Pam LeBlanc’s mother and sister pose at the entrance of the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Pam LeBlanc photo

I busted my mom out of her assisted living facility and took her on a bit of a wild rumpus this week – an outing to see the new exhibit about illustrator Maurice Sendak at the Denver Art Museum.

You probably know Sendak’s most famous work, the leering, dancing monsters of “Where the Wild Things Are.” The children’s book tells the story of a boy named Max, who sails away to find the “wild things” after he’s sent to bed without dinner.

I knew all the pictures in that book by heart, but my subconscious was also familiar with other Sendak characters. There’s Rosie, who dresses up like a glamorous singer, and Pierre, who doesn’t care about anything until he meets a lion.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and spent much of his childhood watching the world go by outside the window of the room where he was bedridden. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, and Sendak lost several members of his extended family to the Holocaust.

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The Disney film Fantasia sparked his interest in illustration when he was 12. His professional career started when he was 20, and he created window displays for FAO Schwarz. He illustrated more than a hundred books during the next 60 years.

While my sister and I pushed my mom through a maze of more than 400 of Sendak’s original artworks at the exhibit, the biggest collection ever on public display, I got lost in a jungle of memories. It’s funny how those illustrations were so familiar to me, even though I hadn’t seen them for years.

The exhibit also includes video interviews with Sendak, information about his work as a theater set designer, and a piece of a Thanksgiving parade balloon shaped like one of the Wild Thing monsters.

Another highlight? An entire section devoted to his love for his dog Jennie, a scrappy white terrier named Jennie, who appears in most of the books he illustrated between 1954 and 1967. The dog takes a starring role in “Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life,” a tribute to her just before her passing.

Sendak died in 2012. He was preceded in death by his long-time partner, Dr. Eugene Glynn, a psychiatrist and art critic.

The exhibit continues through Feb. 17. Tickets start at $27. Member tickets are $5. For more information go to https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/wild-things-art-of-maurice-sendak.

A hike along the Shoal Creek Trail, which leads through Pease Park in downtown Austin, is part of this year’s Oboz Trail Experience. Photo by Pam LeBlanc

Lace up your hiking boots, folks, and come join me for a walk. The Oboz Trail Experience is under way in Austin, and I’m leading a qualifying hike on Oct. 26.

This year marks the fourth year of the event in Austin, which rewards participants for completing a series of hikes around the city. The more you hike, the more chances you earn for winning cool prizes.

I’m in the thick of writing an urban hiking guide to Austin and have spent a lot of time this year exploring city trails. One of the oldest is the Shoal Creek Trail, which includes lots of hidden highlights, from a huge troll created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo to the site of an old Comanche camp and the location of a long-gone bath house.

At 11:30 a.m. Oct. 26, I’ll lead a short hike from Duncan Park, 900 West Ninth Street, to Whole Earth Provision Co., 1014 North Lamar Boulevard. It’s part of the Shoal Creek Social, which also includes a native plant tour at 9:30 a.m., a history tour at 10:30 a.m., and an infrastructure hike at 12:30 p.m.

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Danish artist Thomas Dambo made this troll statue in Pease Park using mostly recycled wood. Pam LeBlanc photo

Even better, it counts as one of the official Oboz Trail Experience hikes. It’s the fourth year of the program in Austin, which encourages people to explore more than 100 miles of area hiking routes during October.

To participate, sign up (it’s free!) online at https://austin.oboztrailexperience.com/Welcome.

Once you’ve registered, you can see a list of mapped trails, form hiking groups, and chat with other participants. Trails can be completed in any order, and some are broken into segments. Participants must log all their hikes on either a GPS device or smartphone activity tracking app. Your progress will be posted on a leaderboard.

All hikes must be completed by Oct. 31.

A wrap party is planned for 5-7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Whole Earth Provisions, complete with drawings for Oboz boots, Whole Earth gift cards, and other more. The event is sponsored by Oboz Footwear, Whole Earth Provision Co. and the Hill Country Conservancy.

For more information go to https://austin.oboztrailexperience.com/FAQs.