A City Life For Me

Ever since we have been living in this tiny town of Mountainville, NY, a lot of people pull down our driveway looking for the state park.  Schunnemunk State Park.  It’s actually the mountain behind our house (and there is I-87 between us and the mountain), but a lot of GPS have the coordinates wrong.  We decided we should check it out before moving back to the city.  We had a nice day and the kids were itching to get out and move, so we took a hike down the trail in Schunnemunk Mountain State Park .  It was mostly cow pasture and field that we walked through that day, but we found a great clearing for kite flying.  We came back a couple of days later for a picnic and kite flying day off of school, and then we hiked farther up the trail and crossed the train tracks.    Selfie with Henry during lunch :: These two!  Their imagination!  They were riding a horse together, and Nehemiah kept falling off the back! Let’s Go Fly a Kite! Amtr...

On one Saturday, my parents took the kids and I to hike Devil’s Head to the Fire Lookout station.  It is the only one of seven original fire lookouts still in use in Colorado.  We hiked this as kids, so it was fun to take my kids back.  They got very distratected  by the sticks and stones, but we did make it to the top!   I love the mountains! My parents and the granddog, Sadie At the top of the fire lookout station. Can you see the city of Denver? After hiking to the top and back, we drove down to the South Platte River so that we could have a picnic and swim.  It was a little busier than expected,  but the kids enjoyed the water.  When we were finished I sent Elaine to get in the van first.  She started screaming, so I investigated.  I found a baby garter snake slithering away.  Nolan chased it across the road, and Grandpa (the snake guy) helped to secure it.  Once Nolan touched it and didn’t fall over dead, all the...

Our big feat for day 3 was hiking Bunsen Peak.  It’s 4.2 miles round trip, our longest hike yet!  The trail seemed to go on forever, just when I thought we were almost to the top.  But the view was worth it!  There was a hikers log at the top, and the kids enjoyed signing their own names and ages to say that they hiked Bunsen Peak.  Liberty’s turn to wear the Camelbak!  (This arrangement didn’t last very long!) I loved this tree! There were a bunch of wildflowers, but not in the picture I guess! View from midway up.  That is Swan Lake in the center. Beautiful vistas.  I couldn’t get enough of them! Hiking the trail was often slick and covered with lava rocks. Ben & Henry Me! The kids enjoyed sitting and using the binoculars.  Nehemiah couldn’t wait for his turn to use the “goggles.” We made it!  Bunsen Peak, Elevation 8564.  Oh yeah, I made it too!  Panoramic of the view and beginning of sunset. Swan Lake Hiki...

Last January, we were in Grand Junction, CO and we took the opportunity to visit Arches National Park.  Henry was little, and I had a sprained ankle, so we took turns staying in the vehicle and mostly drove through the park.  It also snowed in the afternoon, putting an end to any exploring. Last week we had a meeting in Moab, UT so we visited Arches again.  The day we arrived it hit 110 degrees, but a stormed moved through that night and cooled everything off nicely.  Since we had some cloud cover and only 85 degrees the next day, we decided to attempt the Delicate Arch hike.  It is 3 miles round trip, and marked as “difficult.”  It is the only hike that lists a recommended amount of water per person.  We added up our water bottles, and came up short…but we thought we would be okay since it wasn’t blazing hot.  (Later we discovered we were missing a water bottle, but we still came out okay!) There is no shade (or very, very, little) on the hike ...