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“Flip a Coin” Road Trip (and Roll the Dice)

With all the heavy rains the last couple weeks here in Deep East Texas, we decided hiking this weekend, was probably not a great idea. We couldn’t think of any trails that would be accessible and not a muddy mucky mess! So we decided to go for a drive!

As always, the question arises, “Where do you want to go?” The solution was easy… flip a coin!

The rules of our newly thought up game were simple… get to an intersection, and flip a coin… heads is right and tails is left! But then we decided that if we flipped too many rights in a row we would be driving in circles or we may never leave the city limits even if we did have a nice mix of lefts and rights! So we decided to flip a coin for direction and roll the dice to see how many roads to pass before we made our turn!

We  had to get gas and make a snack run first, that is VERY important. After the errands were taken care of at the end of the store driveway, we flipped the coin “Left”… we headed out. I started up my “Map My Ride” app so I could map where all we ended up!
Flip… “Right” … roll the dice… “6” So down the road we went!! My youngest had his compass in tow and was advising us which direction we headed. I looked at the trucks navigation to confirm each time! Happy to see him learning to read his compass, “60 degrees northeast!”

Five right hand roads behind us we turn down a familiar road around the lake areas.  We flipped again, “Left” and rolled the dice ‘3” we bumped along the back road hoping to see something interesting to take pictures of along the way. We came to our turn before we knew it, and hadn’t had a chance to take a picture. At this particular turn there is a forestry parking area. Hubby said he has seen hunters and horse riders in this area so he figured that is why there was a parking area. I suggested we park and get out and at least try to find something interesting to look at before heading on down the road again.

As we parked, hubby mentioned he had noticed one day that there was a trail off to the side or this parking area. He thought it was an old abandoned road that got rerouted. I head off to look and sure enough, a new hiking trail was discovered!!

As was began our nature walk through the forest, I started my “Map My Fitness” app and paused my “Map My Ride” app. I wanted to keep my real exercise separate from my “setting on my butt” road trip!
The road-turned-trail was very well maintained with a gravel roadway and a nice wide path. The only exception was the culvert that was broken and the road washed away around at the very beginning of the trail but it was easily stepped over, helping keep the traffic limited to pedestrians.

The hike was extremely pleasant. The only sounds to be heard this far off the beaten path was the sounds of nature and giggling kids.

You couldn’t hear the busy roads but the remnants of the past was still evident along the way. Old road signs and abandoned concrete bridges dotted the trail sides.

My oldest and my hubby discussed how they would love to live off in the woods like this (or at least camp.) It was so peaceful and mostly untouched my outsiders. My youngest imagined all the ways he could put his newly learned Outdoor Survival skills to the test if we did live out here. Daughter enjoyed the idea of getting horses and riding down this trail one day. We often let our imaginations run wild out on the trails as we walk and talk. There is no better place to get lost in your thoughts than in nature.

My eldest took pictures, my littles scuffled, and hubby and I walked hand and hand. We very much needed this time away for “life” for a moment of living.

I was disappointed to turn around at 1 1/4 mile but I knew as out of shape as I was I had to be able to make it back to the truck with my bad knee. After a brief rest on the side of the bridge, we headed back. 2.5 miles and 560 calories burned we made it back to the parking area.

We started our Road Trip game again! We ended up going to a couple other lakeside areas. We saw how high the lake had gotten with all the flooding rains. We noticed someone left behind their tent when the rains came in. I can imagine they left in a hurry scared of flooding. In one area a person was pretty smart and set up tent under one of the closed off pavilions. Boat ramps were hard to navigate under the encroaching water but there were plenty of people still using the ramps, got to love the diehard fishermen!

After a couple hours of our game and exploring from the truck all the areas our coins & dice took us, we headed home. The best part of the trip was the hike which we would have never found had it not been for the flip of the coin!

Educational aspects of this activity:

• Probability – Coin Flips and Dice rolls
• Compass Skills – learning how to read a compass
• Map Skills – mapping where we were and where we were going
• Photography Skills – multiple skills practiced in nature
• Physical Education – Walking distance and calories burned
• Imagination & Creativity – Exploring the World through Nature, Imagination, and Play

The app “Map my Ride” was designed for cyclist but it recorded our travels in the truck just the same. We traveled a total of 42.48 miles in a little less that two hours (not including the hour hike)…  if only the calories “burnt” riding in the truck was legit!! I would be the skinniest person ever burning that many calories road tripping!! Ha-ha!

~Becky

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