DAY 2 -- The Signal

Sunday March 24-- DAY 2 of Hiking--

We headed out to the trail on a limestone path. It looked great as there was no sign of snow, finally. But, I had spoken too soon! 200 yards into the path, we were back walking on slippery, icy, slushy snow paths. We tried to walk over to the park, but it was too hard for the girls to walk. We continued on the trail, but encountered 4 foot snow drifts that were over Piper´s head. We chose to walk down the lane of the highway instead. The head wind was uncomfortable and Piper began to say that she was cold and hungry. There was no where to take a break. There were no tree-breaks. We finally made it to the trail again. I realized that I did not pack enough treats and distractions for the girls, as they were being overwhelmed by the wind in their faces. I knew that I needed to adjust this for next weekend. We went back to the hotel, and again took some naps, as we had made it to Forestville.

Talking to the girls, I motivated them to try some of the limestone trail. It had gone easier as the miles logged, but it was still wet and puddly. The girls were in dry clothes, socks, and shoes again, and were ready to try 2.5 more miles.

The trail was the best we had seen yet! The path was visible as we walked, and their feet were relatively dry by the end of this section. If the girls could do this bit, then we would have extra swim-time at the hotel. This motivated them!

Piper and I made up a signal. If we saw an animal, then I would raise my walking sticks and create an X. Piper and I then began to act out the animal that we were seeing, and pointed the sticks in the direction. We thought that we did excellent deer impressions of prancing around, nibbling grass, and showing off our antlers. Bristol and Daddy just thought that we had ¨to poop¨. Well, this made all of us laugh so hard that I almost peed in my pants, as we defended our excellent charades.

Returning to the hotel, Jeremy talked about how hard I had pushed the girls, and I needed to adjust my hiking goals. He was right!

#IceAgeTrail #Adventure #Hiking #Outdoors #FamilyGoals