Park Tour 2010

Forty-One. That's how many we went to.

Yes. Forty-one parks lay within the Logan City boundaries.

Yes. We visited all forty-one.

Yes. We need jobs.

Taylor and I picked up a map of the "Logan Vicinity" at our local Holiday Inn Hotel and clearly marked out each and every individual park in said, "Vicinity." We looked at the map after each park had been clearly labeled and it appeared to be a mass of red ink...no rhyme or reason to the madness. Taylor and I looked at each other and laughed. We were insane.

But the adventure was far too tempting. How could you expect us to make a discovery - like Logan having so many parks - and sit around and do nothing about it? You're right, you couldn't expect us to do nothing. So we did something! I called Jordan and told him to bring me his Indiana Jones hat for when we went up to visit at Grandpa's Mountain that Saturday...this adventure would certainly need a hat.

I'm here to present to you some of my fondest memories of the tour with many pictures. For if a picture is worth a thousand words...between Taylor and I, this excursion would be worth 40,000 words and counting...It was hard to consolidate and not bore you to death with every blooming detail. And if you ever had any doubt in my loving parks, I believe this just sealed the deal.

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Monday, August 9. 9:00 AM. Park Tour 2010 began.

We drove out to "Beyond the Edge of the Map" to the future 6th South Park...and it is still  in the future. Nothing exists out there.

Actually, the enitre morning was spent visiting future parks in South Logan...except many of them had been leveled and were indeed in the embryo stages of parkhood.

We're so cool, we even visited the skate park...which is a legitimate park. We just felt like absolute fools sitting there staring as a boy, a girl, and a "he-she" were skateboarding, and we were sitting on the bench trying to look inconspicuous...which I'm positive we failed at.

Rendezvous Park has some excellent little trails to explore, but we only had so much time in a day!

And Kilowatt Park? Oh ho ho...well, the park itself is fine, but if you go across the street thinking you are following a walkway (which you may...or may not be doing), you will find a fabulous tree house to invade!!! And wildflowers to take pretty pictures with. :)

Come the afternoon, our dear Mallory joined us in our park adventure (she had a meeting with her advisor up on campus and was in the area -- such perfect timing!) We stopped and made BLTs before furthering our exploration.

We decided it would be wise to visit the parks down in the Island.

Here a pocket park. There a pocket park. Everywhere a pocket park!

Pocket parks are all the little pieces of land that the city owns that they have nothing better to do with than throw in a flower garden and an occasional sign with someone's name on it. But they sure were pretty!

Merlin Olsen park is a whole square block with monstrous trees and benches placed into a stone wall. We will certainly be returning. Certainly.

Pioneer park? Beware of electrocution as you enjoy your outdoor fireplace.

And Garff Wayside Garden has a gazebo, a rose garden, little red benches, an exceptionally tall Narnia lampost, and an "Alice In Wonderland" hole.

Don't judge a park by it's playground. Although Jens Johansen Park has a sun bleached playset, it has a sweet chicken you can ride! (And it would be a lovely place to bring a blanket and listen to the rushing water.)

Denzil Stewart Nature Park is a serene place. It's quiet because it's encircled about by trees. When you enter, you are essentially pulling yourself away from the suburbs and encountering nature in all it's simplicity. And across the street is some Private Property that your not supposed to play around in...oops.

 

There seems to be a reoccurring pattern amongst most of the parks in Logan -- they're accompanied by flowing water.

There are mean geese that open their mouths and look at you funny at Ray Hugie Hydro Park. (No more guff Taylor. They were scary.)

Quail Bluff Park DOES NOT EXIST. Or atleast...it's a future park with a cool car or two.

The "Temple Park," which really isn't known by that name, but we knew it existed near the temple, is an awesome park! It's like the Most-Awesome-Park-In-The-World Park down in Cedar City, or Ryan's Place Park in River Heights. A lot of students at USU helped build it last fall, including our roommate Kelsie, and it is most excellent. You will recall the chicken of Jens Johansen Park -- The blue whale is where it's at when it comes to this place.

 

At this point, Mallory had to bid us farewell in order to make it back home before it was terribly late. But Taylor and I still had ten parks to find and discover...which, of course, we did.

We drove around the block at least two or three times trying to find Brookside Park, until we realized it is simply a bench. Yes, this is a pocket park.

And Canal Corner is marked by a single picnic table along the side of the street.

Taylor almost died as she attempted to run with the squirrels on a barrel at Morningside Park. ;)

And it would seem to me that Logan City mows all their parks on Mondays. Haha.

Our park tour ended at Bridgerland Park. It was a beautiful sight to see because it meant we had done it. We had visited all the parks on our wrinkled and beloved map! We were wiped out and a little rosy from the sun...so no immediate celebrating ensued.

Taylor and I have absolutely no reason to ever be bored again. We only half-visited every park in Logan, and there are more yet to come. We have so much more exploring to do! But this epic adventure tops the charts at one of the coolest and most memorable things I did this summer. Try not to be too jealous. ;)