We had weird stormy weather this weekend. On Friday night, we had a mild, dry storm, which is very odd for this time of year in Northern California. We had gusty winds, a light rain for about three minutes, and even some lightning. And then it sprinkled again on Sunday morning for a few minutes. Weird.
On Saturday morning, however, it warmed up pretty quickly outside, so we decided to go for a nice little family hike. Nothing too long or strenuous. Just an easy stroll with Quinn. So after Q’s morning nap, we put the super-awesome, all-terrain jogging stroller into the Highlander and drove up to Russian Ridge Open Space Reserve in the Santa Cruz mountains. We had never been there before, but the website promised a lovely, stroller-friendly trail around Alpine Pond. Perfect.
Quinn slept some more on our long, windy drive up the mountain to the ridge. Upon arrival, Hubs and I slathered ourselves and our baby boy with sunscreen. We loaded up the stroller with everything we thought we might need for a day on the trail.
Water. Check.
Sunglasses. Check.
Cell phones. Check.
More sunscreen. Check.
Air pump in case the stroller gets a flat. Check.
Sunhat for Quinn. Check.
Extra clothes in case Q gets cold. Check. (It was like 90 degrees outside.)
Hooter Hider, should I need to nurse Q during the walk. Check.
Toys to occupy Q-man. Check.
Burp cloth in case Q spits up. Check.
Extra diapers and wipes. Check.
Trail map. Check.
We were ready.
We walked over to the trail head and through the tunnel, following the signs to Alpine Pond. When we arrived at the pond, we stopped on the deck to take pictures, look at the cattails and assess the trail. According to the map, the trail was a loop around the pond, and from we could see, it looked pretty flat and stroller-friendly, as promised.
We set off for the loop.
And we finished it in about eight minutes. Not kidding. The trail was just long enough for our feet and legs to get covered in dust and dirt that stuck to our sunscreen.
None of the other trails at the reserve were stroller-friendly, so we just got back in the car and went for a little drive instead. Again, Q slept the whole way.
Even though it wasn’t quite the day on the trails we had envisioned, we got some (sorta) good pictures with our cell phones.
Always an adventure, even when it’s not.
And now, "Roam" by the B-52's is stuck in my head.
“Boy mercury shootin through every degree
Oh girl dancin down those DIRTY and DUSTY tra-a-a-ails
Take it hip to hip rock it through the wilderness
Around the world the trip begins with a kiss.
Roam if you want to…”
Oh girl dancin down those DIRTY and DUSTY tra-a-a-ails
Take it hip to hip rock it through the wilderness
Around the world the trip begins with a kiss.
Roam if you want to…”
I was never a big B-52’s fan…
