"I don't care. As long as it has a playground," I yelled back upstairs to my wife. She had one of her long runs to do today as training for her next marathon, and was trying to find a 3-hour route that ended at a county park. I've had the idea for some time to visit my county's overwhelmingly abundant green spaces. My plan was to take our three kids and one of our three dogs to hang out and wait on her to arrive. She came downstairs. "What's the plan?" I asked. "Shelby Farms," she quipped. It was only apt that she chose one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. That was a great place for me to start my planned year-long visitation program, with a first stop to the granddaddy of them all. I have visited the park numerous times and have partook in all of its many facets, ran its trails, biked its trails, explored its 4,500 acres, and each time enjoyed my visit. This time I just hoped to keep the kids alive.
Our first stop was the dog park. This wonderful off-leash area is a dog's playground. It's also a wonderful area to view some gorgeous dog breeds. Being animal lovers, the kids always seemed to like it as well. After an hour there, we headed to the playground. This is really something for Shelby County to be proud of. After a couple hours, our youngest, not even two at the time, was getting a little fussy. I asked our oldest daughter to watch her for a second. I was going to go to the truck to get some water and snacks. This was the first time I had left them for 3 hours. Of course, that's just when my wife shows up. "Yea, they've pretty much been fending for themselves," I joke. She rolls her eyes and remarks, "No wonder they always get hurt on your watch." Touché, touché.
2. Alcy Samuels Park - 0 other park visitors, cold and breezy, 32 degrees
3. W.C. Johnson Park - on a beautiful sunny day!
