So
I got tired of
my whining.
There is NO
"fall" here.
No changing leaves. No
cold.
No need for long sleeves.
So last Saturday . . . we headed north. North bound to Sedona. You see a little co-worker told the Pita a
thing of beauty . . . "the leaves
are changing
& beginning to fall in Sedona".
. . . . You had me at
"changing". My day pack
is packed. So we woke up Peanut bright and
early [like she went in her P.J's, early] and off we went. With a
promise of colored leaves, a
8 mile hike & even some fly fishing for the big-guy.
After our
normal bickering during travel. . . .
. . .
."you are too close" . . . . . "You drive
too fast" . . . . "you are an
angry driver" . . . . "
you are NOT teaching Peanut how to drive" . . . . and a freaking
whole lot of honking . . .
Ahhhhh
Sedona. The only fabulous City in Arizona where they are
too stupid to put in TWO lanes that
lead to the city.
First stop.
holy bummer. How did I not know the
50k was today. super bummed. Would
have loved to run it! Saw a few runners at mile 17. They looked great & strong.
Here's the photo Peanut captured of
me wishing I was running.
Next stop.
Fishing for Pita. Frolicking
in the water for Peanut and for me
FREEZING. I got what I asked for . . .
cold. And you guessed it . . . only a long sleeve
hoodie-ish thing [minus the hood]. So I sat
trying to find my inner lizard on a rock to
soak up the sun. Ya, doesn't work when the rock is
freezing too. Anyway, spent 1.75 hours picking out items out of the
Nordstrom Christmas Catalog . . yay! I found my
must have boots
Karen!! Bummer
they don't come in red. ;)
So it's
lunch time but the Pita wants to get a hikin'. We have
a lot of water and almonds. Oh yay. We are off. It's beautiful. b e a u t i f u l. Even prettier
than I had imagined.
Yellow leaves all over the path/walk-way. Awesome.
We got about 1.5 miles in and Peanut mentioned the word.
lunch.
Peanut: when is
lunch?
[I look at the Pita]
Peanut: Do we have
lunch?
Peanut: Mom, please tell me you packed a
lunch?
Emz: Kid you ate your
"lunch" at 10:05.
Peanut: Mom, what time is it?
Emz: ummmm, ya. I don't know.
we're walking. we're walking . . .
Peanut: Mom. Time.
Por Favor. [yes, when the Pita takes Spanish lessons,
we all benefit]
Emz: it's like one kjhdaswtaysf [that's me
slurring]
Peanut:
one what?
Emz: uggg, fine 1:35pm.
So we make it another 1/4 mile and we see
"Happy Camper Joe". Who says, what we think was,
"howdy [no joke], you are all gonna love the view. spent the night there. only 3 miles to go to beauty".
The look from Peanut
was priceless. Then
without saying a word she went to the nearby tree and
did this:
Awwwww, ya. That's
my girl. Such
fierce determination. Such
vigor. Such excitement.
So we did what all parents
would do. Played one hour of
"I Spy". I could care less if I
ever play that game again. But
it worked. We got there. And
it was wonderful. And
worth it. And
awesome.
We did see a super cool mouse with
serious issues. kept going in
circles.
We stayed at least 5 minutes and.
it. never. stopped.
Pita was going to
"put it out of it's misery" but tears from Peanut --- quickly halted the hunt. I have a sweet video of it that I have
no clue how to upload or attach. It's sad but
freaking hilarious at the same time.
Peanut & Pita decided to follow
camper Joe's advice and get their feet soaking wet in the water and go the
extra 1/4 mile around the canyon. Me.
No.
Thank you. My blisters
are almost fully recovered from
October 2nd. I'm
sitting this one out.
Turns out, the party-pooper . .
[me] . .
was smart. Guess who had freezing toes and needed
"beaver skin" [AKA ...mole skin, I swear the kid will never remember the right word].
The
4+ mile trek back was hilarious.
Fabulous family experience. My kid. She's
pretty funny. Loved
every whine and comment.
Like:
[
each statement below is al la
Peanut, where does she learn the sarcasm?!]
* Mom, spare me the
"50 mile stories"
* Mom, this is
not mile 48.
* So next time you expect me to walk 8 miles, could
we maybe pack 7 Cheerios?
* I am hopeless. [As she trips over her 42 rock of the day.]
* Ehhhhh, who needs to feel their toes anyway?
* so do I get a buckle or a pat on the head when this is over?
* I spy something that starts with a "s". [no pause] soup. Oh wait that was just a
mirage. [this kid reads too much].
* Where are MY 300 Spartan sleeves? I am Spartan!
* Mom, look I'm you . . .[flexes her abs, raises her arms, then says MY LINE!]......
"I've freaking got this!" heeeheeeheee.
Not sure where she gets this
personality of hers . . .but....I. Love. It.
Yay for
family road trips. Even ones
without proper food.
.JPG)
