we are back in our own state. it's nice to be here.

the drive between mine and my parents' house is approx 2 hours and 30 minutes. we have historically gone on Friday evenings, arriving between 9 and 10 p.m., and returned on Sunday evenings, typically getting home at the same time. This time, however, due to soccer on Saturday and a day off for the girls on Monday, we left home at around 2 p.m. on Saturday, and left their house at 10 a.m. on Monday. It was nice. I liked the way the trip went with the altered times.

On Sunday, we did wake early-ish (8:30 instead of 8), and went for a hike. We were really going blind, and weren't sure how it would go. Well, it went fabulously.

I had looked at the internet for directions, and thought I had a rough idea of where i was going. We went to Washington, to Steep Rock Reservation, which is approx 30 minutes (but only like 13 miles) from my parents' town. My parents have a lot of friends from their church who live in Washington, and they're familiar with the area. My brother's just young enough that he was still riding along in their back seat for just longer enough than me that he knows these church friends quite well. so when he decided to give me directions to the park, uh,

Him: So you go down that road where the Training School is.
Me: Okay ....
Him: Then when you get to that intersection where if you go straight, you go to Tom's House, instead take a Left.
Me: Tom?
Him: Yeah, Tom ____.
Me. I don't know him. I don't know his house.
Him: Oh. Well, it's the only intersection in that part of the road, so just take a left. Then keep going until you get to Paul Newman's HOuse.
Me: Paul Newman's House? I didn't know it was there. [1] I don't know where it is. Him: Oh. Well you keep going straight past it. Then you'll pass Harry's road.
Me: I don't know Harry's road.
Him: How can you NOT KNOW where Harry lives?
Me: I haven't lived here in 15 years!
Him: Yeah, but still. Then you'll pass the church where that woman hit me when I was on my bike.[2]
Me: I never knew where that church was.
Him: It's a stone church. Remember? When I had to get stitches in my ass?
Me: I remember the accident, but not the church.
Him: Well, then you go through the town, and I'm pretty sure it's the only left you can take at that point.
His wife, in the background: NO, there are like 3 lefts. You have to tell her which one.

Therefore, I went back onto the internet, and found out if I went 67 to 6 to 47, and took the left immediately between 47 and 109 split, i would be there. It went very smooth. I did take his way back, but only because seeing everything jogged my memory. I still don't know where Harry lives, though. but since his wife is the one who tried to teach my kids that god didn't let john kerry win the election because he would have let boys marry boys and girls marry girls, and that if they ever sleep in a bed with their sister (if they're a girl) or their brother (if they're a boy), then they will grow up wanting to marry the wrong gender .... i don't really give a shit where Harry lives.

The park was great. It had gotten down to 31 degrees the night before, and the air was definitely crisp as we were setting out. J. was a little disappointed at first, b/c the trail looked a little flat and very NOT challenging:

But then we found a spot where the girls tried to put countless hours of climbing walls to real-life use:

She really couldn't get a second leg up, but she had fun trying. e. tried a different spot, but had no better luck. Probably a good thing, since I doubt the climbing wall at the Y, or at the Children's Museum, is truly enough to teach them how to do it for real ... we of course wouldn't have let them get too high up off the ground if it had been possible. I need to see if I can get at least j. some kind of kid lessons, b/c she loves it.

The trail stayed flat and wide for a while, and it followed the river:

Beloved and I took the opportunity to school the children on the electoral process in the United States.

Then the trail had a sign: "Dangerous trail - do not bring horses," and after I taught e. how to pee in the woods, we figured out why. The trail became steep and rocky, and at some points, had to be reinforced with boards b/c of wash-out sections. it was not dangerous for those who walk upright on 2 legs, though, and we had a great time. in fact, j. absolutely LOVED the rocky climb. she was saying, "i love this! this is the best trail! this is so great!" I agreed, and she and I tended to go at a faster pace than e. and beloved, which actually worked out fine. The trail then led to an old suspension bridge, which we crossed, and then dallied on for a while:

Then the trail looped back, but I found the return part to be quite dull. It seemed more like the dog trail, and it was all flat and gravel - it was a road. no fun rocks to climb and hills to conquer. so next time (and there WILL be a next time), we're picking a more challenging trail. My brother maintains that the trail we went on was 4.2 miles. We disagree. We think it was more like 2 miles, and we definitely had more in us.

We were so invigorated and felt so good being outside and enjoying nature and our abilities in this way, that we made all sorts of plans. Including:

From now on, when we got to visit my parents, we will always go to this park to hike while they are at church. We had been just sleeping in, watching Meet the Press, and basically bouncing off the walls until they got home. No more. This is our Church. The Shepaug River trails.
We will work to have at least 1 weekend per month include some type of outdoor activity (this past month, I think we've had THREE)
We will try backpacking with the girls. beloved and I have been a short overnight trip back in the bay area, but the girls have not. I never thought they could handle hiking with a pack on their backs (we are 100% unwilling to have a backpacking trip where the kids carry nothing - that's not what it IS.) Now, however, I think they're ready. Their packs will definitely be light, but they will wear packs. Our first trip will be an overnight, with a short hike in/out, and plenty of daylight hours to explore our camp.
We will try winter outings, as well. I feel ready to go ahead and buy the kid snow shoes over at L.L. Bean, but Beloved feels strongly that we should try and rent/borrow some first, to see if the kids can handle it. Okay.

Soon after we got home, I forced everyone back in the car to go to a pumpkin farm. we spent $40 on pumpkins (j. needed two - one for school, and one for home. her home one was THIRTY POUNDS!!). Then we went and were mellow at my folks' house. Mom and I played Scrabble (beloved joined us for a couple of games), and the kids wrote stories, played Yahtzee, and watched Myth Busters.

We got home at around 1, and by 2:10, the girls were off in different directions doing different activities, and Beloved and I are home, doing different activities.

Nice mixture this past weekend of activity and rest. It went well.

[1] Turns out it's not there. the dude lives in WESTPORT, CT, not ROXBURY, CT, and honestly, the two could not be further apart. Other people live there, but not Paul Newman.
[2] My brother was in high school, and we were pretty close at the time, b/c I had lived at home for approx 6 months between college graduation and my wedding to the schlurg. so brother went for a bike ride with dad and some friends, and while climbing a hill on a main route in Washington, a little old lady hit my brother - her side mirror gashed his butt. It was a big joke. he went to the hospital and got stitches, and he and I laughed about it for a long time. We used to get along very well.

posted by Zuska @ 2:14 PM

2 Comments:

At Monday, October 23, 2006 8:11:00 PM, Butterflyfish said…

Alright, I disagree totally with someone who is against gay marriage, but respect a well thought out debate on the issue... but this???

"...and that if they ever sleep in a bed with their sister (if they're a girl) or their brother (if they're a boy), then they will grow up wanting to marry the wrong gender"

That's effing insanity talking.
At Monday, October 23, 2006 10:47:00 PM, The Marpepps! said…

Awesome post. Hiking in CT is really amazing. It's one of the things that made think I could actually make the change from the South to New England.

And your kids are hard core! I think it is unbelievably important to expose kiddos to the outdoors. Not emphasized nearly enough in this culture and without it, we can hardly realize our place in the greater planet.

Plus, I think a hike in the woods is a more sincere church experience any day.