First hike of 2010

On Sunday we were out and about, finished our first "hike" of the year. Well, not sure how many people can call it a hike, it's more like a trail, in fact a fully paved stroller-friendly loop: the Stanford Dish trail.

The odds were pegged against us this day. Due to changes in daylight savings, we'd already lost an hr. Mommy had thrown her back on Saturday, so we were not sure how she'd feel in the morning about the hike. The morning was slow and lazy, with Rian as usual refusing to eat much breakfast. But we pushed through, and Daddy made sure we didn't change plans, that we went. Our thinking: even if we walk only for half an hr, it is still worth it.

We left from home at 12:50pm, well past Rian's lunch time. Rian was hungry, and ate a few of his favorite ginger cookies. Theplas came to the rescue. We started the hike ~1:15pm, and Rian must have been hungry, as he happily agreed to hold thepla in his hand and munch munch munch. The first 45 mins went by quickly and smoothly since Rian was busy with the thepla. He loves the outdoors, wants to point to aeroplanes, birds, everything. Squirrels kept him totally hooked, and he stayed in his stroller.

Then he got into this "pick me up" stage and didn't want to be in the stroller anymore. He settled on Dad's shoulder as a close second, after walking/running for 15 minutes. It was new and fun to walk on a hike at Rian's walking pace :-) Almost funny! He of course took many scenic detours into the "gin gaas" (green grass) chasing squirrels and birds and storks. This was arguably the best part of our hike. We agreed this is what we stay in the Bay Area for - proximity and availability of so many great trails, and of course the awesome weather. It was in the 60s, perfect spring weather.

Rian had loads of fun when the downhill parts of the hike came by. Daddy promised him a ride, and he sure as hell delivered. Off went the two of them, down the hill at full speed, with Rian in his stroller. Wow they almost went off the road and toppled over at some point, but the little one was all giggles all the time.

The first and the last few hills had mommy and daddy huffing and puffing. The middle 50% of the trail is a walk in the park. All in all, a good time to be outdoors. Rian had his lunch on the trail :-) and was much less "fussy" as he was super hungry :D Daddy and Mommy came down by 3pm and headed to a sushi restaurant. After ages, we had lunch outside, and Rian too was well behaved. I guess we're getting to that point when we should consider starting to travel again.

Oh, milord, note kiya jaye: Daddy's camera had a very nice outing too, IN IT'S BAG. The poor thing never saw the sunshine and the blue clouds. Well o well, maybe next time ;-)