They say that exercise clears your head. We’ve been walking a lot more for K9 Kamp and it’s working because I have a serious case of writers block! I want to tell you how Kamp is going for us but don’t expect it to be witty, funny or particularly interesting…not that all my posts are like that anyway 🙂
We’ve been sticking with our commitment to exercise 30 minutes extra 3 – 4 times a week by waking frequently. I would like to say it’s been because of dedication but it hasn’t. It’s mostly because I injured my wrist. Since it was due to overuse of the computer, the doctor said I need to blog, Facebook and Tweet less for a while. It’s also because I have this really great friend who lives up the street, who has two wiener dogs herself, and always asks me to walk.
Yesterday we decided to explore an area of our neighborhood that we have never ventured into. Woodland Park is a 90.9-acre public park in Seattle that houses The Woodland Park Zoo (by the way, the Woodland Park Zoo has won more Best National Exhibit awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums than any other zoological institution except the Bronx Zoo in New York)in the upper half. Lower Woodland Park is criss-crossed by a lot of trails and dirt roads. We did some urban hiking and checked out the park.
Let me back up because I AM exaggerating a little. I HAVE been to this park and to the Zoo in my lifetime.
As a child my Step-Dad would run there so I remember going there often to pick him up. I have visited the Zoo four or five times. I have been to the off-leash dog park there twice (I don’t recommend it for small dogs). I have walked the trails there once. My visits were so spaced out, and my last visit was over five years ago, that in my mind it’s just a big black box. It may not have been a totally new place to explore but it felt new to me.
We discovered a beautiful, dog-friendly rose garden there. As it turns out, it is one of only two dozen certified American Rose Test Gardens in the United States.
We found some monkey statues outside of the Zoo gate.
We found some other cool things there too. We saw a kids playground that I plan on visiting in “off children” hours to get some pictures of the dogs on the toys. I found this really cool, seemingly random, cobblestone wall that I also plan on visiting in the future for a photo shoot. We stumbled upon a Spanish-American War memorial that included a bronze statue and two 1891 guns from the decommissioned USS Concord.
If given a choice, we would always rather be in the mountains hiking. We only have time to do that one day a week at best. The rest of the time we have to stick pretty close to home. We have our favorite go-to places and tend to visit them over and over. Yesterday was a good reminder to make an effort to explore parts of our neighborhood where we normally don’t go.
You never know what kind of adventure might await.
Elizabeth says
The Woodland Park Zoo is probably one of my favorite zoo’s ever! I always loved going there when I was younger – and still do to this day. 🙂
Jessica Rhae says
Shawn has never been and really wants to go so this will be our year 🙂
SlimDoggy says
Beautiful park and love the picture of the dogs between the monkeys. I half expected to see one of the dogs covering his eyes, one his ears, one his mouth!
Take care of your wrist. Ping us if you want to learn some mobility techniques to help with healing and prevent recurrence.
Jessica Rhae says
That was my thought exactly and I SO wish there would have been a way to make it happen 🙂
Resting my wrist is good but I DO need to keep doing my exercises. A good part of it is nerve sensitivity because I was heavily resting the palm of my hand on the computer. No exercise for that….just stop doing it 🙂
Paws and Pedals (Kate & Scooter) says
Scary about the ‘blogging’ injury but good use of your free time. Bet the dogs enjoyed some fresh territory to explore too…..
Jessica Rhae says
I have always had problems with my hands/wrists when it comes to overuse of the computer. Usually I can back off right before it gets bad and hold it at bay. I pushed it a little too far this time. It’s a good reminder to get out in our nice summer weather though 🙂
Amber DaWeenie says
Such a nice park and place to walk the dogs. I wish I could take my dogs out for walks but we’re in a country/farm-type subdivision where so many BIG dogs are running free and would be very happy to have a small dog for a snack. So we do our walking in our own backyard.
Jessica Rhae says
Strangely, that is why I like living in the city rather than the country – great places within walking distance. I have spent most of my life living out of the main City. Mostly it’s been on or near highways with no shoulders and nothing you could walk to. I don’t necessarily like the fast-paced life and traffic of the City but it makes up for it when I can spend most days not driving anywhere and still seeing cool stuff 🙂
Diane @To Dog With Love says
Love the pics, especially the dogs with the monkeys! ha! We love finding new treasures in our town too, and can relate to computer overuse too. An ergonomic set-up can help too, but we still like taking a break from it all every now and then.
Your pals,
Diane and Rocco
Jessica Rhae says
Yes, sitting on my couch is not very ergonomic 🙂 This is a good reminder for me to be more efficient with my time and spend more time outdoors in our great spring weather with the dogs.
Jodi says
Sometimes it’s the beauty in our own backyard that we overlook. Sounds like your having a good time!
Ann Paws says
That bush/tree thing looks awesome! I need to take my daughter to do some sort of adventuring soon. Shiner too, but her adventures mostly consist of a visit to the lake.
Pamela | Something Wagging This Way Comes says
Since I don’t have a car, I’m a big fan of urban hiking. Most cities have great places to explore and so many people miss out on seeing them.
We’re lucky that in Ithaca, we have awesome waterfalls and gorges right downtown.
Your zoo looks like a great place to explore. Love the picture with the monkey sculptures.
Jessica Rhae says
Waterfalls? That would be great! We have to go to the mountains to see any of those.
Peggy Frezon says
BOL I love that picture of you guys with the monkey statues! Kelly nearly had to pick me up off the floor I was laughing so much! I’m glad you had a great walk in a fun new place.
Jessica Rhae says
I think it’s become one of my new favorite places to walk. I wish I could take my furkids INTO the zoo but I know why that would be a reallllly bad idea 🙂
Jackie Bouchard says
Wow – that rose park shot looks amazing. And all the little monkeys – too cute.
We’ve been exploring close to home more too. We’ve only lived in this neighborhood 2 years, and our last pup only had 3 legs so couldn’t walk too far in the neighborhood. We’ve really been exploring with Rita and it’s been fun. Some pretty houses in our ‘hood – and some monstrosities!
Jessica Rhae says
Housed in our neighborhood are like that too. It makes it a surprise though – you never know what you will find around the corner 🙂 I try to vary our walking route just a tad each time to see something different.
GizmoGeodog says
That sculpted tree is really interesting…Looks like a collection of mushrooms, kinda…Giz and I love to explore our neighborhood…it’s all small streets and alleys and we try to take different routes everyday jsut to see what we can find…adds visual interest for me and lots of new smells for him…Hope your wrist is feeling better
Jessica Rhae says
I try to vary our route just a tad each time to make it exciting. There are certain areas I have never ventured into though so I am checking them out to keep motivated for K9 Kamp! 🙂
Kolchak, Felix & Jodi says
YOU LIVE NEAR WOODLAND PARK!?? Holy woof. You’ll never get rid of me now. I love discovering new places close to home. There are so many great spots that I never would have imagine in our area too.
Jessica Rhae says
Ha, ha. Yeah. The North end of the park is a 10 minute walk away…or a little less 🙂 It’s great because parking there on the weekend can be NUTS so I can leave the car and home and still visit. I am not a fan of the off-leash dog park there but there are a lot of other great things about it. Green Lake Park is right next door too. You should come visit with the pups sometime 🙂
emma says
Major bummer with your wrist, hope it heals fast! Mom has a foot injury so she can’t run for a bit but she keeps on walking, I think she would keep walking if she was on crutches…we never get a break! Love that pic with the monkeys, so cute! Don’t worry too much about writer’s block, everyone needs a break now and then and it will all come back to you, you can’t force it! Happy Sunday 🙂
GizmoGeodog says
I’ve got you nominated for an award on my blog tomorrow 🙂
Jan K says
What a fun place to be able to walk to! That is something we miss out on living in the country….as much as we love the outdoors and nature it would be fun to have someplace different like that to walk to. Such a great photo of the 4 dogs.
I hope that your wrist is better soon, as well as your writer’s block….not that there was anything wrong with this post! 🙂
Jessica@YouDidWhatWithYourWeiner says
I used to live in the country and liked it for a lot of reasons. One of the big reasons I DISLIKED it though was not being able to walk to lots of places from my house. I like where I live in the City because we can walk to dog-friendly shopping, dog-friendly coffee shops and nice parks like this one. In Seattle you can even bring your well-behaved dog on the bus if your destination if further away.
Crystal says
Try Cascade Sled Dog Club for skijoring. Most of the people are sledders, but skijorers are on there as well. Finding them on Facebook may be the easiest thing to do. And if it turns out they don’t have membership up near you (I only know of members in Oregon), they would be the best bet for finding a group local to you.
Jessica Rhae says
Thanks. I joined the group and will be checking them out.