Riverwalk and Childhood Memories

I went early in the morning this time, to catch coolness. Traffic was awesome at 7 and 9:30 am. There weren't a ton of people out and about ~ a few.... just enough to say hi to and know that I'm not completely alone out there on the Riverwalk. Joggers and walkers and tourists, construction workers arriving, restaurant employees sweeping and putting out chairs, river workers cleaning up mud and leaves after yesterday's storms. 

This walk kept reminding me of my childhood in Rayne, Louisiana, so this one's for you, Mom and Dad, Mike, Tonya, Cory. 

Not exactly like it, but this reminded me of our old white, column-porched house on West Edwards Street. We could climb out our bedroom windows and sit on the roof. We played on the porch when it rained. We slid down the banister and had all kinds of adventures in that house.

These are just like the spools that my dad brought home from work or some place. These were tables or parts of playhouses or just fun to "walk" on around the backyard. And we had a large one and small one just like this. I think this picture was taken in King William District.

Large crepe myrtle trees. I've seen a lot of crepe myrtles in Florida and here in Texas that are planted in new landscaping, and they are never very large. We had a large one in our yard in Rayne that we could climb, and I noticed the Riverwalk had a lot of large ones also. 

Lots of carvings in this old crepe myrtle, so I went ahead and added another.

A tiny fig tree! 

We had a large one in our backyard. We could climb that tree too ~ it provided a lot of shade in the hot southern summers. During fig season though, the ground would be covered in squishy figs that you had to avoid. I love figs fresh from the tree. It's awesome to be able to go to your backyard and pick food to eat. 

Not ripe yet.

 The section I walked this day was from Jones Ave bridge to Guenther bridge in King William District. About 2 miles. It covered that square section of the Riverwalk that most people visit ~ the one that is near the Alamo and Rivercenter Mall. It's a very pretty section with neat bridges and waterfalls, wooden benches and greenery.

I parked on a side street next to a coffee shop called Rosella Coffee. (Another childhood memory of a good friend named Rosella.) It was packed when I got back to the van, so I'm glad I was there early enough to get a free parking spot. I did step in and get some coffee for the drive home.

This picture isn't so pretty, but I thought it was interesting. There were a bunch of these tiny fish on the sidewalk in one short section. Maybe they somehow got up there from the storm yesterday? There are a bunch of centipedes and snails crawling on them.

Only 9 more miles to go!