Adventure Saturday

I've never thought of myself as crazy until I married Brandon and moved to Tajikistan.  Every Saturday I cook up another scheme to go out and have an adventure.  And every time, despite all of my careful planning, there's always one point where Brandon swears that we can't be friends ever again.  

Last Saturday was no different.  We decided to head south where the drive took us through fields of fruit trees that were, unfortunately, not bloom yet.  I had scoured satellite maps of the area for likely hiking site - canyons that were steep enough to have trees on the sides - and found a good candidate.  It looked pretty straightforward from the map.  Unfortunately, the map wasn't very good at showing elevation.

Or streams to ford.  We bought a four-wheel drive vehicle for a reason, so we made it through the village to where the "road" petered out, parked the car and started walking.  That's pretty much the recipe for finding a hike here - point your car at the mountains, drive until the road gives out, get out, and start hiking.

The country is covered in sheep trails, so just follow the sheep trails and the water and you won't go wrong.

The day was a stunningly beautiful early spring day - sunny and crisp with vividly green grass carpeting the hillsides.

We crossed streams,

looked rugged,

picked flowers,

and of course, at snacks.  And then threw rocks into the stream after eating snacks.

I was clever this time and brought our backpacking chairs and so after snacks Brandon and I luxuriously lounged in the clear spring sunshine while the children threw rocks, messed in the mud, and enjoyed doing whatever children do when they're left to themselves.  Kathleen and Sophia collected various rocks and sticks to take home with them and use in their dollhouse.

One day Edwin's going to love re-creating that face for a picture redo.

"Mommy, take a picture of me!!!"

Eleanor approves of this hike.