Goodbye Winter!

I promised part 2 of my Challenge project today . . . but . . .  I would like to save that until Thursday, if you don't mind.  The reason for my change is the change in the weather!!!  Today is the first day of Spring, although technically here on the west coast, it was yesterday at about 10:09 pm PST.   Hubby and I took a walk by the river a few days ago and I never reported on it.  It is a winter story, and so I wanted to place it here, between winter and spring, chronologically.

We often eat our lunch in our car riverside where the Clackamas and the Willamette Rivers intersect in the Southern portion of the Portland area.  (A great article on the Clackamas River.) This particular day was balmy with warm sunshine.

 

We walked on the sandy beach created by the river's low level, while hubby and I took pictures, enjoying the exercise and the sunshine. I enjoyed the ducks, the geese, and the calmness of the water. 

I even snapped a few artsy photos of the sand!

We walked a little further up river and found signs of last months flooding--debris left in the trees about ten feet above hubby's head! I did a post about the high water last month.  You can see it here.

Gladstone bridge over the Clackamas River

 Thanks for allowing me this deviation from the plan and taking this stroll with us.  Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!  Although it's still supposed to snow later this week!  Scheech! 

P.S.  One more photograph of something we found on the beach, tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday!

Destination? On an Afternoon Stroll?

[Fourth and final installment]

Destination? On an afternoon stroll? We weren't heading for any destination, just passing the time on a blustery day. I guess the end of the path is a destination. What was at the end of the path, you say?


Well, the path ended at another parking area. A circle area to turn your car around adjacent to a concrete pumping station and an abandoned steel bridge above the river. Exploring the bridge, we found it to be, mostly probably, an old rail crossing. The railroad ties were no longer in place, but it wasn't wide enough for cars to pass. If we made an 180 degree turn from the bridge, we looked back down the main street of Gladstone, a sleepy little Portland suburb. This street, called Portland Avenue, if I'm not mistaken, has a rail car track of a bygone era down the middle of it.

Back at the bridge, high above the Clackamas River, the painted green steel was an interesting but cold and stark deviation from the lovely Autumn scene we had been experiencing. We decided not to scramble down a well trodden rut to the river. We really didn't have the energy to try to get back up the hill. Besides, this was a leisurely stroll, not a strenuous hike! So, we spent a little time picking up seed pods from the trees; throwing them up in the air and watching them flutter down like helicopters. I felt like a kid again! As we tired of the pitching and fluttering, we turned around and headed back to the car, retracing our steps and taking one last look at the little park, the river and the autumn color. The end to a perfect stroll!

Thrice Upon an Afternoon Stroll

I'm an asphalt path edged by a sliver of a grassy park on one side and a bark covered barrier on the river side. I provide a nice, wide walkway for several friends to walk together, arm and arm if they like! Plenty of room for that family with their large dog. They are having such a good time. Better than that last boy that allowed his dog to leave it's deposit on my tufted edge!

Here comes a cute couple, hand in hand. She's clutching her jacket tight around her neck; her hair is flowing around her head. I wonder what causes that action? Hmmm . . . Leaves fly upward as the man kicks them from my surface. Is he the landscaper to take care of me? They slow their pace and stand next to the barrier, don't they know that a path is for walking?

Now they are sitting on a bench. Have they abandoned their destination? Don't they know that a path is for getting to ones goal? Well, maybe a change of heart. They are moving again. They sure aren't intentional, walking from the grassy side and pausing, then to the barrier side. They will never get to the end of the path with their casual style! Oh well, they're enjoying the stroll.

Twice Upon an Afternoon Stroll

After driving to the riverside park, we parked in a space strewn with dry leaves. The wind on our faces was a little chilly so we pulled on our light jackets and began to walk the asphalt path above the river. A trendy lady and her long trench coated companion catapulted past us with their Airedale Terrier, like we were standing still. I wondered if we had cooties! But, no bother, it was a crisp day and the river view was awesome. We found a river facing bench to settle upon. NO sooner had we sat down than the wind gusts picked up, stinging our faces again. I pulled my jacket tight around my neck and suggested to my husband that we continue walking to stay warm. Three chatty ladies in jogging suits and walking shoes came toward us. Although they all gave us a little smile, the lingering eye contact from one face with a blond page boy do and a wide intentional smile was refreshing. As we passed, I was tempted to glance back at her, she seemed nice. As gusts died down, we paused by the railing to take another look at a stretch of rapids. The soothing whisper of the winds in the trees and the roar of the rapids created a superb end to our afternoon.

Once Upon an Afternoon Stroll

This afternoon, after my near meltdown, my husband took me on a walk by the river. The path was on the bluff above the river. And believe me, He didn't want to give me a push and I didn't want to jump! (a little humor :) Anyway, it was a crisp blustery autumn day. We watched the river from a path-side bench, spying out the deeper channel courses and the sandy bars. We made an imaginary route of how we would cross the river, if we had to, like the pioneers of old. We noticed the rock formations, some water smoothed granite boulders and oddly enough, a side bar of what looked like sandstone! From my geology class days, these two seemed an unlikely duo for a river bed.

We enjoyed all the foliage in various stages of fall decay and color. We had a good time identifying trees, i.e. maples, oaks, evergreens, dogwood, sycamore and a few we couldn't identify. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful afternoon, and it averted what would have been a lousy afternoon. My husband is really pretty savvy about how to deal with his out of sorts wife! It was a great date!