Secret Hiking Spot (and a new friend)
pamelamyers | May 15, 2016
The first graders at her school recently went on a hike as their field trip. The pictures that her friend, Julia’s, mom posted made me very curious about where they were. It turned out to be a wooded park right here in Springfield that Mark and I had been wondering about for years! We always knew it was there, but could never figure out how to get in. All of the borders of the park seem to be against local roads and you would have to climb down massive hills to get in. I asked Julia’s mom, Mina, and she told me they entered from behind the school. Well, Mark and I needed a new place to explore so we set off to find our way into the park! Mark drove around to the area where we can actually see the park and we went from there, going into some residential areas and hoping to find an entrance point. He has found a lot of “hidden” playgrounds that way while biking around so he thought maybe we’d find the park that way too. Sam had her own plan which she wrote out in the car: “Plan. Go look. You’re there.”
After a very short time looking (thank God I was not driving because I would have been completely lost even though we were about 1 minute from the major Springfield roads), Mark found an entrance, right in the middle of a street, between houses. Off we went! It turned out to be beautiful! Quiet, peaceful, and with enough fun things for Sam to explore to keep it interesting. We stopped to take a nice photo in the woods. Sam and Mark have matching hats. We wanted her to wear a hat and she insisted on wearing one of Mark’s hats instead of her own. She loves when they match in any way shape or form.
Sam offered to take one of us too.
We couldn’t believe this beautiful place was here all this time. There was even a stream or creek or something that we could cross. Sam’s a typical kid – she loves to tromp through the water!
She found this huge leaf and carried it the whole time.
After walking a while, we started to see rooftops and figured it must be the school, so we went to see where we wound up. It turns out, we came out at the ET Richardson school, the middle school right next door to Sam’s school. There is an entrance there, and you can follow a paved path the entire way behind the school and come out at Sam’s kindergarten. Who knew? We came out where the first grade playground is, something I have never been able to find! Sam had a great time playing and having the whole thing to herself. She saw it out the window when she was at Science Club this year.
The area for the first graders, and the equipment, is much bigger than the kindergarten area. But really, it’s perfectly sized for her. She has grown so much.
We walked around the playground to find the front of the school and saw a groundhog run by from a distance. Right after that, Sam asked us if she could run on the A-B-C walk. We said it was ok but then quickly had to stop her. A baby groundhog was using it! I guess that is why Mama Groundhog was out. Sam was beyond excited. It made her whole day. She managed to get pretty close without the baby running. We made Sam stop though before getting too close.
How cute is this little thing? We saw its brother or sister over by the wall too. So adorable. Sam wants to take the photos to school. We assured her she’d be the most popular kid in class the next time she was at school!
After leaving the groundhog, we explored the outdoor classroom, as they call it, and started back toward the car. We still had a way to go back through the woods. She’s still got that leaf!
Sam had a giant stick she started using as a walking stick. She had to stop to show us how she could balance it on her head. Not bad!
It was really a great day. We always love being outdoors and exploring as a family, and now we found a place right in our own backyard, so to speak. I’m sure we’ll be back soon!
When we got home, Sam drew a picture of our day. She included pictures of all the things we saw, including some amazingly fragrant flowers. It’s her way of making a memory. I am glad we all look so happy in the photo. I knew she had a good time, but it’s nice to see proof of it once in a while.
