Backpacking

Stomach flu running through the whole family can take an entire two weeks out of a month. Our schedule has for sure been thrown off and blogs, painting, etc. were not even in the cards during this time. Now, with a clean bill of health all around, we are all back and ready to take on the day. After resting for what felt like a very long while, the baby and I decided to go for a backpacking trip. We had a quick out-and-back due to weakness and needing to build back up muscle strength in the Mama. She had been asking to go backpacking for several days and I did not want to disappoint. Lake Mead Recreation Area is a great place for quick out-and-backs. The trailheads are right off the road for most of the mild hikes. We found a lovely spot and went out just the two of us. Here is a little sketch from our book about what we did while out there.

A beautiful bird with blue on its tail feathers joined us for a short amount of time. It watched us from a perch in a hueco on the rock formation and then proceeded to fly low around us. The bird had a wonderful call or chirp. I love their specific communication calls and wish I could identify this little wonder. We collected rock sediments, dirt, and watched how they flowed through our fingers into the wind. A lovely textile experience and quite enjoyable for both of us. There was also much fascination with our shadows and creatures we created along the walk. The baby did a wonderful job walking some of the way and loved being in the backpack for the rest of the journey. I hope you have all been well and I look forward to writing this blog again now that we are feeling better. I wish you all a Terrific Thursday and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard