Outings! – Bryan Johnston Park
Welcome! Welcome back to another issue(?) of Outings! This week we’re visiting a previously unknown (to us) park despite the less than ideal weather conditions. Bryan Johnston Park In a sprawling, upper-middle class neighborhood, where all the houses are just various shades of “neutral,” sits Bryan Johnston Park. The view from the on-street parking is of shining playground equipment, concrete picnic tables, and massive, looming conifer trees. It isn’t until you’re on foot, walking down that east-most paved path, that you start to get a sense of the sheer size of the park. The path turns to bark dust and flows down the hill as the field slopes south into a stand of Western Red Cedars. Then it hooks back west until you climb back up the hill to loop back to the street. Just a little exertion to keep you warm on a day like today. Back at the…
Outings! – Alsea Falls and Green Peak Falls
Welcome! For the first time, Outings! will cover an actual hike! Usually this series has reviewed a city or county park, but with Monday being a holiday I used it as an excuse to get out into the woods. I also managed to drag my spouse, our best friend Bolt, and her dog Yuki along for the ride! Alsea Falls and Green Peak Falls About an hour southwest of our house is an entire recreational site I’d never even heard of before. The Alsea Falls Recreational Area is located in the eastern side of the Coast Range, and follows the South Fork of the Alsea River. There’s a network of biking and running trails, hiking trails near the falls (which this post is about), as well as campgrounds. Swimming and fishing holes abound in the warmer months, but cold, wet weather doesn’t keep Oregonians from spending time in the park. …
Outings! – Steam Donkey Trail
Welcome Welcome to the… fourth(?) installment of Outings! I wasn’t able to walk at home this week due to some serious time commitments, but I managed to sneak in a short walk on the drive out to the coast. For better or worse. Steam Donkey Trail The Steam Donkey Trail was an unexpected delight on my journey Northwest to Seaside, Oregon this weekend. Equally unexpected was the snow in the mountains, which was the whole reason I stopped at the Sunset Rest Stop in the first place. Everywhere I looked was a dirt road or trailhead that had me absolutely salivating to explore, but I was on the clock, didn’t have any gear with me, and I was alone. So when the sign for the rest stop came up, I decided to pull in and take a couple pictures of the winter wonderland, and then be on my way. But, in…
Outings! – Orchard Heights Park
Welcome! Welcome to the third installment of Outings! If you’re new here, please check out the early installments to get a sense of what this whole series is all about. Orchard Heights Park This is a lovely neighborhood park in a pretty affluent part of town. It’s tucked back behind a retirement home and some winding housing blocks. You would never expect the park to be so big or have so much to offer, which makes it quite the gem! The main area of the park has brand new tennis courts (4 full courts!), a basketball court, two baseball pitches, a children’s playground and a small, fenced off-leash area for dogs. There’s also a paved path circling all of this. And across the drive are butterfly and community gardens. All of this would be enough to rate this park pretty dang high. It just offers so much in a very…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #41
This was a busy and very productive week, complete with a trip to Portland to do some research and see some writing friends! Let’s get to talking about it! Last Week Submit Victoria Workout and/or Read 30 minutes a day Decompress from Fiction How’d I Do? Submit Victoria Yes!!!! Yes Yes YES! Workout and/or Read 30 minutes a day Yep! Decompress from Fiction Yes? Maybe… not? Weekly Word Count: 2,517 Let’s get the screaming over with: VICTORIA IS DONE! She is DONE! The novella is revised and submitted and she is DONE! She’s gone, flew the coop and into someone else’s brain! GOODBYE! Okay. Now that’s done, I’ll admit I didn’t feel so giddy about it in the moment. I felt nervous, sending out this little, but ambitious book. It’s strange and complicated and carries a lot of my darkness in it. Actually sending it felt weighty, and I was very somber…