Vancouver, WA

I picked Layla up at bible camp today, then stopped at Freddie’s for our favorite chicken strips before heading out to find our park for the day, one I’ve seen from 1-205 for years and had always planned to visit. I had my little trusty map that I had looked up online and had a pretty good idea how to get there, unfortunately, on that day every time I turned down a road that I thought would lead either to the park itself or to a road close to the park, we ran into road blocks; they were paving the streets.

Despite her hunger, Layla was fighting off a nap and I knew if I didn’t find the park soon it would be a loosing battle. I had been down Talton numerous times and seen a small park sign, which I was betting was a second entrance. So, trying to keep Layla awake, I headed down Talton. The park was right where I thought it was but Layla had given up the fight. Normally I opt for sleep, but I decided that food was more important this time.

It was a hot day and there was not an inch of shade near the playground, so that nice spot under the huge fir tree looked very inviting. I pulled out the lounger, our lunch and a blanket for Layla to sit on and hauled them over to the tree. The shade felt wonderful, and surprisingly, the grass was wet. We both dove into our chicken strips, and about that time a bee came along to investigate Layla’s piece. We pinched off a tiny bit and threw it in the grass, not really expecting the bee to be distracted from what was in her hand. Surprisingly, it went into the grass underneath the piece and started pushing it all around. After a minute or so of this strange behavior it took off; I think the bee halfway expected that piece of chicken to be on its back when it left. We also saw a couple of blue dragonflies and what looked like small red ones, so I went to investigate. It looked like a bee with red wings getting a drink where the water had pooled.

Just as we finished our lunch our bee friend came back, and wanted a drink of our water. It was time to check out the playground. I put everything in the car and we lugged the lounger across a wide expanse of grass to the shade of a tiny tree. There were a couple of benches, but they were in the sun and I had no intention of sitting in the burning sun today. At first these visits to area parks were just long enough to run off some of Layla’s energy before heading home. It has taken me most of the summer to really sit back, relax and enjoy myself. It is like taking a trip back in time to when I had just gotten out of high school and the summers still felt long and carefree.

Wildwood has over three acres of lawn, a few trees, a sidewalk that leads to the playground and a water fountain; the first I’ve seen in a local park in Vancouver. Take Mill Plain Blvd, go south on Chkalov, east on McGillivray, south on Talton (if you continue on Talton there is a small parking area just before the turn east), west on Angus, south on 133rd Avenue, end by going east on 27th Street. There isn’t much parking in either location, but its nice if you want to take a break from your own neighborhood park. (It wasn’t until I wrote this address that I realized the park on Talton was not the one we could see from the freeway. Not being able to see the freeway should have been a clue, I need to go looking for the freeway park again one day, soon.)