Bike Ride and Blossoms

We were feeling the need for a little adventure one Saturday (April 10th), so we loaded up the bikes, ordered lunch from Lolo's Hawaiian BBQ, and hit the road. The food was ready by the time we got through the canyon, so we picked it up and drove a little further to the trailhead for the Weber River Parkway (aka Centennial Trail? - I can't keep the names straight, but it's all connected) near Riverdale Road. We wanted to close one of our few remaining gaps in the pathway by riding south and east(ish) toward Uintah. (We didn't ride that far, but had already walked along the trail at that end, hence "closing the gap".)

Lunch was delicious, and once we were filled with rice, katsu chicken, mac salad, teriyaki chicken, bbq chicken, shrimp, fish, and kalua pork (whew!) we hit the trail. It was a gorgeous spring day and we thoroughly enjoyed the 6 mile (total out and back) ride along the river. We passed a bike park that the kids were super excited to check out on the way back, we watched a huge freight train chug by on the tracks, and we got to see a disc golf tournament in action at the course along the river. Pretty eventful ride!

Oatmeal creme pies for extra energy
at a pit stop!

Pit stop timing was perfect to watch the train go by, too.

It wasn't paved the whole way, but we
made it without any issues.

Turn around spot = rock splashing in
the Weber.

Bike park fun!

She was nervous to try at first, but quickly
got the hang of it.

He was in heaven!

Back at the picnic table at the trailhead to finish
off the leftovers after the ride.

We spotted this snake of painted rocks
on one of our earlier walks down here,
so it was fun to see how it had grown since
then. Next time we come we need to bring
some to add on, too.

After our ride, I wanted to stop at the temple for a walk around the grounds to check out the flowers. We realized in the parking lot that Callie had left her camelbak behind in the bike park! Gregg dropped us at the temple to enjoy the blooms while he backtracked to retrieve the backpack. The flowering trees and shrubs were magnificent, though the tulips weren't quite to their peak beauty. It was a lovely walk around the grounds, and we counted at least four wedding groups taking pictures or waiting for their couples to come out or for their turn to go in.

Gregg texted this to show it was still
there by the log where she left it.

And I texted this back to him to show
how happy (and relieved) she was to know
it was safe.

The real reason I wanted to stop was to
snag some forsythia photos.

They were at peak perfection!

 

A marvelous way to fill our "get outside and do something new" and "enjoy this glorious springtime weather" buckets.