July 25, 2010
Day Trip to Whitehall/Montague

This year we have been camping more weekends than ever before. Because of all the extra camping, we haven't done as many day trip adventures as we did last year. However, we were home this weekend and took advantage of some beautiful weather. We drove up to the Montague, which is not really that far from our house, and spent some time riding our bikes.

We tried something a little different for this bike trip and it turned out quite well. We were able to cover more miles by doing a set-up that allowed the kids to rotate their positions. We had Nicholas on his bike, and Gabrielle on hers, one kid in the bike trailer and one on the tag-a-along. As one kid got tired, we rotated them around and for the most part it worked very well and we ended up with almost 10 miles for the day, which is quite good for the age of our kids.

It was Sam's first opportunity to ride the tag-a-long and he LOVED it!

This is what happens when you find a park along the way.

After completing the Medberry Trail, we went back to the trailhead of the Hart-Montague Trail and found that the Township had added on a community section that winds through neighborhoods and was a very beautiful ride. There were several street corners where the trail went right through a beautiful garden maintained by different organizations.

Almost 5 miles into the ride, Nicholas started to tire out. We moved things around a little and Gabrielle rode his bike for a while. She was so proud to be riding a "gear bike" - it took a little adjusting to using only hand brakes but she did very well. The bike is a little big for her right now, but she managed and is hoping that next year she will able to get a mountain bike of her own.

Another thing we discovered were various
forms of artwork and sculptures along the way.
This bald eagle was made out of wood.

Metal wild flower sculpture.

What happens when you have too many tired kids and too many bikes?
You get creative. We removed the handle from the bike trailer and managed to form a sort of bike rack by running the handle back through the bike frame of Gabrielle's bike.

A job well done - they made it almost 10 miles!
(even though none of them actually rode the entire way - they did great!)

The best way to finish a bike ride is ice cream right?
The kids loved this little place because
the picnic tables were all on the roof of the building.

After our stop for ice cream we drove out Old Channel Trail to the lakeshore.
Although, we have seen White River Light Station several times in the past few
years - this was the first time we were on this side of the channel.

The kids had a great time cooling off, by standing on the pier and
letting the waves splash up on them.

One soggy, wet but happy little girl.

Posing in front of the lighthouse.

On the way back to the truck - Sam found this rock and decided he could lift it.
Needless to say - he was wrong, but loved the picture of his trying.