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Welcome, Today is May 17, 2008
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Road Side Hiking for the Kids
Link to Original Article here 
Have you ever stopped at a rest stop on a long trip and noticed one of those signs for a "trail" and thought to yourself, "How much of a trail can there be at a rest stop?" I have plenty of times, but my attitude was changed this last weekend.
My sister left some soda in her camp trailer this winter. One of the cans exploded and leaked all over her floor. Last Friday was the first day in a long time that felt nice enough to clean it up. So she gathered her 4 kids and husband to help her clean out the camper. They cleaned and cleaned, but when her kids found out that they weren't heading camping they were bummed and upset. They decided to take the trailer for a "test-run." They called us up and asked if we wanted to go hiking at the rest stop on Interstate 15. I figured we had nothing better to do so we met them at the rest stop for lunch and a little spring warm-up hike.
The entire path was paved, gained a total of 50 ft in elevation, and was .8 miles long. It was not what I would call strenuous. However, the kids LOVED it. They used the GPS to "find" their way around the path, searched for snakes on the lava rocks, viewed dormant volcanoes from an observation tower and even saw a lion in a cave. (Ok so the lion wasn't real, but don't try to convince them otherwise.)
So what did I learn from this exciting trip? I learned that some of the best kept Backcountry Secrets can be found 100 ft from an Interstate. Next time you're travelling a long distance, it might just be worth taking that nature trail hike at the rest stop.
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