Ella was not a happy camper. Dragging her out of bed at 6:00 a.m. proved to be a difficult feat, achieved only with the promise of stopping by McDonald's to get her a sausage and cheese McMuffin. When we arrived at Oregon Ridge, she had her grumpy, pouty face on, which did not bode well for the 3.5 mile hike through the woods that lay ahead of us.
The hike started at the bottom of a defunct ski slope, then wound through a wooded area filled with roots, rocks, ups and down, several stream crossings and fallen trees to negotiate. I knew that if we could just make it up that ski slope, we'd be ok.
As we trudge up the ski slope, we had the following conversation.
Ella: How far do we have to walk?
Me: Oh, I don't know. Don't worry, it's only a few miles.
Ella: (grunt) I'm tired.
Me: Do you know why we're hiking up this slope?
Ella: Why?
Me: Climbing the slope is supposed to help us understand the difficulties that people who have Parkinson's face every day.
Ella: I don't know what that means.
Me: We're strong and healthy and this is hard for us. Can you imagine if you weren't able to move well enough to walk?
Ella: (grunt)
A few minutes later, about 2/3 of the way up the hill . . .
Ella: I wish Jack was here. At least he'd make me laugh.
I'm happy to say that Ella's mood improved considerably once we got on the hiking trail. It took us an hour and a half to complete the entire hike. She was proud of the fact that she had to help me cross some of the streams. She instructed me to follow her as she navigated her way over several large fallen trees that lay across the path. I think she realized how much fun it was to be outside and spend some time with her mom, doing something physically challenging.
The day started off with grunts and frowns, but ended up like this . . .
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