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| The entry to the east side of the park. |
Our walk today is a traditional club walk staffed by the Randolph Roadrunners Volkssport Club. Today, I am volunteering at the South Side Lions Park East finish table from 9:15-11:15 am, and then Susan Medlin and I will do our walk.
Ellen Ott was busy at the beginning. She pinned "Awesome" tags on a number of people to thank them for their contributions to the Randolph Roadrunners Volkssport Club. Martin is our photographer.
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| Martin received his "Awesome" tag. |
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| Diana & Robert Adelman with Odin. Ellen Ott is giving Odin a doggy treat. |
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| Robert & Diana Adelman heading out on their walk. |
At 11 am, there will be an awards ceremony at the Pavilion and a hot dog lunch. We're looking forward to it.
In case you wondered what happened to Bob, he flew to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving with his family (mom, sister, nieces, and nephews). They're doing a lot of walking in Vegas and Bob has been out running nine miles two mornings in a row. He's flying back Saturday.
The temperature when I arrived at the park was 48 degrees. It was chilly, so I had on a T-shirt, sweatshirt, heavy winter coat with a hood, jeans, and warm socks. From time to time at the finish table, I also put on my shearling-lined gloves. The wind was out of the north and it was cold.
Forty-two walkers joined us this morning. This walk differed from the year-round event during the first 5k. Instead of going all the way around the lake and joining up with the Salado Creek bike path, about halfway around the lake, the walkers headed up a short hill to the west side of South Side Lions Park. The walk then took them around the pool, ball fields, and Community Center, past some homes, and a big water tower. Once that part was done, it was a quick walk downhill and completion of the loop around the lake to the finish table.
At 11:15 am, Ellen presented service awards to a number of Volksmarchers including John & Susan Ives, Mike & Kathy Schwencke, Diana Adelman, Bob and me, and a number of others. We then had a hot dog lunch with drinks, chips, and a choice of desserts. Ellen Ott made a Devil's Food Apricot Cake, and Susan Medlin made two dump cakes (one blueberry and one pumpkin). Mmm. Delicious lunch.
With lunch literally under our belts, Susan and I did our 5k walk. This was the portion of the walk that we hadn't done before. Here are photos of what we saw.
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| Martin taking our photo. |
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| Trail marker. |
The Golden Shower tree was blooming and turning color for fall, all at the same time!
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| "Tis the season..." |
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| A huge water tower that we think is begging for a big mural. |
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| Hermes at the checkpoint. |
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| Hermes pointing the way. |
Pecan Valley Lake at South Side Lions Park East is stocked with all kinds of fish. Every time we've been to this park, fishermen line the lake fishing from the shore. As we walked up, this gentleman had just caught a big catfish and he consented to have his photo taken with it.
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| A lunker catfish! |
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| We walked around the lake today. |
At the beginning of our 5k walk, Laurie Sue joined us. When we returned to the finish, we were told they saved three hot dogs just for us. So, we finished them off. I won't need too much dinner tonight!
Thank you, Randolph Roadrunners Volkssport Club, for organizing this event every year. The walk is lovely.
Tomorrow, Susan Medlin and I plan to do the Comfort Christmas Walk with the caveat that if it's pouring rain we'll opt out of the walk and go to the movies. We hope for nice weather, though, because we love the Christmas Market.
Travel Bug out.
