Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Memorial Day - Bike Riding at Fort Stevens



The beautiful weather and long weekend convinced us to load-em-up and head to the coast. Fort Stevens is a beautiful campus with alot of bike trails and things to see.

First stop is always the water and the beach. Good thing the water was cold, or the puddle-jumping little ones would have never left!




The old wreck of the Peter Iredale is nearly gone. Still enough to attract all the little ones to climb on it and play.

We had to triple-team the 2 year old to keep him out of the water... and even then, he still got COMPLETELY soaked!





On to the bikes - the Scotch Broom was in full, glorious bloom. The weather was warm but not hit, and the trails were empty! We expected more of a crowd, but didn't see many people, and the campgrounds only looked 40% full.






The gun batteries were a fun break from the bikes, to explore and talk about the men and women in our history who sacrificed and worked for the freedom we enjoy. Even at our worst, we are the greatest nation in the world, and when we are at our best, we can bless all other people on the earth.





We rode about 13 miles in the day - the trails are nice and flat, so the riding was easy. We could have ridden more, but the kids found the swimming beach at CouffinBury Lake, and they revolted! Water, sand, and sun... oh, and Mom's sandwiches for lunch! I wasn't going to get any more miles out of these guys!



By the time we loaded up the troop carrier (Mean Green), everyone was exhausted, sandy, and shivering. Mom pulled out gooy cookies, and we made the long dash back to base. Mission accomplished.