Molly was in the house on the day before Halloween.  It was still pleasant and warm-ish outside; there were a few leaves on the trees and a jacket sufficed for warmth.  The word cards took longer than usual because we were making sentences and then we had to group them (numbers, colors, people words, etc.) like all good data analysts would.

We decided to check out a park and picked the closest one – Crego Park just re-opened this past summer with a nice couple of docks jutting into the lake, plenty of parking and a spur off the River Trail. Last time we visited, we didn’t get to walk out on the big dock, so our goal was to get that done.  After checking it out, Molly starts off on the grass path that leads away from the parking lot.  “Let’s see where this goes.”

Turns out it goes all the way around the lake.  On the north end, we took a side trail to check out the railroad tracks.  When we got back to the main trail, Molly looks both ways, puts on her serious face and says, “Let’s go this way.  Follow me.”

We noticed that the leaves had stacked up in the lake on the north end because the wind was blowing that way. On the east side, we could see across the lake to where we had parked the car, and we could look through the fence at the private lake that was full of geese.  Wonder why they like that lake better?  Must be food.

The path went up and down; there were several places where trees had fallen to block the trail but short people could get through easily and wait for lumbering giant people.  Our friends down the block had tried to circumnavigate the lake this way, but were blocked by undergrowth; maybe it was easier this late in the fall.

On the south side, we could see the houses by the park, and we came out at an unexpected, secret-looking arched tree entrance that we marked in case we ever want to go the other way around some day.

Nice afternoon, with just enough mystery for  a grand adventure.