T-Time: Another walk in another park

Saturday 6/23/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

Thunderstorms were predicted in our area late last night. Around midnight I went on to bed, while Mike decided to stay up for awhile. (He prefers to stand vigil when bad weather is predicted.) Sure enough around 1:00 AM the weather radio went off, the wind whipped up, and I could feel the RV rocking. The National Weather Service predicted wind gusts in excess of 60MPH, and it sure felt like it!   Thankfully the worst of it didn’t last long, and I was soon able to go back to sleep. A couple in a very small travel trailer next to us is on their very first RV outing, and I wondered how they made it through the storm. Apparently it shook them up pretty well because I heard her telling Mike this morning that they thought they were goners! Nope, it’s no fun to be in an RV during a thunderstorm.

It was a beautiful blue sky this morning at a comfortable 65 degrees, and we wanted to get our walk in early again before the heat set in. At the suggestion of my physical therapist, we had checked out Heartwell Park on Thursday and Friday and decided to return to it once again today.

 

This park is also located less than five minutes from the campground and is a real gem. It’s a rather small park nestled between two residential streets and has its own unique allure.

Nicely manicured grounds.

Shade trees.

A paved bike path, although it only borders the park on two out of its four sides.

Picnic tables.

I’m not quite sure how someone would be able to rest their lunch on this table.

Benches.

A sweet flower garden.

Playground for the kids.

Not exactly sure what this is in the playground. I’m sure a 5-year old could clue me in.

A charming pond.

I love the stonework that borders it. With the accenting bridges, it reminds me of a canal in Venice. I could almost envision a gondolier rowing two sweethearts through the water in his gondola.

It also has a wading pool which I could easily be tempted to utilize on these hot summer days!

Our campground has a pool, but it’s in disrepair and there are no foreseeable plans to repair it.

And we spotted this!

I presume that it’s operable, although I haven’t seen one in so long that I don’t know if these rates are still current.
We saw several ducks getting some shuteye.

This mother duck and her newborn babies.

And a few others that were just chillin’.

This morning we saw several fallen limbs and branches from the storm.

Unfortunately this young tree was another casualty.

Last Thursday night we checked out Fisher Fountain, which offers a brilliant light display and is the largest water fountain between Chicago and Denver. The fountain began as a temporary exhibit at the 1932 Adams County Fair and was so popular that it was permanently moved to Highland Park. Renovated in 1982, we were shocked to read that it was dynamited by vandals in 1984! The community, however, rallied together to raise $63,000 to have it rebuilt, and it was rededicated on Mother’s Day in 1985. Unfortunately our camera couldn’t capture its beauty, but I found a video of it on YouTube. This also doesn’t do it justice, but it at least gives you an idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b00g5nAkt5k

Our good friends Jim and Dee arrived today and enjoyed an evening at the races with Mike. I’ll let the race fan report on that in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.

Junction Motor Speedway, Carriage, and “Goose Golf”

Thursday 6/21/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

Fair warning… this first part is another racetrack report.  Skip it if you’d like.  I’m including this to help me remember when and what tracks I’ve visited as it seems I have no memory.

This past Saturday, the 16th, I headed east about 50 miles to the Junction Motor Speedway.

This is a newer track located just west of McCool Junction, NE.  It’s a 3/8 mile dirt track.

After I arrived and found a place to park, I called Terri to let her know I’d made it there safely.  While we were talking, a track worker pulled up and got out of his truck.  He was headed my way, so I quickly ended my phone call.  I thought maybe he was going to tell me to park someplace else.  Instead, he handed me a complimentary admission ticket for the races.

What a sweet deal!!!  I gladly accepted it and thanked him.  What a great way to start the night.  I went on in and enjoyed an evening of great racing consisting of a weekly show of late models, A modifieds, B modifieds, hobby stocks, and 4 cylinder classes.  They started the show promptly on time at 7PM, and it was over by about 10PM.  The track, the seating, and the lighting were all excellent.  I didn’t try any of the food, maybe next time.  Thanks Junction Motor Speedway for a great night of family entertainment!

Today was an interesting day at the campground.  Another Excel fifth wheel pulled in making a total of three Excels here in the park.  Then the Carriage fifth wheels started rolling in!  So far six have gotten here, and apparently one more is expected today.  Some of them are Cameos, and some are Carri-Lights.  I know of at least one more Cameo that’s expected to tumble in on Saturday!

The other day when Terri and I were walking at Hastings Lake Park it looked like some characters were trying to play disc golf.

 

Here’s the “goose gallery” at the tee.

And here’s the “goose gallery” at the goal.

 

This family became bored and decided to take a dip.

This group thought that…

this last shot was rather “fowl.”

Enough of all that “crap.”

This coming week should be fun.  We have some friends stopping in for a visit.  Can anyone guess who?  I left a hint earlier in this post!

T-Time: Let’s take a walk

 

Tuesday 6/19/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

Boy, is it hot here!

How hot is it?

It’s SO hot that the bees are even taking off their yellow jackets!

    

It got up to 95 yesterday, 95 is predicted again today, and there are many more 90 plus days predicted within the next ten days! One of the things we’ve noticed, however, is that they have a LOT of very windy days here, which can actually be a good thing when the temperatures start soaring.

My physical therapy continues to go well, and I’m slowly regaining mobility and range of motion in my shoulder, wrist, and fingers. What an ordeal this has been! I just hope it doesn’t scare me away from ever getting back on my bicycle again. Prior to my cast removal, the doctor wanted me to keep my shoulder as quiet as possible, which meant I couldn’t even take a walk. During that time we only had the truck for transportation, so I was also reluctant to take too many bumpy rides. As a result, I did a whole lot of nothin’ for six weeks, and now that I can be active again, I’ve quickly discovered how much my stamina has diminished. To regain it, we’ve been taking daily walks at Hastings Lake Park.  This is one of the many parks that Hastings has to offer and is less than five minutes away from the campground. Our walk yesterday occurred after my P/T appointment. Whew! The temps were pretty hot by then, so after our walk and a grocery run, we rewarded ourselves with a DQ blizzard. Yum!

Mike had the Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard…

and I had the Turtle Brownie Blizzard, which is the Blizzard of the Month.

Obviously I had a few (okay-many) bites before Mike could take the picture!

With the predicted high of 95 today, we decided it would be best to get our walk in early, so by 7:50 AM we were out on the park’s bike trail. Hastings Lake Park is really a lovely park.

The grounds are well manicured.

There are lots of shade trees. (We often set up our lawn chairs under one of these trees to read a book or just enjoy the lake view.  Or in Mike's case, take a snooze!)

The paved bike trail is nice and wide for bicycling, walking, and jogging.

There’s a lake for boating, fishing, and swimming.

Benches for relaxing and reflecting.

A volleyball court.

Disc golf.

Picnic tables.

A picnic shelter.

And, of course, a playground for the youngins.

There were a few people out enjoying the bike trail with us this morning. Among them was a spry, energetic couple that was easily in their 70’s. I’m just glad we were walking in opposite directions. I didn’t need the humiliation of having them pass us.
We came upon this gaggle of geese,

but the closer we approached, the more they decided it was time to waddle into the lake for a dip.

Ooops -- they left a few “road hazards.”  Watch your step!

It was a lovely walk, and we were especially glad to get it in before the heat set in. We’ll be back again tomorrow.