Friday morning came with an amazing gift of sleeping in for both of us! However, we soon realized that all 3 of us needed something to do, especially after the Toyota dealership irritated the begeezus out of me! So, we decided to go to Kubota Garden since we missed it on our last park hopping adventure. We loaded up the Garmin and off we went! (By the way, how did anyone ever get anywhere before GPS? ha ha ha)
We arrived at Kubota Garden and didn't think much of it and were a little scared! One of the first things you see is a sign alerting you of high car prowling and to be sure to secure your items out of sight! We grabbed a map at the entrance and within a few steps in we were blown away! The lawns were lush and green. The plants were unique and beautiful. The paths were winding, sometimes muddy, and numerous!!! We ended up spending 2 hours or more there and didn't even see the whole place! It was such an amazing find and we will definitely be going back!!! Thank you The Dog Lovers Guide to the Pacific Northwest by Val Mallinson!!
Saturday proved to be a treat as well! We found more parks that were fun and challenging! We started the day out at Flaming Geyser State Park and were a bit disappointed that we weren't able to go hiking on the trails because they had been washed out. The park was your typical state park though...nice, big green lawns set along side the river, and it appeared to have some good fishing spots. We will definitely be going back when the trails are in use again!
Next, we went to Clark Lake Park. The park itself is very quiet for being in the city! It was like someone bought a huge block of land and just left it how it was found except to add a few well groomed trails and a few roughly groomed trails around the lake. Here I found some very pretty and fuzzy subjects that miraculously stayed put while I snapped away with my camera!! Channon met another boxer, Ozzie, who looked just like him only without the white on his nose!
We tried to head over to Lake Wilderness Park next, however, there was a HUGE festival going on and we could barely even drive down the road. We decided to come back another day when it wasn't going to be so busy!!
At this point, it was getting late in the day so we decided to make one last stop and decided on Marine View Park. It's totally a hole in the wall type of a park. It's located on a residential street and as soon as you pull into the parking lot it seems like you entered a totally different world!! It's a lush forest on a cliff/HUGE hill overlooking Puget Sound. We wound our way through the primitive trail and down the dozens of wooden steps to the small beach. Lots of rocks, driftwood, and amazing views every direction you looked! The hike back up, however, would be a challenge for even an Iron Man!
Sunday proved to be a bit of a disappointment. We went to Kayak Point, River Meadows, and Jennings Memorial Park. I swear we spent more time driving than we did in any of the parks, however, we did enjoy a few things here and there.
Kayak Point boasted lots of rocky beach and open picnic areas. We walked along the beach for a while letting Channon play in the sand (seems to be a new favorite thing for him!) and ended up taking up the hunt for baby crabs. We found hundreds of them!
River Meadows is just that...huge open meadows right beside a river. There were a few places along the river that looked like it might have good fishing and the park hosted the LARGEST Banana Slug I have ever seen!! Other than that it was pretty boring! :(
Our last stop, Jennings Memorial Park, was interesting. It had playgrounds for both kids and adults, a fishing pond for kids, and some trails that just looped through everything. The only really interesting find here was a squirrel that was very interested in being a model for me! :)
After a long weekend of park hopping, we found ourselves tired and in need of some couch time to recoup! However, the plans are already in the works for our next adventure!
Enjoy a FEW of the pictures that I took while we were out and about over the weekend!
Stayed tuned for more updates as the Adventures of Sam, Ryan, and Channon continue!
Until next time,
Sam, Ryan and Channon
Kubota Garden
Flaming Geyser State Park
Clark Lake Park
Marine View Park
Kayak Point
River Meadows
Jennings Memorial Park
