Bobby's First Hike

And by 'hike,' I mean "short walk through the woods."

It's been scorching by Seattle standards -- in the 90s. East Coasters are no doubt scoffing, but keep in mind that almost no homes in Seattle have air conditioning. In order to cool ourselves off, we decided to take Madeleine to Stevens Pass in the Cascades. The drive up is spectacular. Once you get there, there's not much to see except a ski resort in the off-season.

On the way back, however, we stopped at Deception Falls. This was perfect -- shade, a nice little walk to stretch our legs, cool water to wade through, amazing waterfall to observe, and more trees than Bobby could possibly want. (As I may not yet have mentioned, Bobby is a tree-a-holic. Nothing calms him down faster than some green leaves blowing in the breeze.)

What cracked me up is that it's a personal pet peeve that Roger & I are frequently over-prepared for hikes. (It dates back to a snowshoeing misadventure which is another story altogether, but involved running out of water and food and having no compass or flashlight or idea where we were going.) Anyway, frequently Roger & I will gear up with water bottles, hiking boots and piles of Clif bars for a short day hike, only to pass numerous other hikers wearing flip-flops and carrying nothing. So, for this minor outing, we were wearing Tevas, packed a bare-minimum diaper bag, and popped Bobby into his hiking backpack. No one could possibly accuse us of taking this little amble too seriously, I thought. Yet sure enough, we encountered a family on the trail who were pushing a stroller. Figures.

Mom