Not Quite Spring at Bear Creek Park

Last week, in order to give my daughter a break, I took #1 grandson to Bear Creek Park, not far from where they live. Be sure to check out this site for gorgeous photos - more than I've included here.

Bear Creek Park is a great place for children and adults alike, having beautiful gardens featuring a variety of horticultural treasures in a tranquil setting, a jogging track, paths through forested areas, a fantastic children's playground, and a train that travels through the woods. This children's train runs on a 15" narrow gauge track and the steam locomotive is named "Chough" (pronounced Chuff) was built in 1968. Although built in Holland and now resident in Canada, this locomotive ran in Scotland and Wales, as well as South, West, East and Northern England!

Our visit included, naturally, a trip to the playground area, and then as Noah rode his little two-wheeler ahead of me, I followed along the trail through the forest. It was a fairly warm day with the sun fully out, necessitating sunglasses. Next time we go, we'll take a different route and look through the garden area to see what we can find.

First off, I saw this stunning birch tree, bare from winter, but with just the beginnings of growth showing on its branches.

I could have used the following photo for the "I Spy" theme for today, but didn't even realize myself that you can just make out Noah crossing the bridge on his teeny bike.

We spent quite a while on this bridge because Noah wanted to practise some mountain biking by riding up to the top of the ridge and zooming back down over the bumps and muddy areas before finally stopping to gaze down at the water below.

I managed to get some shots of the waters below. There are always ducks living in the area and we were lucky to spy a male and female preening themselves on some rocks. No babies yet, though, so we'll have to go back to see their family.

The water was quite low, but soon it will rise as the snow melts off the mountains and we'll see more water fowl and lots of fish here.

Of course, I think the highlight of the day, for me, was seeing a little boy waving to the engineer on the train as he took it for a spin getting it ready for all the children who will soon be clambering for a ride.