John Wayne Trail

 - by Brittany

Saturday, Kevin had to help move some vehicles for the scouts who were biking the John Wayne Trail. It is the old railroad line, that now serves as a hiking trail. The railroad tracks have been removed, which leaves a nice wide path down the mountain and through tunnels. Kevin asked a friend to help him shuttle the vehicles down, so we all went up to enjoy the day. We packed a lunch, and headed up the mountain. Jameson was so excited to go hiking. We started off down the path, which had a little wooden walkway covering a run off stream. The kids loved the planked sidewalk.

It wasn’t long at all before we hit the mouth of the tunnel. We thought we would have a little bit more time. We stopped to take some pictures. I loved the huge doors for the tunnel. Below is Ella (on Kevin’s back), Kevin, Jameson, Abby, and Jesse.

Getting ready for our big adventure into the 2.5 mile tunnel.

We really didn’t know what to expect on this trail. If we had known how wide and flat the trail would be, we would have brought our jogging strollers to throw the kids in. Then, we might have made it all the way through the tunnel and further. Instead, we made it maybe halfway in, turned around, and walked back out. We got the keys to the cars we were going to have to move, and then had a picnic. As we each climbed in a car to drive, Jameson was concerned we were leaving dad behind. I explained he was driving another car, and we were going to follow him. The trail is about 22.5 miles long, and ends at a lake. Next time, we will have to hike from the lake and then go swimming. Jameson talked about going on another hike the whole way down the mountain. Soon, both kids were asleep in the car, and we had a quiet drive home. The day ended with a few friends over for some hamburgers and hotdogs. The kids ran around till it was dark. It was such a fun day for each of us.

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