Park Week Revisited- Orem City Parks

It's been 9 years since Park Week. Some of the parks we've been to many times since then. With others, we've never been back.
I'd been wanting to get out for walks again but I wanted to work my way up to the long stretches on Provo River Parkway or Murdock Canal Trail so I decided to start with city parks. And when I say long stretches, I mean for someone who hasn't been out walking a lot in a while. I'm very well aware some people easily walk 5+ miles a day. I don't. So walking 1 or 2 miles at a time seems like a long stretch to me.
Park Week gave me information on what parks had good paths for stroller pushing since Jr. Jr. was the baby then and now Jet is the baby. I made a plan and I'll share my thoughts with you.    

By the way, besides exercising my legs with walking, I decided to exercise my arms with juggling at each of the parks just like I've been doing lots of places lately.

Orem City Parks-
Springwater Park (from Park Week- Day 2)

This is a park we hadn't been to since Park Week, maybe because it's all the way on the other side of the freeway and there were a lot more parks close by. It does have a good walking path, though. It was very smooth on the stroller wheels. I was thinking it wouldn't have a lot of trees but there were plenty in the area near the basketball court, tennis court, playground, and pavilion. There weren't as many out by the huge field.

Since there were trees, I could hear plenty of birds. The highlight was a red-breasted nuthatch that landed in a small tree right next to us.

So on a scale of one to ten- I don't like scales so I won't rate it. Tee Hee.

Bonneville Park (from Park Week- Day 3)

This park was a little more crowded than the first one. It is more toward the middle of the city along a main road, not tucked into a little neighborhood area like Springwater Park.

It has a nice walking path that divides so you can go around the playground or skip that altogether. It also has trees and a huge field. It was great for pushing the stroller and Jet and I went around and around quite a few times. It was so relaxing. Sometimes I forget how relaxing going for walks can be.

Scera Park (from Park Week- Day 5)

So much room to walk. I was able to choose to go one way or another and change my mind and direction as there are different paths throughout the park. Oh, I don't want to go where someone is mowing? Take this path. I don't want to get too near the playground? Turn here instead of there.
The paths weren't too crowded and it was so flat that when people did come by I was easily able to push the stroller into the grass then back after they passed. There were some people I passed a few times. It was pleasant. There were plenty of trees with lots of birds. The black-capped chickadees were fun to watch. Jet slept through the whole walk. It was so pleasant (the walk and the birds were pleasant- not the fact that the baby slept through the whole thing).

Northridge Park (from Park Week- Day 5)

This is another park we hadn't been to since 2011. The walking trail was straightforward about 1/3 mile around the perimeter, a simple loop. So I took it six times in a row to show my legs (or my legs show me) that I could handle a 2-mile stretch of Provo River Parkway. I said I wanted to work my way up to it. I definitely got there.

Part of the path at Northridge Park was by trees, most of it was in sun. There were more trees off the path near the tennis court, though. This park also had a big field. Jet slept through the whole thing again.

Geneva Park (from Park Week- Day 5)

I had this plan that I was going to go for walks in all these parks in order and give my opinion on them. Sometimes I think I have to stick to a plan. What I realized, though, is this my own thing. Nobody is expecting anything from me. It's my exercise. I can do it how I want. So when I got to Geneva Park and I didn't like the parking lot- how many cars there were (I like space to get the stroller out and have it next to the door or at least carry the car seat out of the van to the stroller), I decided I wasn't going to stay. I don't have to. I can do what I want. So I moved on to the next park on the list. However, I can tell you that since we were there in 2011, they built playgrounds that were definitely part of the park and not to be confused with the school next door. See my post from Park Week- Day 5 for how it was then.

Community Park (from Park Week- Day 5)

After Geneva Park, I got a mile walk in this park since I could see the signs saying it was about 1/2 mile per lap. I only stayed on the walking path side of the park and didn't spend time on the playground side. There were more people on this walking path than when I was at Scera Park and they all seemed to be going the opposite direction as I so after the first lap I turned around and didn't have to pass as many people the second time around. That is preferable. Again, part of the path was in trees, part of it was in the sun so I got Vitamin D but didn't get burned. Jet slept through it and was covered the whole time.

The highlight of this park? I witnessed a murder... dun dun duuun… of crows. These birds were territorial. This was their park and they were not happy when another large bird (they didn't have a problem with the swallows flying around) was in sight. In one tree, there was possibly a Cooper's hawk (I didn't get a good look) and when it started flying, those crows squawked and took to flight after it.

Later as I was on the other side of the track, there was a turkey vulture flying too low for the crows' liking. It was so cool to see them flying around doing acrobatics in the air- zooming this way and that way, up and down, zoom zoom. I like corvids.

I also watched some Brewer's blackbirds strutting around.

 

Westmore Park (from Park Week- Day 5)

I also didn't get past the parking lot of this one, though there were only a couple other cars in the small parking lot. When I blogged about Park Week, I mentioned how there was nothing (fence) separating this park from the elementary school next to it. Since school is now in session and since recess was currently happening, I didn't want to walk in the park with all those kids running around nearby. So I moved on. 

 

Provo City Park- 

Carterville Park (from Park Week- Day 9)

After Westmore Park, I moved on to a Provo park, and that's when I celebrated Make a Hat Day. That park also has a nice sized field and walking path that I didn't spend too much time walking around (at least not all the way around). That's okay. I was busy with other things.

Those are the Orem parks (and one in Provo) I went to before I said, "I'm done. I want to walk in the canyon." So I started walking (and juggling) the Provo River Parkway. More on that later.