Another Fun Time

This crazy pandemic that's been going on all spring has limited our ability to get around and visit as much as we'd have liked to.  Early in the year we'd had plans to go visit Erdbeere but then everything in both our states shut down and that was off the table.  But through perseverance, we were able to still put together a time to meet up for some fun on the bikes as things began to ease up and travel became a little more doable.  And so the day arrived and we loaded up the bikes for some fun times!

We met at a parking area along the Peace Trail in Janesville.  The Peace Trail is about 6.5 miles of paved trail, much of which runs along the Rock River, which comes into town from the south.  We were not planing on doing the whole trail, just part of it. So we all held still for a picture before hitting the trail and then we were off!

This was a nice little trail, lots of shade and some nice spaces along the way.

There was a butterfly garden we stopped at, lots of butterflies hanging about.

Plenty of other flowers along the way.

Cruising in style!

I like bridges, I think they make for fun pictures.  Plus, they're often fun to go over, especially when they're rumbly. Alas, none of the bridges we crossed on this trip were noisy.  But they're still fun.

It was a fun ride.

The "turn-around point" on this ride was a playground.  It had looked promising when I had been scoping out the ride.

It did not disappoint.  So we had some lunch and then the boys got to the best part - exploring and playing.

The one thing that seemed to be the biggest hit was the roller slide.  The kids spent a lot of time on it.

They each went down it plenty of times.

Then they had to try going up.  After all, every kid finds delight in climbing up a slide!

Roller slides, however, are pretty tough to get up.

Even the grownups had to give it a try.  Its a whole different feel.

Eventually, it was time to go.  The hill we had all struggled to get up after we turned away from the river was a lot of fun going back down.  The ride back always goes quicker than the ride out.  I've always figured its because it was new and inexperienced on the way out but more familiar going back.  In any case, it was a fun end to a real fun afternoon.  It was so very nice to get out and have fun with these folks we had been unable to see for a while.