Day3: He Promised Not to Kill Us

Rick has busyness in his blood. (Some might call it hyperactivity.) One of the best ways to wear that man out is to allow him a hike. He woke up restless on day three, and I knew what was coming. He needed to hike, and a leisurely stroll wasn't going to cut it.

Only his family rebelled. My leg was achy, and all the boys could envision was another death trap similar to day one.

I offered to let him hike by himself, the kind selfless woman that I am. Perhaps he noticed my fingers were crossed when I offered or that the children were already running circles around me at 7am, but he had mercy on my soul and cut a deal with me.

We compromised with an "easy" hike for everyone. ("Easy" will no longer be a word that I take lightly when describing hikes. A hike will no longer be categorized as "easy" without apostrophes until I've hiked it myself.)

(And let me further clarify that I am not a hiking wimp! I'm certainly not a burly mountain woman either. I fall somewhere between. There is a happy medium there.)

Rick chose the Continental Divide Trail for us.

It was downright cold up there, and Liam had forgotten his jacket at the cabin. He had a great economics lesson with buying his own sweatshirt in the gift shop.

"Mommy, this hoodie cost $30! Now, I only have $20 left!" Welcome to reality, son.

The hike was pretty, and we stayed on an "easy" trail. (It was truly easy.)
These two characters still grumbled, but at least we never had to carry them.
Photo opp in front of Rick's favorite mountain, Mt. Shavano:
Even Winston hiked with us. He's a burly mountain dog for sure.

And we found a patch of dirty snow.
Texans just can't help themselves when they see snow in July. After a snowball fight, we all made it down the mountain without any death or injury.

Later in the day, Rick asked Jack to clean up our shoes at the cabin, and this is what we found.
Thank you, little man.