5/29/2010 Slugs and Birds

Somehow I picked out 50 minutes today with no rain for a nice 2.2 mile walk at the Port. It was actually early evening when I headed out--a time when the birds seem to be quite busy. Just as there are new flowers blooming everywhere, different birds are beginning to appear--many of whom make their way south during the winter and return here for the spring and summer. Today I saw the Gold Finch again, in nearly the same spot, as well as a Purple Finch. I also saw many Barn Swallows darting everywhere. They would practically fly right at me and then fold in their wings and burst over my head. I am wondering if I was near their nests. They were very abundant along the trail that parallels Ovenell Road. I also saw, in the same area, what I think were Violet Green Swallows. Not sure about that, but they had a significant amount of white on them, and were definitely different than the barn swallows. That's one of the things I think I enjoy the most about my walks--the flowers and the birds. I enjoy listening to the birds, and wish I had a tape recorder with me to collect their sounds. I don't do so well walking fast because I am always stopping to look at something new along the way. Today I saw two rabbits on the trail too.

The other thing I saw a lot of today were slugs---everywhere. The trails were covered with them--all the little brown variety--not the yellow-green banana slugs. Lots of water on the trail today, too. Good thing I wore my waterproof trail shoes. Hoping tomorrow is a nicer day--might drive somewhere in my new car to go for a different walk. Here's my route:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/740277

5/28/2010 Urban Walk

Thanks to my friend Joanne who confirmed that there are eaglets in the nest at the Port. Her husband works there and said they have been keeping an eye on them. No pictures today; my walk was 1.5 miles around downtown Seattle. I had a meeting at the Sheraton Hotel, so I parked at the Convention Center and walked over to the Sheraton--not so much of a walk, so when I was done with my meeting, I did a little 30 minute walk around a few downtown blocks, computer bag and all. Surprisingly for how hard it had rained all morning, it wasn't raining much at all during my walk, and there were lots of people out on the streets, not giving me a second look. However, I think I would have appeared a tourist if I'd had my camera with me and started snapping pictures. I stayed on the level ground, walking north and south rather than down any hills-a bit wussy of me, but remember I was carrying my 7 pound computer.  Hopefully the rain will end soon and we'll be back to nice weather and longer walks.

5/27/2010 Eaglets?

Although it was gray day all day today, it didn't rain, and I was able to squeeze in a walk in the early afternoon. I had a little over an hour between conference calls, so I headed to the Port trails to get  in a quick walk. My, but the birds were singing today!  It was fun to listen to them. The swallows were darting around as they always do, and I saw two large hawks today in areas where I hadn't seen them before. They flew pretty close to me, and I am amazed at how large they were. New flowers seem to be appearing every time I walk in the area, and the green tips on the evergreen trees are really pretty now. New cones are starting to form also.

Both of the eagles were back at their nest today down on the lower loop. One was sitting on the nest--you can see make out his white head along the tree--and the other was sitting out a ways on another tree. They made quite a bit of noise as I approached, but you can't really get too close. The tree with the nest is very tall, and its way off the trail. In fact, you'd have to cross a creek to get to it, so I don't know what the eagles thought I was going to do. I am going to have to take my binoculars with me one of these days to see if there are eaglets in the nest. I read that they lay their eggs in mid-March to early April, and it takes them about 35 days to hatch, so if there are any in the nest, I should know pretty soon. I'll keep you posted. Here's my route today: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/737016  1.4 miles.

5/26/2010 Rainy Days

Weird spring we are having here this year. Lots of rain. Today it pretty much poured all day, and finally I ended up heading to the mall for my walk around 5:30 PM. I only did a 35 minute walk, but to alter my route instead of just sticking to the mail mall area, I did a loop through Sears as well. Again, if you keep walking, the store clerks just think you are heading to another department and leave you alone. No pictures again today--this must be getting pretty boring to anyone following me in this blog. Guess you have to put up with the boring to get to the good stuff. I did see lots of other walkers tonight, and the security guard gave me the head nod when he walked by me--not sure what that meant...I am still saddened when I walk through the mall and see all the empty shops--even the food court is only half full--and store clerks are just standing around the stores that are open. the busiest place toight seemed to be the T Mobile stand--not sure if that's good or bad for T Mobile... Tomorrow I hope to get outside again, I did clock 2.8 miles today, though, but not all at the mall.

5/25/2010 Bakerview Trail

I was back in Mount Vernon again today, and by 7:45 PM when I left a friend's house, I still hadn't walked. Across from their place is Bakerview Park, and I pulled in thinking I would walk around the playfields when I noticed people walking along a trail. Sure enough, it is part of a trail that starts at the river in Mount Vernon and winds its way up the hill to the park. I had read about the trail, but couldn't imagine it because it goes all through neighborhoods. I thought it would be on city sidewalks. How wrong I was. It is a very cool trail that seems to wind itself between residential areas. It appears to be newly planted along the way with all sorts of different shrubs and trees and crosses creeks along the way. You would not know you were in the middle of residential areas as you walk along the trail. One of the areas I walked past was the Kulshan Creek neighborhood garden. I would never have seen that if I was driving. It was a very nice evening and the garden was full of people working spreading new gravel on the paths through the garden, as well as working in their own patches.  What a great opportunity for people who live in a city. I only walked 1.67 miles from Bakerview to LaVenture and back, but it was a pleasant walk. Here's my route: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/734731

5/24/2010 Home Again

I slept in a long time this morning since I got home so late last night. Since I had to help a friend with some computer assistance in the early afternoon, I took a quick walk along the way when I stopped for coffee. I walked the parking lot of our strip mall that contains Best Buy, Home Depot, Old Navy, and Olive Garden. I have found that if you stay on the sidewalks as much as you can, people don't look at you oddly as you are walking along. I didn't have my camera with me, as I really didn't plan to take my walk where I did, but I am glad I walked then as the rest of the day was packed. I just walked 30 minutes around the parking lot--kind of in a hurry today. Luckily I caught a time when it wasn't raining, too.  No pics, no route....boring....

5/23/2010 Teaching, Learning, Traveling

Today I finished up the first weekend of my class in Kenosha and then flew home. pretty uneventful day. Clocked in 2.28 miles. I had such a nice walk yesterday, that I felt kind of bad that I didn't get a chance to do another one today. Teaching until 4:30, then driving to the airport and flying home doesn't give me much time to walk. Luckily I am on my feet all day during class and there is usually lots of places to walk in airports. I am getting great at avoiding the people movers--in fact, I felt pretty smug in Seattle as I walked along watching the others on the moving escalators, knowing I was doing a good thing by walking.  The other day I received a $30 certificate from my health insurance provider for meeting the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for exercise. Pretty good bonus for walking every day. No pictures...