邊走邊撿第一遊{核桃溪都會公園}
Last weekend, we went to Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park. It is a trail near where we live. I never knew we got a beautiful park just 8 minutes away from our house. It got hiking and biking trails, many off leash trails for the dogs, and beautiful scenery by the creek area. Currently, lots of closed trails which are under construction, and lots of people during the weekend, but there are many off road detours you can explore to avoid the crowd. We love to go off the trail sometimes, although it would take a bit longer to get back on the track, kids love the adventure of not knowing where we will end up.
上周末，我們去了離家裡才八分鐘 Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park的步道，從來不知道家附近有這麼美麗的公園。在那裡有單車步道、無需繫狗的步道及在小溪邊美麗的風景。目前哪裡有許多禁止進入的施工區，而且周末的人潮滿多的，如果你想閃避開人群，可以走其他沒標示的步道去探險。我們有時候喜歡亂走出原本的步道，雖然要走回正軌會走久了一些，但是孩子們很愛這樣不知目的地的探險。
Because this was the first time we have been to this park, we are not sure if the park is dog friendly or not, so we didn’t take Chance (our golden retriever) with us. But, I will definitely bring Chance to hike next time. So many friendly dogs out there, and many areas are off leash, so I can set him free and chase around with other furry friends. There are also very fun playgrounds at the park, I especially love the one they built with natural woods. I think I would use the similar idea to build a playground for my kids in our backyard one day.
因為這是我們第一次來到這個公園，我不確定對狗友不友善，所以我們這趟沒帶Chance一起出遊。但是下次我一定會帶他來！！有很多友善的狗，而且有很大一片都是不需要繫鍊的區域。我們可以讓他跟其他的狗夥伴自由的追逐奔跑。這裡還有很多給孩子們玩的遊樂設施，我最愛一個以自然原木建製的公園，我想我之後應該會參考他的想法，做一個類似用自然素材建製的遊樂平台給孩子們玩。
Other than hiking, our other mission is to pick up the trash while hiking around the trail. At the end of our hike, we collected a total of 3 bags of trash. We do find some trash at the entrance area, not as much inside the park, except the bags of poops laying around everywhere by the trails. Ok, I mean… You’ve already made an effort to put your dog poops in the plastic bag, why can’t you throw them away in the trash can? Yes, maybe because there are almost no trash cans once you enter the park, but you can still carry them till you get out. There are plenty of big trash cans at the entrance and near the parking lots. If you don’t want to carry a bag of poop around, I think you should have your dog poop off the trails where people won’t step on it and cover them with dirt or leaves, at least it will be decomposed into soil and become the nutrition for the earth. Bag them up with a plastic and just throw them everywhere doesn’t make them go away!! Anyway, it was just my 2 cents.
除了出來走步道之外，我們另一個任務是要撿垃圾。結束後我們總共撿了三袋垃圾，除了入、出口處的垃圾多了一些之外，公園裡面的垃圾算是少的，就只是有很多裝著狗大便的塑膠袋四處丟在步道旁。話說，你就已經把費勁蹲下來把狗屎放進塑膠袋裡了，幹嘛不把它們順便拿出公園外丟。就算是走進公園內部幾乎沒垃圾桶，但是走出公園的出入口及停車場附近也有一堆大型垃圾桶可以讓你丟。我的想法是，如果你懶得一路上拿著裝狗屎的塑膠袋，你也可以直接讓你的狗拉在步道外的大地中，蓋上落葉跟沙土，讓他在大自然中分解，成為地球的養分。只把狗屎裝在塑膠袋裡並不會讓屎消失！！
Overall Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park is a great park for kids and your pets. When I googled it, I noticed there is a concrete paved trail that we can walk from our house all the way to the park. Maybe next time we can take the long route without driving over to the park.
總而言之，Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park是個很適合帶孩子及寵物來的公園。當我回家Googled 他時，我發現他有一個步道會從我們家這裡直通到公園。或許下次可以不開車去，直接走走看。
If anyone is interested in joining us for the hike and pick event, feel free to contact me… We are usually very spontaneous and decide where to go at the last minute. Since we haven’t really gone to that many places yet, if you have any suggestions for us about where we should go, please let us know as well!! We want to start a weekly hike and pick event with kids and whoever would like to join. And I would let people know where we went afterwards and hopefully more and more people would enjoy walking into nature and keeping it clean!
如果住在Austin的朋友有興趣跟著我們一起邊走邊撿的活動，來跟我聯絡！通常我們都很隨興，都在最後一刻才決定要去哪裡。因為我們也沒走出去過幾次，去的地方不多，如果你有任何可以推薦我們去走的地方，也請讓我們知道！！我們希望每個禮拜都能出去走一趟，帶著孩子走進大自然順便撿一下垃圾。每次結束也會像這樣，分享讓大家知道我們去了哪裡，所以大家也會跟著走進大自然，學習維護自然美麗的環境。