Memorial Day Hike

Memorial Day is a wonderful day to remember our loved ones who have gone on before us, fallen soldiers, and how important family time is! Early this morning,(ok, so it wasn't real early...alright, so it was 8:00) we woke up our children. We asked them if they were interested in a hike. The forecast reported a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon. That meant that we had to HURRY! (Remember...we have teenagers) Lucky for us, we were able to leave by 9:00. ..even picking up an extra teenager (Chase Leftwich). We decided to head north east rather than west (that's where most of the storms usually are). We went to Castlewood Canyon National Park. This is an interesting park because it appears out of nowhere!!! As we drove east and north, we encountered rolling hills and basically plains. There were lots of cows and horses to look at. We drove for about 1/2 hour. The kids thought I was nuts...there couldn't be hiking out here!! BOOM! Right before our eyes, the park appeared.

It is an unexpected beauty!

We started out our hike in GREAT spirits...believe it or not...we ended that way too!

Here is Jessica, Chase & Ryan.

This was the first bridge that we came to...Wayne, Jessica, Chipper, Chris, Tiffany, Ryan & Chase...we don't know the guy in the blue shorts!
The trail went down into the canyon and then followed the stream. We were amazed at how many people were there with us!
There were lots of rocks to climb on. This is a FAVORITE pastime for
Wayne, my children & my dog!
Sometimes it is a little scary to watch them hop across the rocks with no thought as to how far DOWN it is in between.

Here are my 2 girls hugging on their daddy! Chipper is keeping watch to make sure his "boys" are alright.

What is a hike without a pose? Here is Chase showing off his massive muscles.

Did I mention that my children and dog LOVE to climb on rocks. I wonder if they read the sign that said to stay ON the trail...not NEXT to the trail.

OK, so you caught me...I joined the family on the rocks...see, I'm trying to hide behind Ryan!

Chris decided that he needed a little rest and found a little cave to relax in.

(He called it his "bomb shelter)

Not to be out done, Tiffany found an even DEEPER cave.

Then there was that "Dam" historic trail.

Don't forget to put the emphasis on the "Dam".

Here is Jessica attempting to add a letter to the end of that sign...and Wayne ...

well the picture says it all!

Here are the Dam ruins Here are all the kids on the Dam...after hiking up the Dam Historic Trail...

ok, even I couldn't stop saying it!

Going to the Dam Ruins wasn't quite far enough, so we went on to what they called the "falls". It really wasn't LARGE falls, but it was fun to play in. Here is Tiffany & Chris hopping rocks.

Look...Chris is relaxing while Wayne is trying to catch up to him. ha,ha.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the picture of Jessica falling into the water. Lucky for her...Chase lent her his socks. (Is that sanitary?) I also didn't get pictures of the boys laying down on the rocks and "cooling" their heads off in the water. We went back to the car after that. Notice how there are no pictures....it was all UPHILL on the way back!!!!!! We ended up walking a little over 4 miles and really enjoyed ourselves! What a great way to spend time as a family!