Hike-A-Thon I

Well, this was our first attempt at a "Day Hike" as a family.

As part of our 4th of July holiday we spent half a day at Monte Sano State Park (http://www.alapark.com/MonteSano/). We arrived around 11:00 and had a picnic lunch that consisted of Checker’s hamburgers and fries (that I LOVE). May not seem like much of a picnic but Shan saved the good stuff for later that night while we watched the fireworks.

After the kids finished we let them play on the playground…where they had a ball of a time on the “see-saws”. They had never seen or played on one before and thought it was the greatest thing since spice racks.

SIDE-NOTE: We saw a Skunk at the playground that had gotten its head stuck in a yogurt cup and died…it was kind of funny but a little said too…but more funny. All I could think of was PePe Le’Pew.

After some time playing we all took a potty break…and then decided to go for a Hike on one of the many trails the park had to offer. We opted for the North Plateau Loop…which was 1.2 miles and seemed to be a less strenuous hike than the others.

Now, keep in mind that Shan has never hiked a day in her life and is not much for the outdoors. Not to mention we are attempting this with a 9yr boy (who still has some issues with his feet after his surgery), a 6yr girl (who is a “girly, girl of ALL girls”) and a 4yr girl (who is a walking accident waiting to happen).

Thus the beginning of “The Clan of Burch - Hike-A-Thon I”…much more eventless than the name would appear but hope to have many more over the years.

Shan took the front with the kids in the middle and me pulling up the rear. Lilli talked the entire time and fell 8 times…I lost count after that.

I explained to the kids what a “Blaze” was on the trees and how it helped us know where the trail was. Shan and I also tried to give them as much safety advice as we could, like…never leave the trail, always stay together, chase snakes because that will make them run away and always throw rocks at bears when you see them because they like to play catch…you get the idea.

Something sweet if you will…we were walking up a small incline and I mentioned to Shan that when hiking (Bum Knee’d Renegades…HOORAH!!!) these steps are what really kill my legs. As soon as Neal heard me say that he came back and grabbed my arm to help me up the steps. The cool thing is we came to several other places like that and he would wait on me or would run back to help me up…without Shan or I saying a word to him. He is an AWESOME son!!!

MeMe had a blast…she asked about butterflies, the trees, flowers, animals. She talked about all her friends in Montgomery and that they would have had fun doing this. She has been a real trooper the past few weeks and I think it did her as much good as it did me to be in the woods.

We finished up the trail and headed back into Huntsville for the fireworks that night…which is another story.

SIDE-NOTE: I wore a knee brace that day just to try it out for our next HikeFEST…and seem to do well. The only problem was when we got home that night I took it off and found a TICK…up until that point I think Shan had a great time. Honestly…that freaked her out a little but we are talking about my wife which should be no surprise.