Outdoorsy?...Not So Sure

Those who know us well, know that Romney and I are not the outdoorsy type.  Neither of us like to camp...confession, we have never been camping since we have been married.  We like to think of it as a great accomplishment.  Romney has always said that camping is "Mocking the Homeless." (btw, I love him). Too funny.

Although we don't like to camp, over the past few years, we have found ourselves "appreciating nature" with our kids.  On countless Saturdays, we have enjoyed amazing hikes and walks in spectacular mountain settings.  It has been really fun.

Colorado offers countless easy hikes and sites to see.  A friend of mine put together a list some of her favorite hikes she has done with her family.  We ventured out this past weekend to tackle the first on the list.  Let's just say that it did not go so well.

We piled our very grumpy and reluctant children into the hot car and drove the mountains of Boulder.  We followed our little mapquest on the iphone and got to the the destination parking lot as instructed.  My friend had said that this easy hike was her family's favorite.  Many locals call it "Little Switzerland."

This was the view from the parking lot.

Once we got out of the car it was a little confusing.  There were at least 6 trails, none of them labeled...all pointing in different directions.

We approached a hiker who looked pretty legit.  He was wearing hiking boots, he had an REI purchased walking stick and of course a dog.  He bragged that he was from Boulder and showed us exactly where we needed to go.  Perfect.

Well, his suggestion was wrong.  I am convinced that he felt that he had to act like he knew what he was saying.  He was clearly just a Boulder-wanna-be.  We took his suggestion and walked on a hot, flat road for over a mile in the hot sun and never saw the beautiful views we had hoped to see.  The kids were miserable, Romney was hungry and I was that obnoxious mom trying to remind the kids that we were having fun.  It did not work.

 

 

I tried to point out that at least the flowers were beautiful....

We decided to turn around and make our way back to the car. As Romney pointed out, we lost some major capital on that dumb hike. Thanks dumb Boulder hiker!

Sophie was a doll and never complained once.  Can I just say that she melts my heart?

Too bad about the hike.  Maybe we should just accept the fact that we are city slickers after all, (evidenced by Sophie's hiking shoes).