Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Greenways: Crabtree Valley Trail

Nathan:


These are two pictures from the Crabtree Valley Greenway Trail. The left picture is of Noah (left) and Mom (right) walking along the trail. The right picture is of a wooded part of the trail off to the side (you would have to be walking pretty slow to see this).


Crabtree Creek runs along the Crabtree Valley Trail. The creek seen through the beautiful trees and river plants (left). The creek beginning to gently flow into the sharp rocks, and under a highway (right).


Noah walking along the trail. At this point the trail goes parallel with the highway, and we were really hot and tired after this because there were no trees to shade us.


A McDonalds playland sign over a hill and on the other side of an old fence (left). A mall sign shows how close we were to Crabtree Valley Mall on this trail (right).


Two City of Raleigh employees park their yellow truck on the middle of the trail part of the way under a bridge, and work together to repair the bridge.

Crabtree Creek is home to many creatures, including fish, newts, turtles, minnows, cicada, and even a man paddling in a canoe.


Noah:

At Crabtree Creek on the Crabtree Valley Greenway trail a Fish Advisory sign tells us that there are carp, catfish, and big mouth bass swimming in the water. We saw a turtle.


A bird on a wire. There was a big bird nest under a bridge where the greenway goes under the road. When we took the picture under the bridge the birds flew out and I was startled.



I took a picture of some leaves that looked like the sunset (left). We saw a fallen log and it looked really pretty (right).



There was a really wide tree. If you tried to hug it you couldn't put your arms all the way around it. There was also a twisty tree. I thought it was really cool and I hadn't seen a tree like that.



I saw a snake in this rock pile when I was walking around it. I was trying to get onto the pipe so I could walk across it. I saw a snake tail slither through the rocks, and I ran away to my mom.



Mom's Note: Picking up where Nathan and I left off last week at the North Hills Trail, the three of us got back on the Greenways today and walked west on the Crabtree Valley Trail. The Crabtree Valley Trail is a paved, mostly shaded, 1.7 mile (3.4 miles round trip) trail that runs along Crabtree Creek and behind Crabtree Valley Mall. It was a really pretty trail, the three of us had a great day. Today I gave each of the boys a camera and had them take their own pictures. Then they got a lesson in what makes a good caption, choose which pictures they wanted to use, and wrote captions for each as a way to share their time on the trail.
Captions lesson -- not so successful. Walking on the trail -- hugely successful. One of the highlights was that we met a man named Larry, who saw us coming up the trail on our way back and stopped and waited for us so we could walk and talk on the trail together. Larry is a retired state employee (surveying) and he walks the Greenway up to McDonalds and back to where he lives near Root Elementary. He walks every day that it's not raining ("If you're not walking you end up sitting in a chair, not being able to get out. And I'm not giving up."), moving larger branches and sticks off the trail as he walks ("so people my age don't trip on them and fall down."). While we walked together he talked about his family and his job ("I loved going to work everyday. Not that there weren't bad days, but I loved working there. I miss it."). He also asked about us, and asked if I stayed home. When I said I had been home since mid-April he told me that it was great I was able to do it, and I agreed.
You know, it's a real gift when someone reaffirms that the choices you made are good ones, even if that someone is a total stranger. I was grateful for that gift. Grateful too, to have been able to spend some time in the presence of such a positive, friendly person, and also that there's a Greenway system that provided the opportunity for us to meet.

1 comment:

  1. I love the signs and affirmations as well--you never know how they will come to you!! I'm so impressed at the openness and friendlyness of the people in the Carolinas--it wasn't my experience up north--not to this extent! You just sound like a homeschooling mom to me:D Enjoy and cherish these moments together, as I know you are--they are precious!!!

    ReplyDelete