The Best Travel Destination Might be in Your Own Backyard

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Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge
 Jo’s Monday Walk

Crazy Walking Ladies!

My friends and I like to walk in the morning. We’ve been doing this for 25 years, and though our start time has gotten later and we’re pretty wimpy about walking in the cold these days, we still get out there. Lucky for us we have a beautiful area to tramp through.

canal 2

Our favorite walk is the canal road located a few blocks from our neighborhood. It’s a fun place to watch the seasons change, and get a glimpse of the local wildlife.  Over the years we’ve seen muskrats, blue herons, snakes (!) and my personal favorite, lots of ducks and ducklings.

I took these photos in early spring, and kept meaning to post them, but how the time gets away . . .  suddenly fall is here and the baby ducks are all grown up.  Time’s a-wastin’!  I’ll hurry and post this before the snow flies.

my fl good

We walk about a half-mile to get to the canal. It helps to have blue sky and lots of gorgeous flowers to enjoy on the way.

duck family

Duck families live all along the water’s edge. My dog Lucy would love to make friends.

lucy

I doubt the ducks return the sentiment. In fact, I know they don’t as this next blurry picture is the result of trying to hold the dog in check while taking a picture of ducks fleeing the scene to avoid her.

ducks running away

bird

The wildlife here is pretty tame, but that’s how we like it. Thre are lots of birds in the area – we love the quail and their mad dashes across the path in front of us. We also see hawks, and one year watched the progress of a nest of baby owls perched high in a tree.

blue heron good

This is a blue heron, he was shy, so I had to keep my distance.

The Summer’s almost over now and it’s darker in the mornings.  The late bloomers are coming into their own and it’s time to break out the jackets. Over the years we’ve walked in rain and snow, sun and shine.  We’ve made some good friends on our treks and lost a special one.

Our long-time walking buddy Melinda Arnold succumbed to cancer a couple of years ago. She was always cheery and told great jokes, and insisted on coming out with us until the day she could no longer rise from her bed. It was hard to go on after she passed, but we knew in our hearts she would want us to. Now, whenever we see something special we find ourselves saying,  “Wouldn’t Melinda love this?”.

yellow flowers

The world is truly an amazing place, but sometimes we get so caught up in our day to day frustrations, we forget to open our eyes. Whether you live on a country road, or in a busy metropolis, whether you’re far from home or tucked safely in the bosom of your family, I challenge you to take some time, be it a week, a day, or an hour and go exploring. You never know, your favorite travel destination may be right in your own backyard!

lizzy

Do you have a favorite place to walk?

For some more fun walking posts checkout: Jo’s Monday Walk

33 thoughts on “The Best Travel Destination Might be in Your Own Backyard”

  1. Thanks Basia, I didn’t know you lived in London. Its one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit. Unfortunately it sounds like you recently went back into lockdown because of the new strains of Covid. So sorry, we’re all very tired of this.
    We actually cracked up and went on a road trip a couple of months ago. I’ll write about it one of these days. Thanks for reading.

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    • Yes, I thought when I stopped working I would be able to enjoy all the marvels that London has to offer. I have subscriptions to three of the main national art galleries and museums, and last year I managed two visits in between the lockdowns and the weather. Now I have limited my ambition to be able to go for a coffee somewhere with my book – when the cafes open again. I’m one of the lucky ones because we still have a steady income and no mortgage etc. and plenty to do.. when I m not pottering I.m doing research for a friend and translating for other people. so I am really very lucky. but it’s strange to be in London and not ot be able to really enjoy it.

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  3. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Sunny Seville, on a mission | restlessjo

  4. I love the scenery and nature that you get to see regularly on your walks. My town has done an amazing job of paving trails all over the town in many different areas. I used to walk and ride my bike regularly on them, but I have not done this for the last few years. I am sorry that you lost your walking buddy, but so nice that she is still with you all in spirit.

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  5. Trawling the comments I discover that you live in Utah, but your photos don’t look how I expect of Utah. But I’ve never been, so lead on! 🙂 🙂 It’s appropriate that you sent me this today. Tomorrow we’re doing a memorial walk for a very lovely lady who died much too soon. I shall consider myself very lucky to be there. Thanks for joining me.

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    • Thanks Jo, I agree with you. We moved here from Oregon and I expected Utah to be a barren desert. There is that, but I was amazed at how lush and green some areas are. I still miss Oregon but feel lucky to live in a place that’s just as beautiful in its own way. I’ll check out some of your other walker’s blogs.

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  7. Your dog is adorable ❤ and its super awesome that you have such a pretty place to walk so close to your house! I have a greenbelt in my neighborhood that I usually walk through, there is a creek running though it so it is really pretty but not as pretty as yours ❤

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  10. I’ve lived in one city
    all my life. Having said that, whenever time off nears and someone asks what we’ll be doing I almost always reply, “we’re staying in town”. There are still 1000’s of things here I’ve never experienced.

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  12. Aw, I agree with you – right in our own backyard is a lovely place to be. So nice that you have friends to share the walk with and that you all remember your dear friend while you’re walking. Lovely photos – even the blurry one!!

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