Yesterday we took the kids for a hike in Payson, Arizona. We couldn't afford a weekend away since we're saving for a big trip to southern Utah in October, so we decided to take a day trip. It felt fantastic to get out of the heat in Phoenix for the day and the hike was pretty nice, despite Girlie's frequent protests that it was too hot, too long, and her legs were hurting. I might have felt a little sorrier for her, but the litany of complaints started about 100 feet into the hike.
Little Guy wasn't complaining since he spent most of the time in a pack on Hubs' back. We all managed to push through it and Girlie picked up the pace once we reminded her that the faster she went, the quicker the whole thing would be over. The hike was 2.7 miles, ranked as moderate, and had a few tricky places. I was pretty proud of Girlie for making it, though we played down the difficulty the entire time. At the end, she collapsed to the ground and declared that she couldn't make it the final five feet to our car.
Ah, the drama. I have no idea where she gets it.
On the way home, we stopped at a dive called the Beeline Cafe for burgers, fries, and cherry shakes. The food was delicious and the run down restaurant might just be the best kept secret in Payson. Over patty melts, Hubs asked me to rank the hike on a scale of 1 to 5. It was hard to separate the overall experience from the amount of "coaching" we did to complete it, but I told him I would give it a 3. Just as we were leaving the restaurant, Girlie told our waitress that the food was the best meal she had ever eaten. She grabbed my hand and said it was the best day ever.
And that is just how it goes with kids. You struggle to rank the experience by the mile or the hour. But, occasionally you order a cherry shake and the whole thing seems like a 5 out of 5.
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