Two country walks

As the weather warms up we are trying to get out of the house a little more and The Snohomish County Centennial Trail is the perfect place to go.  We are fortunate to have such a beautiful and easy walking trail so close to us.  The trail was created over the old railroad right of way that had been unused for many years.  I have shared parts of the trail on previous posts but there is always something new to see.  This day we parked at the Machias Trailhead which is one of my favorite spots.  It was another cloudy day, cool but not cold and perfect for walking.  So far I have only been taking short walks of about 20 minutes, but this day I pushed to do thirty.

The paved trail is perfect for someone like me who needs a level flat surface to walk any distance comfortably.  Even as we social distanced we passed many other folks walking, riding bikes and even rollerblading.

We walked alongside open fields and small farms. 

  If this were in my garden I would be calling these plants weeds!  Out here we say they are wildflowers, definitely in the eye of the beholder. :)

These vines were growing all along the way.  I don't remember seeing them before and I don't know what they are called.  I like the shape of the leaves though.

This little fellow was as curious about us as we were about him!

Normally when we come here we would see this play area filled with children.  In fact, we brought our granddaughter here to play last summer.  Now it is blocked off because of the virus, another sad commentary of the the times.  This was the end of our first walk.

A few days later we came back to the same trailhead for a second walk.  What a difference a few days can make!  The sun was shining and we could see the mountains in the background that had been obscured by the clouds just a few days before.

 This time I pushed for 40 minutes passing more farms, fields of buttercups, and  blackberry brambles in bloom. 

The cottonwood seeds were so thick on the ground they looked like snow!  

 

 When we got back to where we had parked we had walked for 39 minutes so I had to walk around for another minute to make my goal. 

  Success!  It was a hard walk for me, but Lord willing this leg will get stronger and I will be able to do more as time goes on.  

 

 There are definitely days when I feel weary and weak, but I know the Lord is with me wherever I go.  May he also be with you.  God bless and keep all who stop by here.

Adieu!