I have been blogging for around a year now, and exploring places with my kids for even longer. That said, I haven’t had many adventures go quite as sideways as yesterday morning’s trip to Quiet Waters Park. Pebble was excited to go, and Rainbow was curious about the place. We dropped Stormy at school, loaded the bikes in the van and set out. It costs $6 to enter the park, and we parked in the lot outside the Blue Heron Center. I didn’t want to park anywhere near the playground, as we are still avoiding them due to Covid. There were no restrooms here, but there are elsewhere in the park, and I had the portable potty in my pack.
I should have known then that this trip was doomed. On the other side of the lot, we saw a tractor loading mulch in a truck bed. Pebble was terrified of the trucks and the noise they were making. I managed to coax her out of the car, and get her helmet on. Once Rainbow was suited up, off we went with me hoping we didn’t see the truck or tractor again.
We passed the Dogwood Pavilion and set out on the paved pathway to Harness Creek. The woods were quiet and peaceful, cooler than out in the hot sun. Both girls were enjoying themselves when the truck and tractor made a reappearance, driving toward us from the creek area. We pulled over to the side to let them pass. Pebble was very upset and wouldn’t look at them. The noise was too much for her. After the vehicles passed, we got back on the trail, and quickly discovered what the workers were doing. A tree had fallen, and pulled a section of pavement up. The workers were filling the gap in with mulch.
It didn’t take us long to reach Harness Creek. Both Pebble and Rainbow were excited about exploring the dock area. It was beautiful! Pebble loved watching the boats tooling along, and Rainbow liked the names of the boats.
After watching the boats for a while, we turned around and headed back toward the Dogwood Pavilion, and the main path that circles the park. Just our luck, we got to the downed tree just as the vehicles showed up with a fresh load of mulch. They stopped working to let us pass. Pebble refused to go past them, so I held her hand and carried her bike.
Once we reached the Dogwood Pavilion, we took a right. Pebble relaxed because the vehicles were on a different path. The plan was to follow the park path down to the dog beach, and then bike back to the car. Unfortunately, this plan was shot out of the water…
When we passed the Blue Heron Center, we made the next right to go toward South River. Shortly down the path, we found ourselves standing at the top of a hill. It was steep, and I immediately suggested to Rainbow that she walk her bike down. Rainbow negated my idea, and learned a hard, painful lesson. She made it most of the way down the hill, but wasn’t using her brakes enough. She wiped out, landing badly on her right side. I told Pebble to stay put at the top of the hill, and ran down to Rainbow. She was a mess! Her right arm had taken the brunt of the fall. I collected her bike, and we headed / limped for the car.
The poor kid didn’t stop crying for a long time… I felt so bad for her… She’d skinned her knee, and her arm had a serious case of road rash. The car wasn’t far away, something I was beyond grateful for, so I loaded the girls and bikes up, and headed for home. Our adventure lasted less than an hour, and it is one mom will never forget! We ended up at the pediatrician’s office to make sure the arm wasn’t broken, it wasn’t thank heavens, and the nurse carefully finished cleaning the wound. I’d tried at home, but it was hard with her screaming. One of the nurses even gave her a popsicle.
Rainbow has been happily showing off her road rash to any and all that show interest in it. She also told me that if we go back to Quiet Waters, she will walk her bike down that hill. Interestingly enough, the nurse practitioner who checked her arm and helped clean her up, knew the exact hill Stormy had crashed on. Her daughter also had a bad fall on that same hill! If you go to Quiet Waters with bikes, def beware the hill near the Heron Center! It is a great park, and we do plan to come back someday, when the memories of today are dimmed. Happy trails and be safe!