Friday, July 04, 2008

hiking with the drama princesses

Today I wanted to get some exercise and some fresh air, and so we set out to explore the much-neglected San Bruno Mountain Park, bringing a light picnic along. For a long time the Sober Husband and I had been intending to visit that park, and on one pathetic occasion we'd tried to find it without success (that outing devolved into a squabble and a tense drive home). Today, though, we found the park (not without a couple of wrong turns first) and set out on a trail. "The children can walk a mile," I said optimistically. "Anyone can walk a mile."

San Bruno Mountain turned out to be just what we'd hope for: a beautiful expanse of open space (albeit crossed by a four lane divided highway) which was weirdly deserted, leaving us to enjoy the birds, views, and wildflowers. Usually in the Bay Area anytime I want to do anything remotely enjoyable, I find myself navigating through throngs of others with the same ideas and goals, but San Bruno Mountain is rarely visited.

The children seemed to think it should stay unvisited. Five year-old Lucy was appalled at the very idea that we'd expect her to walk on a hiking trail. "I just want to sleep in the car," she explained. When that request was denied, she burst out with "I'm tired! I'm cold!" When this was ignored, she shouted, "KILL ME!"

Eight year-old Iris set out in fine style but soon turned to inquiring, "When will we be at the parking lot? Can we eat now? When can we stop? How much longer?" She was comforted when our hike brought us around to the side of San Bruno Mountain affording her a view of our Volvo in the distance.

When we finally returned to the parking lot, Iris ran to the car and hugged it dramatically. I picked up a map. "Next time, I want to take some of these other trails," I said.

"WE'RE COMING BACK???" asked Iris in disbelief.

13 comments:

hughman said...

were they wearing proper shoes?

you need to show them the Sound of Music and tell them they are hiking the Alps escaping from the Nazis. You could wear a nun outfit and the SH could be the Captain. you could sing folk songs along the way.

hokgardner said...

We told the girls we were going on a hike and they turned cartwheels out of excitement. After 15 minutes of walking, one of them asked, "When does the hike start?" When I told her we were hiking, she rolled her eyes and said, "Mama, hiking is more than just walking around in the wood."

Silly me.

the Drunken Housewife said...

They did have good shoes; I made Lucy change out of her princess shoes, which are too small, into the less glamorous sneakers which are exactly the right size.

They have also seen "The SOund of Music" a million times. It's a good idea, bringing that up, EXCEPT that I'm trying to discourage Iris's obsession with Plucky Little Jewish Girls of the Holocaust.

the Drunken Housewife said...

Hokgardner, this was "hiking" in that same sense. It was really strolling, except that it was uphill (part of the "hike" was marked as strenuous due to the grade). Anyhow, it was more of a leisurely walk (albeit uphill, the children won't let you forget that, and also in the wind).

Silliyak said...

Did you explain to them how you had to hike to school everyday in the snow uphill both ways when you were young?

the Drunken Housewife said...

I actually did have to walk to high school in the snow (I lived about a quarter mile away), but it was pretty level. There's a lot of bad weather in rural Maine, though, so it was often rather brisk.

Anonymous said...

I'm telling you, Eli Weisel is the cure for Hogan's Heroes syndrome.

I wasn't paying attention to the heading of this post and just saw "6 comments" at the bottom. I clicked on that thinking la-dee-da-dee-da, sharpies and butts. Needless to say, I was super confused about all the hiking references for the first few seconds. >.<

hughman said...

my mother claims she walked in the snow (apparently in flip flops) and carried a baked potato for warmth that she had to eat for lunch. beat that.

hughman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
M said...

my dear, I do believe you are the next Erma! you've gotta publish this stuff sometime.

<3,

yr fan,

- M

ps - love from the kitties!

Silliyak said...

May I suggest a Princess litter? Kind of apropo with all the Kitty litter that you must use.

Dread Pirate Davi said...

A return trip?! Oh, what a cruel mommy indeed!! A good parent would let her children rot their brains out and waste away in front of the television!! My mother made us get away from the TV once in a while, and look how awful I turned out. =)

Anonymous said...

our latest hiking strategy for my Cars obsessed son: i am tow mater and he is lightening mcqueen so when he gets too tired, i tow him...

he also gets fueled up with water from a camelback (his own or his dad's)

we have found he likes trails with creeks and snow and other obstacles.

so far we've had some amazing hikes! it might also help that he bike rides at lot on the trailabike behind his dad so he's rather fit for a 4 year old.