...it tastes more like a slug than a banana

We headed West this weekend.  First we spent two hours at the beach then the boardwalk then the birthday of a certain little cricket and her mommy.  We forgot the camera so you'll have to just take our word for how fun Saturday was!

Sunday, we returned to hike the Fall Creek Trail.  It was beautiful and this spot quickly rose to the top of our list of local favorites. 

The meandering paths are flanked by a creek and towering Redwood trees and several varieties of ferns, ivy and clover.  I especially loved this clover because the leaves looked like hearts.

There were big bright spots of these blue flowers too!

Our girls love to hike and search for sticks and bugs and this trail really delivered!  We found fantastic walking sticks right away and Maddy spotted a Banana Slug immediately after that.  From that moment on, they searched for more banana slugs and counted 7 before we turned around and headed back.    

On the way back, Gwen collected 'orphaned' banana slugs and carried them on leaves or sticks until we found another slug.  Then she'd lovingly place the "lonely" slug next to its new "friend".    She was especially on the lookout for young (small) banana slugs because she thought they might be babies and even more in need of families.

Obviously, she's not squeamish about slugs and bugs and other icky stuff.  And even though I was repulsed by these disgusting things, I hid my contempt because I knew they were harmless and I really admired her courage and compassion for them.  After staring at them for two hours, I think they might actually be pretty (in a slimy mollusky kind of way). 

Once again, I'm making a mental note to double check the presence of that second x chromosome in Gwenny because I could swear she's actually a boy.   I had to stop her from picking these things up with her bare hands! 

On the way back to the van, the kids said they were hungry and we said we had a snack for them and jokingly suggested that it would be the banana slugs and Maddy announced that they'd be gross because they tasted more like slugs than bananas!  As if she knows what a slug tastes like?  We got quite a laugh out that that!

 

Here she is at the base of a huge kiln constructed in the 1870's.  It was designed to fire limestone into powder and it was operational until the 1920's.  Now it's overrun with ferns and moss and its' really beautiful.

After a few hours on this trail, we headed downtown for lunch and sightseeing and shopping.  Then home where the girls resumed their search for gastropods in the backyard and complained when it was time to come inside for the night.   

Dinner consisted of ravioli and cheesy toast but, for some reason, there were no takers for our favorite fruit:  Bananas.  :)