Today, we went up to Ledges State Park to enjoy the leaves and a warm, but cloudy, day. It was our first visit to the Ledges, which consists of some beautifully carved sandstone cliffs, and a winding stream flowing through a canyon down to the Des Moines River. The road down the canyon splashes through the stream several times. There are plenty of trails, some of which climb above the ledges on wooden walkways and stone steps. It is a great place, and is almost like a little slice of Utah in the middle of the cornfields. We had a great time hiking around and exploring.
At the bottom of the canyon is the river. The lower part of the park is still showing signs of flood damage. There is an old phone pole next to a parking lot, a quarter mile or more from the river. The phone pole has several high-water lines on it, each marked with a little sign with the year of a major flood. The big flood in the nineties is all the way at the very top of the phone pole, and this year was a tiny bit higher than that. Amazing. There is a pretty little cabin there that has definitely been underwater several times.
We went down to the river, and we spent some time sharing Asher's current favorite pastime, throwing rocks into the water. It was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, sitting in the sand, listening to the sounds of the river and skipping stones.
Yesterday, Asher and I had a boys' day, since Sarah was speaking at a childcare conference. Asher and I went down to the farmer's market and got some veggies for the huge pot of chili I was going to cook up. On the Court Avenue Bridge, the city had set up a show of their fleet of snow removal equipment. Asher was in heaven, and wanted to walk around each snowplow. The city sends many of the snowplow blades to art classes, who paint them with all kinds of colorful designs and pictures. The blades are then put on the plows for the winter. I think it is a really cool idea. On the snowiest, nastiest days of winter, hey, at least you can see some art!
We also went for a walk around the East Village (the name for the sort of hip neighborhood east of the river). There was a big world-food festival setting up, but they weren't ready to feed us yet. We headed to a park to throw acorns into a pond.
Today, we went up to Ledges State Park to enjoy the leaves and a warm, but cloudy, day. It was our first visit to the Ledges, which consists of some beautifully carved sandstone cliffs, and a winding stream flowing through a canyon down to the Des Moines River. The road down the canyon splashes through the stream several times. There are plenty of trails, some of which climb above the ledges on wooden walkways and stone steps. It is a great place, and is almost like a little slice of Utah in the middle of the cornfields. We had a great time hiking around and exploring.
At the bottom of the canyon is the river. The lower part of the park is still showing signs of flood damage. There is an old phone pole next to a parking lot, a quarter mile or more from the river. The phone pole has several high-water lines on it, each marked with a little sign with the year of a major flood. The big flood in the nineties is all the way at the very top of the phone pole, and this year was a tiny bit higher than that. Amazing. There is a pretty little cabin there that has definitely been underwater several times.
We went down to the river, and we spent some time sharing Asher's current favorite pastime, throwing rocks into the water. It was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, sitting in the sand, listening to the sounds of the river and skipping stones.
Yesterday, Asher and I had a boys' day, since Sarah was speaking at a childcare conference. Asher and I went down to the farmer's market and got some veggies for the huge pot of chili I was going to cook up. On the Court Avenue Bridge, the city had set up a show of their fleet of snow removal equipment. Asher was in heaven, and wanted to walk around each snowplow. The city sends many of the snowplow blades to art classes, who paint them with all kinds of colorful designs and pictures. The blades are then put on the plows for the winter. I think it is a really cool idea. On the snowiest, nastiest days of winter, hey, at least you can see some art!
We also went for a walk around the East Village (the name for the sort of hip neighborhood east of the river). There was a big world-food festival setting up, but they weren't ready to feed us yet. We headed to a park to throw acorns into a pond.
1 comment:
ahhh.....we love throwing stuff into water, too. Great pics....the Ledges look beautiful...and very "autumny"
love
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