'The true Soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because He loves what is behind him.' -G. K. Chesterton

07 February 2011

A Day Exploring

Lu found a nice hiking trail just a half block from the house so we loaded up the kids and Chrisi and went for a nice afternoon walk. Where the sidewalk ends and adventure begins....



The trail runs along an old watercourse with flora and fauna never before seen by 5 and 6 year old eyes. Jaina decided she loves Cacti and pointed out every one we came across, each better than the last.

The trail went up toward the base of Hurricane Hill. Please note the backpacks filled with the necessities of life in the great outdoors; cold water and a peanut butter bar.



A little further up is the Hurricane Canal. When this area was settled it was all farms. Because it's an arid system water was brought down out of the mountains and fed into this concrete canal. Many of the later settlers came in just for this construction and ended up staying.

Dotted along the canal are these steel sluices that allowed the farmers to detour irrigation water to their crops.



I decided a wider angle view was in order so hiked up closer to the top of the Hill. Way down there, if you look closely, you'll see a smiling woman, 2 kids and a black dog sharing a snack and watching a grown man make a fool of himself.



I think the caves were the hit of the hike. Not exactly world famous, the kids thought they were awfully cool.


Brendan and Chrisi. A dog and her boy.
The end of the trail. Lunch, a cold drink and a warm house await our intrepid explorers.

Kids remind us of the wonder waiting for us just around the corner and that each day must be seized and wrung for all it's worth. What new sights will tomorrow bring? We'll never know unless we take the journey.
Six

2 comments:

LauraB said...

Superb! And I love when kids are shown a place they've never experienced. Memories instilled in fresh brains.

And lovely weather, too! Huh...I've been freezing my butt off down here!

Six said...

We had an absolute blast as did the kids Laura. It's been very nice (not to rub it in :) as high as the low 60's at times. We're trying to make sure the kids view a visit to Grandpa and Grandma as fun. Now if only my tired, old body will cooperate.