{"id":3774,"date":"2014-02-18T08:08:41","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T16:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2014-02-18T11:04:56","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T19:04:56","slug":"bike-ride-boondoggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/bike-ride-boondoggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Ride Boondoggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Caden_Riding_02-16-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday morning. The blue skies called for us to get out of the house. What a perfect day for a bike ride through the nearby open space preserve to visit the local working farm \u2013 the animals would surely be out soaking up the winter warmth and socializing with their human admirers. A picture perfect idyllic family moment.<\/p>\n

We loaded up the bikes and clamored into the car \u2013 Destroy already donning his helmet in preparation.<\/p>\n

Apparently a good number of others had the same idea. The tiny parking lots were packed. We circled. So Jon dropped me and the boys off at the trail head and set off to procure parking. This is where our stories diverge.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>We hung out in the park area near the loading zone for a bit. The boys found a large tree branch and spent a bit of time trying to reunite the branch with its former botanical being. I kind of figured if they could climb the tree \u2013 more power to them.<\/p>\n

\"Trees\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>Jon circled.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>Finally, the boys and I decided to venture forth. Jon would be able to easily catch up just as soon as he parked. The boys both have balance bikes \u2013 these are exactly like regular bikes, but without pedals. The general idea is that kids will figure out the balance concept while scooting themselves along with their feet, then when presented with a pedaled two-wheel contraption they\u2019ll just take right off.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>Jon circled.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>Ahead of us sprawled the rough grass terrain of a meadow teaming with wildlife. Birds flitted among trees twisting upward in the dry air; the aging Bay Laurel giants reached toward the heavens. A trickling stream showed a bit of life as cottonwood thirstily drank from the offerings of recent rain. And the squirrels scampered through the fields, hiding among the chaparral, manzanita, and birch-leaf mountain mahogany shrubbery.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>The gas light appeared. Despite the grave warning, Jon continued to circle.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>\u201cTo the farm!\u201d we proclaimed as we mounted our rides, deeply breathed in the dusty air and pressed forward down the gravelly dirt path. The boys raced faster and faster down the road \u2013 swerving in, out and around the multitudes of hikers, joggers and several groupings who seemed rather befuddled about where they were and\/or how they got there. The peaks and valleys of our route were nothing more than a bunny slope, adding to Search and Destroy\u2019s confidence as they rode along.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>Jon circled.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>We crested the peak of the slope (really just an overeager dirt pile) just before the fork in the road. 1.0 miles to Deer Hollow Farm. \u201cBe careful,\u201d I cautioned. Resolutely they put their feet down to counter-act the downhill descent in front of them. Alas, gravity is a powerful opponent.<\/p>\n

Destroy made it a quarter of the way down. His feet held no traction against the loose dirt of the trail. I saw his bike tilt left as Destroy performed what could only be described as an ungraceful leaping dismount. He tumbled against the side of the hill.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Search FLEW past us. Legs up he shot down the hill like a professional mountain biker \u2013 clutching at his handlebars and a look of sheer terror on his face. The front wheel turned inward, losing its tread. Search was thrown from the bike. He summersaulted over the bike in a vault that would make his gymnastics coach proud and skidded several feet further through the dry brush bordering the hilly crevice of the county park.<\/p>\n

Even Destroy was momentarily stunned into silence.<\/p>\n

Blood oozed from Search\u2019s forehead. A giant bruised goose egg immediately emerged atop the very same spot wounded in last month\u2019s staircase tumble<\/a>. Red scratches streaked down the side of his cheeks. His shoulder bore the brunt of the impact and came away with the visual remnants of an unexpected airborne journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go home!\u201d wailed both boys in harmonic shell-shock.<\/p>\n

\"Caden_Owie_02-16-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>Jon finally found a parking spot and pulled in. \u201cOk, just parked,\u201d Jon texted.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>\u201cWe\u2019re coming back,\u201d I texted. \u201cWipeout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile\u2026 back in the car
\n<\/b>Jon pulled out of the parking spot and headed back to the loading zone where we had initially begun our duel adventures, 20 minutes prior.<\/p>\n

Me and the Muppets
\n<\/b>Once receiving resolute confirmation that we were indeed headed back home, Search re-mounted his bike and set off toward the trailhead in full pout mode \u2013 proudly sporting his well-earned coating of blood, sweat, tears and dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood job getting right back on your bike, bud!\u201d I praised. Because honestly, I was seriously impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have an owie,\u201d Search informed me.<\/p>\n

\"Caden_Wounds_02-16-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We skipped the farm. Instead, we returned home to our own personal family circus \u2013 where there were Band-Aids and chocolate milk to be found.<\/p>\n

\"Caden_Smiling_02-16-14\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday morning. The blue skies called for us to get out of the house. What a perfect day for a bike ride through the nearby open space preserve to visit the local working farm \u2013 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[10,394],"tags":[1514,849,393,1516,1515],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Sbzi-YS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4140,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/bumps-and-bruises-to-be-expected\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":0},"title":"Bumps and Bruises To Be Expected","date":"November 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The forecast called for rain. And the California morning had proven rather gloomy. But muppets were going stir crazy. It was mission critical to get them out of the house to expend some of the pent up energy boiling over. Destroy had knocked all the couch cushions to the floor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","img":{"alt_text":"Monkey Bars","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Monkey-Bars-1024x512.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3435,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/summer-music-in-the-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":1},"title":"Summer Music in the Park","date":"July 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2013 Silicon Valley BBQ Championships were coming to Santa Clara. It sounded entertaining. It also sounded tasty. More importantly, the city was putting it on within walking distance of our house. So when the boys announced they wanted to go to the park at 10 a.m., I decided we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Food"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.streamdoubletrouble.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/BBQ-Championship1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3562,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/being-awesome-at-the-disneyland-dumbo-double-dare-adventure\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":2},"title":"Being Awesome at the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Adventure","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The timing around our summer vacation was twofold. Preschool takes a week off between the end of summer school and the start of a new school year; and I take a great masochistic pleasure in running the Disneyland Half Marathon. So when we returned from Hawaii, our extended family headed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/First-Visit2-292x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3940,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/incident-at-the-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":3},"title":"Incident at the Park","date":"July 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The sultry siren song of a summertime weekend made me do it. It was 5 p.m. on Friday night and still 80 degrees out. Music in the Park was calling our name. It was the perfect recipe for an evening out \u2013 we\u2019d hit up the local sandwich shop and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Manneken_Pis_crop-300x291.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3920,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/the-riverfront-carousel\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":4},"title":"The Riverfront Carousel","date":"June 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the more challenging aspects of a small town vacation with rambunctious newly minted 4-year-olds is finding an intellectually stimulating activity that will still drain the preschoolers of a good deal of energy. To the park! Now, the parks in Albany, Oregon, aren\u2019t like the traditional suburban set-ups us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Vacation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/streamoftheconscious.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Oregon_17_06-05-14-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2853,"url":"https:\/\/streamoftheconscious.com\/parties-pumpkins-and-ponies\/","url_meta":{"origin":3774,"position":5},"title":"Parties Pumpkins and Ponies","date":"October 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThis kind of blog just writes itself, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d smirked Jon as he was sent back to the store for last minute sherbet. It was the annual Mama\u2019s Halloween party. 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