Hiking

Nicole is still pretty set on hiking the Appalachian trail (when she's 12 she says).  So, we are trying to take her hiking every so often.

Jeremy and the girls set off a few weeks ago, well equipped for a couple mile hike:)  They were so excited so spend this time with daddy :)

They went to a near by trail head and explored every nook and cranny they could find:)  However, they did not get very far because of all the exploring going on.

showing off his knife

Two weeks later, Grammy and gramps came down for a visit, and Nicole wanted to hiking with Grammy.  So, one Saturday, while the guys went golfing, Grammy and I took the kids out.  I have never been down one of these trails before...but they seemed harmless enough.  It was basically a long, straight trail, with a loop at the end.  The map made it appear that the loop would reconnect with the main, straight trail.

Off we went, not as well prepared as daddy was, but hey...it was suppose to be an hour or so hike.  We can handle that, right?

We made our way down the straight trail, making good time.  When we got to the loop, we went off to the right and walked through some upland scrub areas of Florida (this is the part of Florida that I don't think is very pretty, just my opinion).

The kids caught grasshoppers, stick bugs, and other insects.

After about an hour and half, we made the turn, into more of a wetland area.  There was a small, somewhat raised trail that had swampy water on both sides.  We saw some large birds.  Grammy and the kids all decided this was a good place to sit and have a little snack Nicole had prepared.  

Confession:  I don't enjoy hiking in the woods.  I don't enjoy sitting on a trail, 2 miles from car, surrounding by swamp water.  I know what could be in that water.  I know what likes to live in scrub lands.  And, I don't want to see any of those creatures unless I'm at a zoo, and they are behind glass.  I just don't.  But, I went for my daughter.

So, back to where we are, sitting, enjoying a little snack.  We get up and keep walking down the little trail.  The kids kept picking up sticks on the side and throwing them into the water.  Of course, I'm watching for snakes and alligators.  I finally got them to stop picking up sticks and convinced them that it wasn't the smartest idea where we were at.

Less than two minutes later, as I'm gazing the trail and waters...I spot it.  The girls and Grammy had just passed, but Nate and I haven't yet (he was lallygagging behind).  I tried to say very calming "Everyone keep walking, just keep walking".  Of course, the girls all stopped and turned around ;)  Nate stops, so I walk back to pick him up and hustle by a large water moccasin.  It was hanging out, just off the path, with his head facing the water (although I'm sure he knew we were there....I didn't want to bother him one bit).  I was TERRIFIED!  Those snakes are mean, and aggressive, and I hated that I was there!  (although I do wish I would have taken a picture...I was just to scared.

I hustled everyone along through the wetlands until we were on a path that wasn't surrounded by water.  As my adrenaline levels went down, we slowed our walking again and kept following the path.

I started feeling like we were not going to right direction when I noticed that the fence was on our left, as it had been walking about.  If we were walking back to the car, shouldn't the fence be on our right?  But, I didn't say anything and kept going (that was probably the biggest mistake.  I should have trusted myself, right?)  We started to go back again into a wetter environment, and the trail began to look less traveled.  The kids were getting tired, and we were starting to feel really lost.

I finally looked up our location on the phone and realized that we were going the wrong way.  We were probably 2-3 miles in the wrong direction.  I could tell we were getting close to some roads...but the trail was getting more difficult to travel (and I was scared of snakes and bears...and hunters, because I started see deer blinds in the trees).

After some discussion, we decided to try to climb through some barb wire fence.  Thankfully, our little adventurer had brought a towel (to sit on at lunch), but it provided good protection from the barbs.  Val and I used our feet to hold the first layer of wire down, while pulling up on the second wire and let the kids slide through.  Somehow we made it through without a scratch!

We knew we were trespassing (due to the No Trespassing signs), but we didn't really have a choice....we really felt that if we walked back, we would be worse off.  At least here, we were near civilization.

We made our way to a dirt road, and finally came across a nice lady who gave us a ride back to my house.

We found out later that her father owns the land we trespassed on, and that we were lucky he wasn't home.  She said if he would have caught us, he would have sent us back through the wire to find another way home (hopefully he would have taken pity on us with three children.  We obviously  weren't teenager up to no good in the woods ;)

But, we made it back:)  It was quite an adventure!