Hiking at Chester

On Friday I called Miss M's mother to see if 4 o'clock on Sunday would be an okay time for me to pick her up. Since Miss M was right there, I talked to her as well.

"Do you want to go for a hike on Sunday?"

"YEAH!"

And so there ya go.

I picked her up at about 4pm and after a little tie-up-shoe & socks scavenger hunt we hit the road. I parked in our usual spot outside of the Chester Park entrance on 4th street. It's my favorite place to park for this particular hike. You can go up one side and come down the other. I like doing the hard bit first. Makes the 2nd half of the hike much better.


We put our shoes & socks on (we were both previously attired in sandals) and hit the trail. She was a chatterbox yesterday! I was hoping to get her interested in some of the natural beauty that is all over Duluth and to experience such a lovely trail and talk about the trees, the plants, the creatures, etc...but she had other plans. She talked about squirrels (and how she told a boy that they chase humans if you spit in their holes) (!), she talked about her new teddy bear, she talked about her favorite food (ice cream), she talked about her Dad, she talked about eating fresh raspberries, she talked about her day-camp, she talked about...well, a variety of subjects. Man that girl's got energy!



She did pretty good as it's a rather intense (but short) hike. It was hot though and at one point she said "I'm thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirsty." And I said "really?" and although I think she was playing me a little bit (she had remembered my previous promise of a water bottle) she said "do you have a water bottle for me?" Which of course I did and she loved it and enjoyed the ice cold water too.

When we got to the top, we climbed on rocks, took some pictures and I introduced her to the wonders of TRAIL MIX! She particularly likes the fake M&M's and the sesame sticks but also enjoyed making "sandwiches" and combining the ingredients (with raisins). She wanted nothing to do with the peanuts (she doesn't like them) but was willing to try a cashew when one turned up (she didn't like that either). Ah well, more nuts for me! we hung out on the rocks and talked (!) a bit longer and then headed down.

Our hike lasted about 1 1/2 hours which is a pretty good outing for a girl who doesn't hike.

From there we headed to Sammy's Pizza for a little dinner. 1/4 Hawaiian (her choice), 1/4 sausage (my choice) and 1/2 cheese (our mutual choice). It was delicious and the company was good too. I let her have mello yello and I hope she didn't turn into a total spazz when she got home due to excess sugar but I"m pretty sure her diet isn't regimented anyway - and I felt like just relaxing and enjoying our dinner and having her pick what she wanted was part of that.

At one point during dinner she said "Everything is made in China. Well, not everything but almost everything is made in China," with rather a disgusted look on her face. I have no idea what prompted such a statement but I wanted to say "yes! You're right! let's bring manufacturing back to the United States and support our own economies & give people their jobs back and and and...." but I didn't. She's only 8 after all.

When the check came I handed it to her and said "Did you bring your money?" At which she looked at me like.....uh, nooo....I shrugged and said "well, I guess we'll have to wash the dishes then." Followed by a knowing wink (or some such acknowledgement that I was joking) and peels of laughter. When I was paying the clerk at the counter told her how pretty she is to which she demurely replied "thank you." Oh so polite.

It was another successful get-together. I'm enjoying my time with her more and more and I think she's really very comfortable with me which is great.

Next up; the Mentor Duluth bbq and possibly a children's play this weekend. Pics to be posted later today if I can get my computer at home to upload properly!!