SHERWOOD MERRYWALKERS
happy birthday mike!!!!

Today we saw a few blue herons and quite a few geese.  It sure did feel like fall out there today, even though the temperatures were moderate.  Sandy finished her walk up quickly so she could head over and do some of her volunteer work for Faith in Action.  The rest of us relaxed at the end and then headed over to the Sherwood Coffee Company where Mary dubbed us the "Merry Talkers."  Somehow I ended up getting the camera out of focus, so the pictures didn't turn out as well at the coffee shop.  But we did meet up with Carolyn, Mike and Don down there and had a chance to say goodbye to Bill.  Bill and Lou Ann are heading back to Chicago and driving her brother's car back here.  So they are going to take there time and stop and see all of those fun things between here and there.  
This week we have some wonderful walks coming up and I'll be heading out for all of them so please let me know if you want to carpool.  I think the new meeting places will be the Starbucks in Taulatin, the one right off of Boones Ferry and then Albertsoln's in Tigard.  My house if anyone would be coming from Sherwood.
Wednesday is Sellwood (Oaks Bottom); Saturday is the Fountain Walk downtown and Sunday is our walk at REI and of course Monday at the Refuge.  

You just never know who you will see on the Portland to Coast Relay.  

Another beautiful day in Oregon.  Sharon led us on the walk up to Snyder Park and also gave us a historical tour of the Smock House.  After we all headed over to Famous Dave's for BBQ.  It was great.  Take a look at the pictures.

A nice quite stroll at the Refuge.  Even when we have a small turnout, the conversation is always so interesting.  Today  we had Arlene, Sandra, Mary Ann and Lou Ann.  There was certainly a hint of fall in the air.  You can see those few puffy clouds and the weather was perfect for walking.

What a great walk, great weather, and great company.  We had a wonderful time.  We walked through some green areas, newer neighborhoods and downtown through the historic section.  We were all impressed with the size of that tree.  Some of us had the home made pie and someone brought a apple pie home (hummmm, maybe I should stop there for dessert....)  We had to stop at Burgerville on the way back and then headed on home.  It only took us an hour to get there and back, the walk took longer because of all the pictures we wanted to take.  It's hard when there are 4 people with cameras.  We also had a chance to meet Tammy, a new walker on her first 10k walk.  At the end we even bumped into Angela and her sister and the baby.  Ohhh, she is so cute, but we didn't get her picture!  It was again, a fun day.  Check out the pictures.

The 2 Sandy's checking out what might just be a hint of fall color.  
But we had a nice turnout again today.  Dave, Carolyn, 2 Sandy's, and Pam.  It makes me laugh to think we should only be out there for an hour, but we end up being out there for at least an hour and a half or 2 hours, even when it's hot.  We saw 5 frogs today, but none were talking to us.  Lots of geese, Dave spotted some unusual scat and Carolyn was listening for birds.  After we decided on Starbucks for a change.  Mondays is turning out to be such a nice pleasant day.

We were late getting to the walk and missed Starr, but she again came through with some great shots!  She even ran into Carol Reed and Rachael.  We ran into Sharon  and a host of others.  It was a really nice walk, especially walking on Hawthorne and checking out the stores.  Wow!  What a great Fred's.  We had to run into there to use the restroom, and it turns out that is where Starr used to work.  Carolyn and I were pretty impressed with that store.

We finally had a chance to walk with Starr!  It was a great walk and I love walking on that new land bridge.  Starr and I did the 10k and the rest did a 5k.  We ended up at the concert the same time the rain started.  Carolyn and I hung in there till 7 p.m., but then we took off.  See the pictures.

Oh my god, I had a blue heron fly right past me and it couldn't have been more than 20 feet.  It was huge!  But back to the Snails, it was a nice and relaxing walk today.  We keep staying out longer than we planned and today we were out there for an hour and a half.  There were only five of us, but it was great to catch up.  Sandra and Pam hadn't been there in a few weeks, so it was fun for Sandi and I to catch up with them.  Carolyn just missed us, but she said she saw plenty of birds on her walk.  

Dar Parrow, president of the Cedar Milers, has been very busy trying to unite the Volkswalking program with the Girl Scouts and today she really made a breakthrough.  There were at least 300 to 500 participants that made it to our table to find out about how to get a special Girl Scout patch and learn more about volkswalking in general.  We even sold 3 New Walker Packets to the moms that were there!  Dar asked if Leslie and I could help her out, so we did.  We had a great time.  She's looking for volunteers and I thought if you could see these great smiles, you might just want to do it with us sometime.