The Green Girl's Northern California Morning Run

Running along railroad tracks

The Green Girl went for a short run this morning before work.

I'm up in Northern California visiting my family for the extended Memorial Day weekend.

The morning air was cool and crisp.

I decided to run on the gravel along the railroad tracks towards Congress Springs Park. The rocks crunched beneath my feet with each step.

Sunrise over Congress Springs Park

The sun gently warmed my body as I ran.

The quietness of surburbia surrounded me.

When I ran under the giant steel power poles, I could hear the buzz of electricity flowing through the power lines.

Brookside Club of Saratoga

I decided to follow a path down to Brookside Club of Saratoga.

I recalled visiting the club back when I was in high school for some sort of event.

To the right of the narrow road, there were antique cars and automobile parts scattered across a grassy patch.

I immediately thought of one of my favorite television shows, American Pickers, and wondered if these pieces were worth a lot of money.

Antique cars

It was the perfect way to start off my day. I returned to my parent's house feeling refreshed and focused.

I'm looking forward to surprising my little niece by picking her up from school today.

Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll, Run, Click

The Green Girl had a really good time at the Long Beach SparkTeam skate night at Skate Depot on Wednesday.

It's been awhile since I was invited to a birthday skate party so I had no idea the sport of skating had evolved since the 1980's.
Instead of the flimsy, faux leather skates with knotted laces that wouldn't loop through the holes, all the cool kids were sporting designer Stacy Adams roller skates with tiny wheels.

I was fascinated not only by their slick looking dress shoes on wheels but also by the way they could shake, pop, and glide across the skating rink.

I finally decided on the Canon S90 as a replacement for my beloved SD700. It arrived just in time for me to take it with me on my trip up to Northern California for my sister's graduation.

I went for a run this morning around my parent's suburban neighborhood.

I followed the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks down to Congress Springs Park where my niece loves to go up and down the slides.

Even though I grew up in my parent's house, the surrounding area is foreign to me. If I don't stick to the main roads on my runs, I end up getting lost in the maze of perfectly manicured lawns.
I headed back down the transportation corridor towards an overpass overlooking Highway 85.

For as far back as I can remember, Highway 85 was under construction but as soon as I moved away to college, they decided to get their act together.

I was so disappointed that I missed the opening ceremonies. The evening before they opened the freeway up to traffic, several cities along the route hosted a giant street party on the freeway.

In honor of the Highway 85's inauguration, the city of Campbell planted a number of pansies spelling out the city's name on the side of the freeway bed. Motorists slowed to read the message and created a traffic jam. The flowers were gone the next day.

On my way back, I passed the local fire station.

My niece is fascinated by law enforcement professionals so we often visit the station. We've observed them washing the giant fire trucks and playing on their little putting green.

Once, one of the firefighters even invited us inside but my niece wasn't comfortable going in so we politely declined.

I'm really looking forward to spending the extended Memorial Day weekend with my niece.