Mulkey Creek and Blackberries

The kiddos and I took off for Corvallis late this morning for a slow hike up Mulkey Creek. I wanted to hide another letterbox up there and I wanted the kids to get some fresh air. The hike is a little over four miles with a good uphill climb, a stretch for the boy, but he made it with only a little help from me.

Along the way we had to pick some very tasty blackberries. For some reason, I have not really picked berries since my days as a forester. Perhaps I got to used to trying to kill them to really enjoy them anymore. Today sure brought back some great memories of my mom's blackberry cobblers and pies. I also recall the wretched scratches and the enormous brightly colored spiders we would find in the brambles when trying to pick the darn things. We had some huge bushes that grew right next to the irrigation pond. We would swim right up to them and eat away, while cooling off in the pond. Good times.

Anyway - I got some cute shots of the kiddos and wanted to share with the grandmas. You may notice the girl is wearing a very pretty dress. It's called picking your battles. This was not one I wanted to fight today. She was wearing shorts underneath :-).