Weekend Report

After our marathon museum day on Friday, we needed to lay lower for Saturday. We slept in a bit and had a quiet morning with books on the couch. Still, by early afternoon, we were getting some cabin fever. It was a lovely day, so we set off to explore our town. Using the trail map of Lincoln posted on the office wall in our house, Jeremy plotted a hiking route for us. I was glad that he was willing to carry Helen most of the way today, as my hip joints were protesting all the hours from the day before with her extra weight in the backpack. I was also glad that Helen was willing to ride in the backpack today, since our walk the previous weekend was pretty slow when taken at her pace.

We set off along the railroad tracks to the west and quickly veered off into the woods. We made a wide clockwise circle, following a high ridge line for some time. Other traffic was sparse - we encountered a couple on bikes and a man jogging. The trail ranged from wide and well-worn to barely a break in the underbrush. We came across the back end of a camp that seemed to involve horses for campers with disabilities. Finally, after about 45 minutes, we left the trail to cut across a mown hay field and came out in the playground behind the kids' school. They played for a while, then moved over to the city playground across the driving loop. Finally, dinner time approached so we returned the 1-mile home along the main road.

Nothing too exciting, but it is always fun to take a walk in the woods with your family. We finished the day with a quiet dinner at home and a family movie night on the couch (Jeremy found The Gods Must Be Crazy on YouTube and while it looked a bit dated - from 1980 -  the kids very much enjoyed the slapstick humor in it. Apparently that is something that doesn't go out of style.)

Sunday, on the other hand, was the 35th birthday of my brother, Jeff.

Birthday Boy Jeff

He called on Saturday to invite us to join them on a canoe outing. Since he lives just under 2 hours drive away, it seemed like an easy decision. I can't recall the last time I was close enough to Jeff to celebrate his birthday with him. Maybe 1991? So, it was good that we had lain low on Saturday. We were out the door by 7:45 and arriving in Deerfield at 9:30.

Jeff can access a good supply of equipment through his position as leader of the outdoor club at his school. Thus, he had a van, trailer, and canoes all ready to take us up the Deerfield River. There were two canoes for our family, and another for his (plus a friend). About 2 hours along, Shannon decided to bail out with Socha for nap time, so a friend drove to pick her up at a bridge. Their friend, Peter, also apparently decided he had had enough canoeing, and left with them. The rest of us finished another 90 minutes or so of drifting and paddling. The going was pretty slow, both because the paddlers were not very enthusiastic and because the water level was low enough in places to require stepping out of the boats and pushing. Still, it was a very relaxing trip. The scenery is beautiful, through state forests and agricultural lands, with regularly placed low-grade rapids to keep the boating interesting. I don't have any photos of the trip since I didn't want to manage my camera and kids in the canoes, but Jeff got a few "landing party" pics on the beach at his school where we pulled out.

Note that Socha and Shannon are missing - they left early for naps and so all that is left are their life jackets, being held up by Jeff and James. 

We all like seeing Socha. Jeff's birthday was a nice excuse to see her again.

Yes, it was of course nice to see Shannon, also! :) 

After a few hours of hanging about, we packed up and started for home. Jeff and family followed us, and we all had dinner together about 15 minutes up the road. It was a great place to go with kids - burgers and fries from the outside window/counter service, eaten at picnic tables while the kids played in sight with the bean bag toss and tetherball. (Helen just napped in the carseat through dinner, having worn herself out with no nap all afternoon, but fortunately, we could sit right next to the car and just let her sleep. The food at the Wagon Wheel was surprisingly tasty - mostly homemade/prepared on site, with some fresh and local ingredients. I was the only one impressed with the deep-fried green beans, but Shannon's salad with raspberries, peaches, and goat cheese looking tempting to everyone!

The only downside to the place was that they got swamped just before we arrived, and it took several hours to get and eat our dinner and ice cream. However, since the ice cream was homemade and the flavors interesting and delicious, I can forgive that easily.

Birthday Boy Jeff with Shannon and Socha. Socha (and her parents) are a bit messy, thanks to Socha fully enjoying the baked beans and sweet corn with cajun butter.