The National Park system is encouraging families to get out and explore this year.  If you have a fourth grader, you can show a pass you print out and the whole family gets in for free.  Of course, we did all of this after Tommy bought our membership online.  So, we call that a donation.

We often find out things after the fact.  We were excited to make it to Hurricane Ridge as we had been told the hikes were easy and there were 360 degree views of the area.  We saw silohettes of hikers on the edge as we drove up the 6,000 ft road, ready for our turn. We got out of the truck to make our first trek and there it is:  no pets allowed.  Learning this after we brought Cleo instead of leaving her in the kennel…we call this annoying.  The only helpful fact was learning there were bear in the area and we didn’t want to be in a position of deciding between our kids or our dog.  Depending on the day that could make for a tough decision.

Tommy kept Cleo the day before for us to do a waterfall hike so I took the shift today.  We took ourselves a selfie looking out over the ridge.

Then we discovered snow.  Cleo loves snow.  First thing she did was lay down flat to soak up all of the cold she could muster, then leapt and slid down the icy hill.

It’s a wonder to see sun and ice simultaneously.  The kids climbed up in shorts and made snowballs.  Deer grazed nearby.

It is a beautiful spot and despite we couldn’t take the trek all together, the tailgate provided a great perch for lunch.

Wilson wanted more than a memory for a souvenir…and it is right on the money..the mountains are calling.