Due to two trips that Caroline had bracketing the Spring Break weekends (one to Sea Camp for school, and another to visit Harding University), we couldn't get away to the beach or anywhere like that this year. So, instead, we took a day trip up to Damascus, Virginia, near where that state borders both Tennessee & North Carolina, for a family adventure on the Virginia Creeper Trail.
The VCT is a bike trail, built on a former railbed for a train called the Virginia Creeper. If you do the route we did, the trail is 17 miles long, mostly downhill. We used the outfitter in the link above, and they hooked us up with 3 adult bikes, one of which pulled a baby buggy for David, and another which had a tag-a-long attached for Jackson. Emily brought her own bike. They haul you up the mountain in an aging van, along quite a winding road for more than a half-hour.
The key word in that description above is "mostly". While the first few miles of the trail have a nice downhill grade - almost too steep, imo - the last 3 miles are flat. So, for the first half of the trek, i'd say Emily had the most fun, and David the least. David didn't know what to think about riding in that buggy with the wind whipping in his face. Plus, he needed his nap. He did settle in by the end, though.
But by the 2nd half of the trail, i'd say Jackson had the most fun, and Emily the least. Jackson said it was the most fun thing he's ever done, "more fun than the Gamecube". Which is saying quite a lot, if you know his gaming habits of late. For Emily, i kept warning her to take it easy and not pedal unless she had to, but she was enjoying it too much and got worn out.
But i didn't know this part about Emily until later. Caroline (pulling David) and i (pulling Jackson) pulled out ahead of Julie and Emily with about 5 miles to go. We just figured that they were close behind, because no one had really gotten far away from the pack the whole time. Jackson & i stopped a couple of times, as much to rest as to wait up for the stragglers. Since we were by then close to the finish, we went on to the outfitters and turned in our bikes, and waited for Julie & Emily. When they didn't show up for a few minutes, i decided to load into the Suburban, and drive back along the trail to look for them. Sure enough, we found them walking their bikes, Emily in miserable tears and clutching her side. I carried her & her bike to the car, while Julie finished the trail. I think, though, once the agony wore off, that Emily actually had net-good memories of the adventure.
I'd recommend this day-trip to folks in the area. It's a beautiful, and mostly relaxing, ride along a mountain stream. It can get a bit crowded, and you have to watch out for careening teenagers. And you may want to be cautious if you have a 9-year-old princess like we do. Based on this experience, i'd say 10 for girls, and age 9 for boys, before letting them go on their own.
The tag-a-long was great for Jackson. Once he got the hang of it, he had a blast. I think it really built his confidence for balancing on a bike. He pedaled a lot, even though he didn't have to at all. It's more work for dad, though, as it was tough to balance (maybe we didn't have the thing tightly secured). And you can't go slow with it, like you can a regular one-person bike. So we either had to careen downward ourselves, pedal hard on the flatlands, or stop altogether. It wore me out.
P.S. Another funny line from Jackson... When Julie pushed out ahead of the crew one time, Jackson marveled, "how does she go so fast? She's just a mom!"
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