searching half a dozen stores including sports stores. None of them were water-proof.  
I finally searched Zappos and Amazon (which does not necessarily carry the same shoes as Zappos even though they bought Zappos). A good number of choices and reviews were helpful. I had ordered from Zappos maybe 9 years ago; my husband had used my account a few times since. 

Though I really liked the fit of my old Timberland boots, I decided to order the Ahnu Montara boots after reading the reviews. They arrived two days later. The shoe part of the boot was so comfortable, and the boots were light-weight and didn't look clunky. However, the part that came up around the ankle rubbed that protruding bone on the outside. It was easy to return them. I have a UPS agent in the Staples near my home. I received email permission from Zappos to return, printed the return label, and they were shipped free for me back to Zappos.

For the second try, I ordered Timberland Chocorua Trail boots. Determining the right size to order is apparently a big deal for hikers. I ordered the size I wore in my old boots. Maybe if you were backpacking and wearing heavy socks, you would go up half a size. The fit was fine for me. The part up around the ankle rubbed slightly but would have been tolerable. However, one of the reviews mentioned how this boot showed creases when flexing the foot. Indeed it did. I didn't like the material very well anyway, but after walking thru my house with the boots on, a crease formed above the tongue and the color of the crease was different from the original color. It was ugly. So back they went.

By now, it was too late to order boots for the trip. I took my Nike walking shoes. However, I did an internet search for a REI store and found one in Columbus, Ohio, near to our route to Williamsburg. I wanted to look at a boot by Vasque. I tried them on in this REI store, and the boots were uncomfortable. I had already decided that I probably didn't need a boot with ankle support and could get by with hiking shoes rather than boots. Since the Ahnu boots had been comfortable except for the ankle rubbing, I chose the Montara hiking shoe. REI had them, but not in my size. But at least I had eliminated the Vasque so the stop was worthwhile. REI has lots of hiking boots/shoes for women in its stores.

After we came home, I ordered from Zappos the Ahnu Montara hiking/trail shoes. This time I kept my ordered shoes. 

Since we have a wintery precipitation mix tomorrow and snow Sunday, I will have a chance to see if these are truly water-proof and if the tread works well.

My experience with Zappos was positive. Free shipping and free return shipping if needed. I would recommend them especially if you have trouble finding your size in stores or for specialty shoes like these hiking ones. There is a long return period so I could send these back if they don't perform as described, but I'm pretty sure they are keepers.