100!

Nine more parks makes an even 100! The day we've all been waiting for....

And what a nice day it was. A beautiful Saturday and the first weekend in 2010 when it was obvious to all that, yes -- summer is here (or just around the corner). We took advantage by being outside all day long. First at the Farmers' Market, then in our yard --cutting and weeding and edging and planting -- and then, as the shadows were growing and it was getting just a little cooler, we cruised in our convertible and picked up where we left off last summer. We took a late evening walk to some bloggable park sites.

We've covered nearly all of the east side, but we've hardly made a dent in the west side. So it was easy to target a bunch of close-together parks that enabled us to visit as many as nine in just a couple of hours (with a nice break for a drink and a bite to eat at Knight's -- a westside institution where Randy had never been, if you can believe that!).

Here's a quick rundown of the parks we visited, in the order we found them:

1. Waterworks -- just east of Slauson, a very friendly park that is well-maintained by neighborhood residents, many of whom were also taking a leisurely stroll.

2. Hannah -- a small, undeveloped wooded area adjacent to the Salvation Army parking lot, just off Miller and Arbana. Access is restricted by the obvious fencing which did not deter Patti as she made her way through the brush, located a gate, opened it, and stepped onto what she thought would be solid ground only to sink knee deep -- which sent her quickly back to saftey behind the gate.

3. Maryfield Wildwood -- a sprawling park in the midst of a gorgeous westside neighborhood. Swings and a climbing structure and basketball courts on the east end and a heavily wooded nature trail on the west end.

4. Wellington -- near Haisley school in a cute neighborhood loaded with loads of short but winding streets. The park is well-hidden in a cul-de-sac you'd never find yourself in unless you're looking for this park, you live here, or you know people who do. Lots of young kids crawling all over this place.

5. Miller Nature -- Turn-off access with limited parking off Miller. Narrow and steep paths in a large, well-wooded area. Mud and mosquitoes cut our walk short.

6. Veterans Memorial -- Anyone who's played any softball or baseball (or lives in this town, for that matter) knows this place well. It may just have been the millions of dandelions that probably just shot up following last week's heavy rains, but this old spot looked a little lonely and worse for wear on this night.

(This, of course, was where we made our detour to Knight's. Old as we are, we were still among this crowd's whippersnappers -- though the food was good and plentiful, and you can't beat the prices.)

7. Zion -- behind the church. Seemed like part of it belonged to the church while the southernmost portion is maintained by the city -- though we didn't see a city park sign anywhere. (We believe this is a first for us.)

8. Virginia -- large neighborhood park that accomodates pretty much any contemplated park activity.

9.Winewood Thaler -- this small, well-maintained, and friendly park served as a comforting ending to our evening.

Now that we've reached 100, we'll be counting down to the parks we have left to visit rather than continuing to count up the number we've seen. We haven't really given ourselves any deadlines, but now that we've come this far there's no reason to think we can't get to the rest before the snow flies again. Hope you'll join us....