It's a little cooler today than it was yesterday, but it's still nice. Beautiful blue sky and temps in the upper 50's. Finally...we've gotten to where we are supposed to be this time of year. Deciding that we didn't want to be cooped up inside on such a lovely day, we decided to take a hike at the OP Arboretum and Botanical Gardens (it's much like Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights).
I have to laugh because, in the year or so that we've been here, I've never traveled further south than 159th street. It certainly seems as though the world drops off there. It's mostly farms and fields after 159th. Considering the Arboretum is on 179th Street, it felt like we were heading into uncharted territory. LOL! We had to take 69 Hwy since none of the main N-S streets continue that far (they all end around 165th, or so I'm told). That was fine, but it would have been so much more convenient to be able to take a surface road. Anyway...
We pull into the lot and discover that we are not the only ones that decided today would be a nice day for a hike. There's not a lot to see right now, since we're just coming out of winter, but Jacob thought it was cool to find evidence of coyotes. We found lots of hairballs and even a site of (what looked like) a major food fest (a bunny or something). There was fur everywhere. We saw lots of hawks and birds and even a few butterflies (I know! Who knew they were out this early?).
Jacob and Daniel ran the first half of the trail, Hannah ran the first third and I was thrilled to just be able to walk the thing (I'm so out of shape). After the 3 mile (or so) hike, we were all tired, crabby and hungry and were absolutely ready to head for home. We all decided that it was so much fun just to wander around, that we're going to try to make it a habit. Only next time, we bring snacks and water!
Yet another perk of hiking three miles...all three kids look like they will fall asleep at any moment!
1 comment:
In the last two days, I've cleaned out both cars and changed oil in one. Everyone was at the car wash this afternoon. Blame Good Friday with everyone off work for the almost 70 degree sunny day. The forcast was for mid 50s and rain. So they got it wrong, but on the good side. The house got aired out all afternoon on both days. The soft maple in front is all poofed out and ready to do it's leaf thing. Now all I need is another good day with light wind to blow off the yard and get ready for spring planting.
(^_^)
Dad
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