Take a hike! Well, that is to say . . . get outside.
Let’s get something straight right off the bat, we ain’t real hikers. We’re “can we make it a few more steps” (under ideal conditions) before passing out type hikers. Reminds me of the time we took the girls strawberry picking in Hades. Well, not Hades but it was 1000 degrees in the shade at 9am. Note: When you stand up from your strawberry row and your vision gets all spotty and your heart races, that’s not good. Hhmm, maybe we should have brought water.
Nevertheless, this is a great time of year to take the kids out for a quick hike. There are numerous places to go but we like a couple. Great Falls on the Maryland side is nice. It’s an easy walk to get out over the falls and the scenery is breathtaking. It’s on the C&O canal so you can walk as far as you’d like or as short. Regardless of the time of year you’ll be guaranteed to see kayakers in the falls whitewater.
Our favorite place for walks is Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Md. You can walk the paths around the gardens or go into the woods behind the Nature Center. There are a couple of paths behind the NC, one is real short the other takes you back toward the lake that was just renovated. The short path is ideal for little hikers, you can do it easily with tiny dawdlers in a half an hour. Don’t forget Brookside has its “Garden of Lights” holiday light show going on now. It’s another fun way to get some exercise. Here are some pics of our recent outing.
Another local gem is Croyden Creek in Rockville, Md. It has a nice Nature Center and some easy paths. I’ve only been on one of the paths there but very similar to Brookside, plenty manageable and fun.
The main idea here is simple, get outside with the kids. I guarantee they’ll love it. Don’t forget to take some binoculars and your camera.
