Elmo's Got Jukes DUDE!
I’ve found in the last few days that when driving and camping with family in 4-6 hour segments, and children who are five years younger, that I had a lot more time to kill in a small camper with sleeping kids than I do now with old active kids. So I blog in the morning now instead of at night… or I could just be too pooped at the end of the day to think straight. Regardless, now you can read about the past today. I think that is called history.
The morning started out with a little bit of back and forth on whether or not to take Maddie to the doctor to have her toe looked at. We went and after examining the x-rays I determined there was no break. It was nice that the professionally trained doctor agreed with me. (I did have to Google toe bones to compare pictures). So after a toe cleaning and trip to a Walmart Supermarket (JUST THE GROCERIES) we were off for our first adventure of the day - Seven Bridges Trail. We were prepared for a 5-6 mile hike for the day so off we went. Kayleigh took her phone to get some pictures, and since I couldn’t keep track of all the kids on the trail I thought taking a group selfie would be a good way to remember which kids were ours.
It turns out about 3/4 a mile up the trail we zigged instead of zagged. Oops. We had gone nearly 1.25 miles in the wrong direction and had to convince our kids that turning around was the right thing to do. Thankfully the Internet said you should see your first of seven bridges very close the the start of the trail. So back we went and found the sign telling us where we should have turned. As you can see the kids were thrilled.
The first couple of bridges came up quickly, but since we were now pushing mile 3 of our hike it was time for some fuel, so we stopped for lunch along the trail to find a little energy. The trail was nice, but some of it was covered in snow which made it a little tricky to climb and descend. I didn’t check exact altitude, but the trail claims 1,600 feet of elevation, and it certainly felt like it. With a few more breaks and some good encouragement and patience we made it to bridge seven!
As we had entered the trail we came across some standing, or slowly moving water amongst some trees. Kayleigh mentioned it looked like Narnia so on the way home we stopped for a Gusher’s fruit snack break and a quick photo of the kids posing in Narnia, and another of some brotherly love on the way back to the van. Moments before he had his arm around her and I just missed it.
For an unprofessional review I’d say Seven Bridges lacks great signage, although maybe that is poor tourist behavior. However it was a great trail and even though they had their moments of being humans, the kids handled it very well.
After the bridges we had a little time to kill before we could go back to the house so off to Manitou Cliff Dwellings we went. It was a nice little detour on the way back, and the kids took time at each article to read about what they were seeing.
The rest of the day consisted of baking hamburgers, watching “The Sandlot”, and eating popcorn before bed. Everybody slept quite nicely… turns out physical activity is good for you.
Observations from the day:
Kayleigh: A great helper with Joshua on the hike, being his helper and guiding him safely down the hill.
Benjamin: A great encourager and friend, and he busted out “Elmo’s got jukes Dude!” I don’t know what it means, but it was funny at the time.
Madeleine: Tough as nails, and hates to disappoint. She had a chance to stop at bridge 6 but decided to keep on going. Also, her sneeze is something else. She has a normal person sneeze, but every so often you could swear a goose was dying nearby.
Joshua: He’s small but his motor is go go go. The only thing that might stop him is cold weather, but he usually rebounds.
So that is our day in a long winded nutshell. Today we are off to Pike’s Peak, assuming the road is fully open.
In like a lion, out with a giant thud
Yesterday (the 30th) welcomed us with a nice blanket of snow across what was an otherwise dry land. I was not privy to it myself, but rumor has it one of the kids was heard saying “I’m so done with snow”. She has point, but as I hear is often the case, the snow melted by mid-day and we were able to knock out a hike before the day was done. Based on his contemplative look, Josh had a pretty big day. Actually there might even be enough material to write about the chaos that must be going on inside his head with the loss of routine and living in a. new place… but that isn’t coming from me :). OH, I should also tell you there is a picture coming up that might be disturbing to those who aren’t comfortable with blood and injury.
Our day ended on a high note at Fargo’s Pizza in Colorado Springs. Fargo’s is a Victorian Style restaruant serving Pizza, Pasta, Salad, and Sandwiches. Pro Tip: The little styrofoam bowl is for dessert, not salad dressing. The real reason we went there was to follow the advice of Ron Burgandy… “When in Rome”. We met up with Mark and Amy Weeber whose wedding was probably the seed that started this trip. It was nice to see them and catch up on life, fun things we’ve done, and generally just seeing a familiar face in a new place. I forgot about his diligence, but Mark ALWAYS gets a picture when hanging out with friends like this so here you are:
As you can see the day ended well, but it didn’t start so swell. As we figure out the new routine of being a family in a new place, we found ourselves in different place within the house. Everyone had their own little thing to do except for Maddie who found herself roving about, making surprises for mom and dad, and generally just being content to take care of her self. She noticed a piecer of dry skin on her finger tip and decided the appropriate thing to do was take the kitchen scissors and use them to cut off the little pin-tip sized piece of skin. She quietly walked to the kitchen, reached up to grab the scissors from the knife block which is likely even with her eyeballs. As she reached up to pull the scissors out the whole block came down and smashed with a thud onto the ground and her right big toe. Needless to say there was blood, screaming, tears, super intense parents, and the deployment of skittles with claims they had medicinal value. Madeleine is doing ‘ok’ now, but the jury is still out on whether or not we hit the Urgent Care office this morning. Here are a couple of pictures to share… enjoy :)
After the toe incident Ben and I ran for running club, Josh and I ran around the block because he was insistent that he get to run with Dad and Ben, and we found that Pikes Peak was closed at 9,000 feet due to the beautiful blanket of snow received the night before. We had planned on driving up there but instead we changed our plans and went to Tunnel Drive which is a 2-mile out and back trail taking you through three tunnels and then winding you along the Arkansas river into he Royal Gorge. It was a scenic hike for sure, yet some children were more prone to walking along the side of the trail, inches from more injury, than mom or dad would have liked. Nevertheless we made it tot he two mile mark and turned around. After a quick gatorade stop we drove out to Royal Gorge which has a giant bridge across the gorge, along with a gondola, play land, and carousel. Considering the time and cost of these events I made the unpopular choice to turn around and go home after perusing the gift shop. Maybe someday we’ll look back at this and laugh… or it will be the beginning of dumb dad choices that the family reminds me of every trip we take. Like my dad who still owes us mini-golf.
That was the day, toe crushing, out and back, dinner, sleep. I can’t say it was our best day ever, but it was our day and despite their continued up and down outlook on life and hiking, the kids are doing great. Here are some final shots of the day.
We Made It.
There are few things I enjoy more than coming up over a hill or bend in the road, only to be greeted by dozens of synchronized red lights flashing on the horizon. To the uninitiated driver it might look like an attack by UFOs, or perhaps a Lady Gaga half time show (power by Intel), but for those who know its just a reminder that there are dozens of wind turbines in the area and it would be a real shame for a small air craft to have a misfortunate meeting with one.
Therein lies the point of road trips. No, not seeing planes crash, that’s weird. Instead seeing the tiny and pointless things you miss when life is moving too fast for you to take in the scenery. Turbines, political signs, mom and pop gas stations, people asking for handouts, entire trains that you can enjoy in the distance vs. at the crossing, and even a few animals here and there tucked safely behind their fences. I love being able to take the time to see what there is to be seen.
As you can probably guess, I’m on a road trip. As a family we took a road trip to Phoenix by way of Grand Canyon and Zion National parks in 2014 and thought it was time to repeat that adventure with kids who will actually remember the whole things. Our last trip had us celebrating 2-year old Madeleine’s birthday at the Albuquerque KOA. Her gift to us (she’s weird like that) was the gift of speech on that trip/birthday, and she hasn’t stopped since. This time around we left for Colorado Springs for the week. Don’t rob our house. Though if you do please do so when the cat sitter is around. Between the three sitters and their momma, I wish you a quick recovery.
The drive to North Platte Nebraska was more or less uneventful. The kids had their iDevices and books, I had audiobooks and music, and Kristi had Solitaire… somethings just don’t die. After a road trip breakfast at the gas station Denny’s (TIMEOUT) Who orders like this: Hint… Joshua.
We got in the car and were met by the weather saying “No Spring Break for you!”
Thankfully the weather cooperated and within 45 minutes it was back to smooth sailing, but what a rude wake up call. Also, I think Nebraskans are not as accustomed to snow as the rough and tough folk from Michigan.
This is the point in the blog where I transition from trying to write something awesome, to just trying to finish :) Kristi and I have been awake far more than usual in the last 36 hours and we were the TOUGH ONES at the hike today, but now we are hanging on by a thread.
Speaking of hikes, after a long 4-5 more hours in the car we made it to Colorado Springs and our first visit was the Red Rock Canyon Open Space. We had been here a year ago for a friend’s wedding and wanted to revisit with the kids. They quickly vacillated between:
YEAH HIKING
I’M SO TIRED
I’M TAKING MY KIDS HERE WHEN I’M A GRONW UP
CAN WE LEAVE?
So we left. After two hours of glorious torture and fun. Found the house, got food, hit the sack. Here’s to more good stuff happening tomorrow!
Here are some highlights from the day.
