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.