comin’ round the mountain

There are a couple of projects that have taken up a lot of my time lately; things I am very excited about, to be sure – but also, very time-consuming.  Maybe we’ll get to talk about those later.  For now, I just want to remember how lovely it was to take the day off from school and life last Friday and wander about in the beautiful sunshine.

For the last couple of years we’ve gone camping with friends over the November break, but it didn’t work out this year for our organizers, and I am not much one to strike out into the woods without an organizer leading the way.  And hopefully cooking most of the meals.  So, since no one was volunteering to take on that responsibility, I mentioned to my sweet friend Michelle that it might be fun to take a day trip somewhere.

One of the many things I love about Michelle is that when I have an idea about, say, a day trip – she pretty much has us packed and ready to go before I have even finished the sentence. I need that kind of enthusiasm in my life.

I have to be honest here, I was pulling for a drive to Long Pool campground, which is a beautiful spot close to Dover. In particular, I was thinking of how nicely my camping chairs would sit on the wide rocky beach while I watched my kids roam around the bend of the river.  Michelle thought we should go to Petit Jean and do a little hiking. And since Petit Jean was slightly closer and I was an hour late picking her up, I agreed to switch. A little hiking never hurt anyone. I still had my camp chairs in the back of the car.

Michelle had a good laugh about those camp chairs later on.

Let’s just say that if she suggests a little hike to you, you might should prepare yourself to see a sign that says, and I quote: “Strenuous Trail Ahead – Not Appropriate For All Hikers. You Will Definitely Feel Every Single One Of Your 38 Years, And Quite Possibly Have To Pull Your Middle Schooler Uphill For The Last Quarter Mile.”  Yes, it really says that.

Before the actual hiking, though, we stopped at Petit Jean’s grave and overlook. I love how sunshine and really big rocks turn all of us into scrambling adventurers, no matter our age.

We had lunch by a waterfall, a man-made spillway. Lots of portable food and beautiful views. Did I mention that Michelle made a fire so that we could cook hot dogs and marshmallows? That almost makes up for the hike.

And then we set off: down the mountain, across a bridge, along a stream.

It’ll be worth it, Michelle said. And it was.

[there are a few more pics here...]