greenway

I had a "scheduled day off" today (euphemism for weekend comprised of non- consecutive days), and almost the first words out of the kid's mouth were, "Can we go for a bike ride?" He knows the answer to this is nearly always yes. He's no dummy.

However, it was really windy, and a little cold. Since swimming lessons were on the evening agenda, I decided to load the bikes on the rack and drive us a bit further to the Yakima Greenway, a 10 mile paved path that parallels the Yakima and Naches rivers. (Yakima is typically 10-15 degrees warmer, and a bit less windy than home.) This photograph was taken at a huge playground which we have seen from the freeway many times, but have never been to because (kind of gloriously) it is not accessible by car. You have to walk or bike about a mile to get to it. My kid devised an obstacle course for himself, complete with a crazy scoring system and video game style "boss battles." A girl, several years older, stopped with her father while we were there, and he was surprised at how long she wanted to stay. It's a really nice playground.

We rode a little over four miles out to a point where the path continues, but involves crossing a busy overpass and riding in a bike lane in traffic. If I had been alone, I wouldn't have hesitated, but with the kid, it seemed the appropriate place to turn around. We finished with the wind at our backs, pedaling past lots of folks fishing, and there was a park volunteer scooting around in a golf cart, offering cold water served in those cone shaped paper cups.

I rode my Bianchi because I knew there would be no need for the electric assist, and it is so much lighter than the e-bike. Much easier to maneuver on the rack.

We went to look at refrigerators, but did not buy one. The kid liked the big stainless steel, french door, bottom freezer model, on sale for a mere $2700. The salesman told him he had excellent taste.

I also did not go put a deposit on Rock Band. This was more a time crunch than any kind of good sense on my part. Oh, and we watched a commercial for the Aerosmith Guitar Hero game, which made me laugh (in a good way). "Sweet Pandora, smelling like a flora" being one of the most awesomely bad rock lyrics ever.