Family Bike Rides

The weather has been improving lately. I pause to consider this and realize it's a little funny to me. Mainly because I'm from Massachusetts and the weather here in Santa Cruz is comparatively always good. I mean, I NEVER have to shovel snow here. It rarely gets below freezing. I can garden twelve months out of the year - if I wanted to, that is. The weather is always good here from the New Englander's perspective. However, my kids are no longer considered New Englanders, they are Californians, and that means they have a different take on the weather. So, to be more accurate about the subjective weather situation here: The weather has been pleasant enough to go on some day rides and hike with the kids, and they don't need to bundle up in cumbersome clothing for the trip. In fact, the weather has been pretty darn sweet here the past couple weekends.

This little guy was scampering across the path just in front of Coleman.

Last weekend we went for a mountain bike ride out by UCSC, through Wilder Ranch. It was another shuttle ride (we took two cars and parked the big one at the bottom of the trail so we didn't have to ride back up the mountain), this one with very little, if any climbing. We parked up on Empire Grade, and rode about 11 miles down to and then along the shore. There was only one spill on a pretty steep hill. Max got scraped up, but was a total trooper, with minimal grumbling about all the pain and suffering he had to endure.

We stopped to check out some lime kilns on the ride. Pretty cool.

These little trips are our family time during the week. We also have family dinners, but those are not very long lasting - the kids can't wait to get up and leave the table as soon as they've eaten. So, these trips have been great for us to spend time together that is totally enjoyable and away from the distractions of home. I hope we can keep it up! I had thought we'd alternate hiking trips with biking, but it seems Kitty and I are really the hikers in the family. The boys prefer the bikes.

A tree grows inside the kiln, which was as big as our house.

Down by the shore there were a lot of red winged black birds.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!