Moores Go West: Day 27 (Travel Day)

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I was driving along and passed a semi who flashed his lights at me as I passed. Normally that means “it’s safe to get back over.” But then I noticed the semi slowed down and scooted to the middle lane and flashed his lights again several times. I think this is universal language for, “something is wrong, you need to stop.” So I stopped and checked things out and our bike rack had collapsed. Isaac’s bike was dragging but still attached with the cable. Now to figure out how to reconfigure our bikes.

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Day 27: we knocked out another 450 miles, crossing the panhandle of Texas and over half of Oklahoma. We are in Central Time, one time zone left to go. We also almost lost our bikes when our bike rack malfunctioned (see last post). And it’s cold and rained most of the day (only rain of our entire trip). We ended our day in Henryetta, OK. This is relevant because it’s where my dad grew up. He was born in California but lived here most of his life. His family history is tied to the Oklahoma Land Rush, the Okies fleeing to California during the Dust Bowl, and so much other history. It’s been cool to share with our kids. And as a bonus, we will see my parents tomorrow. So full disclosure, I know our trip has probably looked amazing and maybe made you feel a lot of things (hopefully inspired, but maybe some other feelings too). It has been amazing, but it has also been normal life. But stuck altogether in a camper and truck for a month. With a dog. And two whiny kids. And parents who sometimes argue. Today we found ourselves having a heated argument in a Starbucks parking lot in Amarillo while the kids sat in the truck. A man stopped and asked us (mid argument) if we wanted to buy hot tamales from the back seat of his car. Umm... don’t you see we are having a moment?! And when you are arguing in a parking lot, a long way from home, all you can do is try to figure it out and get back in the truck and keep driving. We aren’t perfect. We don’t see eye to eye. Sometimes we have temper tantrums. But we keep trying. We model arguing (sometimes poorly) for our kids, but we are still a team. A tired, road weary team. But a team none the less. Just wanted to keep it real. 

Pump Track with Our Boys

The Pump Track at Stringer's Ridge is a favorite spot for our kids. We probably need to make the effort to go more often!

The first time we tried it out was Mother's Day last year. Jack had a blast! Isaac was riding on the back of Daniel's bike and was not amused. Earlier this year I took Jack, just the two of us, as a part of our nature day. He could have stayed all day, if I had let him.

Isaac has been doing such a great job on his balance bike and I showed us that he can really handle himself on the trail in the woods at our neighborhood park, so we thought we would go back to the Pump Track and he see how he did. He really blew us away with his natural ability.

His bike is just a balance bike, so he had to work hard to push it up the mounds, but once he was up, he had no trouble (or fear) coming down. "I can do it myself!" is his motto.

By the end of the outing, he was insisting that he needed pedals on his bike. At two, we aren't so sure he is ready, but he may prove us wrong!

And if you get bored with biking, you can always play the toddler favorite, Try to Get Me!

This was also a first for Jack, in that he has a new bike that is bigger and has gears. He handled himself well on this trip to the Pump Track.

As an aside, we realized that Isaac's bicycle helmet was really too small, so we measured his head and realized that it was bigger than Jack's! And Jack happens to have a huge head! Thankfully we had a hand-me-down helmet from a friend whose son is now a teenager!
 

Mother's Day Mountain Biking Excursion

Mother's Day means that I get to pick what we do and where we eat. So even though Jack was voting for Wendy's for lunch, I opted to try The Daily Ration. The promise of pancakes was a good persuader and Jack was on board with forgoing Wendy's.

We were pleasantly surprised to get right in at the restaurant, and even though it took a little while to get our food, it was worth the wait. Though a photo at the restaurant with my boys was not going to happen (someone was hungry and needed a nap!).

After our fill of delicious food, we headed home to grab our bikes and hit the trails for a little family adventure. On the drive home, Isaac had a little cat nap and Daniel had time to take Jack to get me flowers and make me a sweet gift.

Once our bikes were loaded on the car, we made our way to Stringer's Ridge for some mountain bike action. We have been wanting to take Jack to try out the Pump Track there and if we felt like he was able, we thought we would try one of the shorter trails at this park.

I can't tell you how excited I am that Jack is ready to start getting on easier trails with us. Daniel introduced me to mountain biking about 10 years ago when we lived in Charlotte and I love it. It gets me out in nature, and there is a thrill element to flying through the woods while navigating sometimes difficult terrain. It is a ton of fun.

Being able to take our kids out with us is fantastic, and it was a great way to spend Mother's Day.

When we arrived at the Pump Track, Jack hopped on his bike and went straight to the biggest mound to ride over. He didn't make it up and ended up in the tall grass. Initially I thought he was going to be over the experience, but he got back on his bike and worked on the smaller mounds.

Before I knew it, he attacked the big mound again (following Daniel this time), and he made it! And then he rode down it like it was nothing! Proud mama moment for sure.

After we all did several laps, we made our way to the second track and tried it as well. The first track we did was kind of a figure eight, the second track was 3 loops (kind of like a snowman?). You can do variations of the loops and work on your banking skills, as well as riding over small repeating bumps and hills. It is really good skill development for being on an actual trail.

Unfortunately Isaac was not enjoying the Pump Track. We noticed that his head was bouncing around more than we prefer and we were in the sun, so it was hot. We told Jack to take a few more laps and then we loaded the bikes and drove around to the other parking area and trail access at Stringers. The trail access to Stringers from the Pump Track area is really steep and not great for little kids.

So we loaded up and made our way up the main trail to the Choo Choo trail. The Choo Choo trail is a short dirt path that loops Old Baldy. It was PERFECT for Jack. He had some small climbs, but it was manageable even though Jack's bike doesn't have gears.

As soon as we were on the trail, Jack shouted something like, "This is AWESOME! It is just like the pump track!" It was better for Isaac too because we could ride quickly and it was in the woods so it wasn't as hot.

We did four loops on the Choo Choo trail before we had to leave.

Jack had a lovely meltdown because he wanted to go back to the pump track and we were out of time. Other than the meltdown, it was a fun day with our family.

After our ride, Daniel dropped me off at Warehouse Row where I met a couple of girlfriends for dinner. We ended up eating at Tupelo Honey (after I got changed and cleaned up a bit). Three hours spent with other moms, visiting with no distractions, responsibilities, or bedtime duties, was a perfect way to end a lovely Mother's Day.

I am looking forward to more adventures with my little family. It feels so good to know that the kids are getting bigger, and more skilled and that bigger adventures are just around the corner for us!

Previous Mother's Days:
Paddling Lookout Creek (2016)
Biking South Chick Greenway (2015)
Time Spent with Family (2014)
First Mother's Day – we were supposed to hike, but got rained out (2012)