A Wayward Journey

I love the unexpected!  I’ve come to the  conclusion that I thrive on the idea of waking up having no idea what might come my way in the next few hours. 

I know a lot of people prefer to have predictable lives.  They want to go to sleep at night in their old, comfortable bed.  They want to be able to wake up in the morning and make their way to the bathroom with their eyes closed.  They want to have their agenda planned out and know exactly what their day looks like before it even starts.  But that’s not for me.

So this morning we planned our day the best we could.  We studied our map and knew that we would have a flat, easy ride to Alder.  Our map indicated a gentle climb up to Virginia City, then an agonizingly steep incline for four miles before descending into Ennis.  Our map is good – it lets us know what we expect each day.

But it’s the things our map does not tell us that end up being the highlights of our days –and today was no exception.

Davy has been asking me about time travel a lot lately, and I’ve made it abundantly clear that I don’t believe mankind will ever master that skill.

And yet today we turned a corner and headed straight back in time to the mid-1800’s.  Nevada City and Virginia City were delightful ghost towns from the gold mining heyday in the area – and we had a blast wandering around.  I could totally imagine all the gold miners walking through town doing their chores before heading out back to the hills.

I’m convinced that Davy and Daryl are getting the best education in the world.  We never know from one day to the next just what they will be learning about, but I will bet my bottom dollar that they’ll learn something each day.  Maybe they’ll learn about gold mining or the battle of the Nez Perce Indians or how glaciers affect the land.  But whatever they learn, they truly learn.

And that’s a good thing.

Kilometers today:  57

Kilometers to date:  5493

We woke up in a cabin!  In beds!  Then I went out and played “The Tire Tree Game”.  It’s when you get a tire swing with a rope or chain straight up and attach it to a high branch on a tree.  Then you get on top of the tire, go back, and keep jumping off the tree.  It’s a lot more fun than it sounds.

I also made up a move called “Bark Jump” – it’s where you are going backward to the tree, you swing your feet around and hold on top of the rope, spring your legs, and when you’re close enough to the tree you jump.

This morning Daddy, Davy, and I played a game on a tire swing. One person got on the tire swing.  The other two threw a ball at the person on the swing.  The person on the tire swing had to block the ball from hitting him.

When we were done we left and made it to Nevada City.  It was a historical town.  Unfortunately, it was all closed down. 

Next we made it to Virginia City.  That was also historic and closed down. 

So we moved on and up the hill (a big hill).  Finally we made it down the hill and camped.