We began our trip with a visit to Ohiopyle State Park to ride our bikes on the Youghiogheny River Trail. There was some sweating and swearing when it came to loading 5 bikes onto our brand new bike rack (little bikes are not built for these sort of racks), but after the Big Guy pulled it together, we were off!
This trail can be ridden all the way to Washington D.C. and we met a father and son doing just that - biking and camping for the next two weeks. My kids were mortified at the amount of gear the dad was making the son carry on his bike. I guess they aren't ready for that sort of thing yet.
A quick family pic and we began our ride:
We stopped on the wooden bridge to watch the white water rafters below:
The wooded trail is flat and beautiful. Easy enough for my Helper Munchkin, but challenging enough for an experienced rider. I never thought about the evolution of bike riding before this trip. My kids must have said 100 times "This is so fun!" I realized then, that kids today never ride their bikes TO someplace, just around and around for the sake of riding. Riding as transportation was new to them and they loved the feeling of freedom.
Pretend you're with us, just run a track in the background of birds singing, leaves rustling, and me yelling "Here comes another bike! MOVE TO THE RIGHT! The RIGHT! MOVE OVER!!!" Yeah, it was peaceful.
We were exploring a small waterfall along the trail when my kids noticed a culvert under the bike trail. Really, why bother with nature when there is a man made PIPE underground just BEGGING you to play in it.
My kids started posing and yelling, "Take a picture, take a picture!" So, I did.
All of this riding and picture taking went on for about 4 miles. Whoopee!!!
Then 4. Miles. Back. whoopee. Mental note: Don't wait until they are getting tired before turning around. Trust me.
If you do, you might have to bribe them to return by promising to buy them ice cream and the super cute ice cream parlor in town. I hope you brought money...
Come back tomorrow, we'll go for a hike and play in the river!
