Simms Branch Trail
Yesterday afternoon we explored a little more of our own backyard by visiting nearby Durant Nature Park. We didn't actually see any of the park itself; we just parked in the lot and walked to the first trail we found, which happened to be Simms Branch Trail. Located just outside the northern border of Durant Nature Park, Simms Branch is one leg of the Neuse River Greenway, not one of the park's many [probably more rugged] trails. These snow day pictures were taken on Abbots Creek Trail, another part of the Greenway, which consists of over 27 miles of continuous, paved walking trails around North Raleigh. The Neuse River Greenway is a part of the Capital Area Greenway System, which weaves all around and through Raleigh; it's also part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which will eventually connect the Appalachians to the Atlantic Ocean. Cool, huh?
These pictures look suspiciously similar to the ones we took last weekend around Falls Dam. Aside from the fact that this is just what we and our surroundings look like at this point and place in time, the striking resemblance is also due to the fact that I'm mostly wearing the same clothes [only so much fits comfortably right now, okay?], Drew happens to be wearing the same t-shirt [I'm not sure what his excuse is], and we were on another paved trail in suburban North Raleigh. The major difference between this weekend and last was the addition of Peter to our adventure!
Peter drove up from Charlotte on Friday, just in time for a yummy dinner at Olive Garden [that spawned the worst bout of heartburn I've ever experienced - blah] and then a long, late night of brotherly chatting with Drew. Yesterday morning, they got up early to help the Boy Scouts make pinewood derby cars, and then crashed after lunch, right in the middle of the warmest, prettiest hours of the warmest, prettiest day we're going to have this week [wintry mix warnings resume tomorrow...]. I chatted with Joe and Katie while they slept and eventually complained enough that they agreed to go on a walk with the day's remaining hours of daylight. Though our surroundings were once again rather tame - actually even tamer since a neighborhood borders Simms Branch Trail on one side - the fresh air, warm sunshine, and evidences of spring we found on our little walk were much needed and appreciated.
These pictures look suspiciously similar to the ones we took last weekend around Falls Dam. Aside from the fact that this is just what we and our surroundings look like at this point and place in time, the striking resemblance is also due to the fact that I'm mostly wearing the same clothes [only so much fits comfortably right now, okay?], Drew happens to be wearing the same t-shirt [I'm not sure what his excuse is], and we were on another paved trail in suburban North Raleigh. The major difference between this weekend and last was the addition of Peter to our adventure!
Peter drove up from Charlotte on Friday, just in time for a yummy dinner at Olive Garden [that spawned the worst bout of heartburn I've ever experienced - blah] and then a long, late night of brotherly chatting with Drew. Yesterday morning, they got up early to help the Boy Scouts make pinewood derby cars, and then crashed after lunch, right in the middle of the warmest, prettiest hours of the warmest, prettiest day we're going to have this week [wintry mix warnings resume tomorrow...]. I chatted with Joe and Katie while they slept and eventually complained enough that they agreed to go on a walk with the day's remaining hours of daylight. Though our surroundings were once again rather tame - actually even tamer since a neighborhood borders Simms Branch Trail on one side - the fresh air, warm sunshine, and evidences of spring we found on our little walk were much needed and appreciated.
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| ^ Trying to identify some of the plants we were seeing. Drew thought this would be best accomplished with a water bottle on my head... ^ |
After our walk, we hit the gym for a while, then went out to eat at Carolina Ale House. The rest of the night [and early hours of the morning...] involved lots of zombie-killing for Drew and Peter and reading and sleeping for me. It's been a good weekend. We've really enjoyed having Peter so close by for the past few months; we wish more Barneses would make their ways to our neck of the woods!
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