Hiking Field Trip with Natalie’s Class
chris April 19th, 2006
Before Natalie was born, for a few years, when Jackson was our only child, Edie and I lived in a little cabin up in Los Trancos Woods, which is a funky rustic community buried off to the left deep in Portola Valley. Jackson was a very energetic puppy at the time and we walked (and ran!) him nearly every day on this amazing, hard to find, trail at the top of Los Trancos Woods. Along this trail are ponds, small lakes, meadows, elfen forests, ancient oak trees and amazing views of the Bay.
As it turns out, this is the exact trail that Gail’s class (Natalie’s 3rd grade class at Peninsula this year) takes a Nature hike on every year. Volunteering to drive and hang-out on the field trip I had the opportunity to literaly take a walk down memory lane. I even had the chance, as we drove up the hill, to say “Hey Natalie, that little red cabin there. Mommy and I lived there before you were born” (to which she replied “Uh huh, I see it” before going back to the secretive conversation she and Nicola were having in the far back seat of the car).
Science Linda led them on a scavenger hunt where they were able to demonstrate their recently acquired knowledge of all things Naturey. The kids discovered and made full use of an amazing rope swing, and climbed the coolest oak tree ever. In all it was great fun, and as far as I hear, noone came down with poison oak (which was everywhere) of got bitten by a tick. And what more can you ask for really.
