19. George McLean Park, Burnaby



We had a very Saturday, with a trip to the pool in the morning and a Whitecaps game in the afternoon.  It was perhaps a little too busy as we just took it easy on Sunday and stayed close to home.  We did take a little bit of a detour on our way to nana and grandad's though so that we could get a cache in a playground we haven't yet visited.  Of course we got the cache first - Arbor Harbor.  Co-ordinates seemed a bit off, but the name of the cache gives away its hiding spot and it was a pretty quick find.  After that, it was time for Charlotte to go and play!

It was a bit of a strange playground - not your typical one by any means.  Charlotte didn't think much to the giant saucer swing because she couldn't go very high in it, though it was kind of fun to have mum join her in it so we could both swing together.  The slide was just as strange - no steps up to it at all, but instead a slope that was steep at the front and more gradual at the back, perched atop a carpet of some bouncy, grippy substance that makes it possible to climb up the steep part like Spiderman.  Other than these two pieces of equipment, there was just a sandbox and a water feature for the summer.  All in all, we were a bit underwhelmed by this park!  It's located at N 49.14.099 W 123.00.887: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI&pli=1

18. Old Schoolhouse Park, New Westminster

Over the last couple of weeks, we've had some bad weather that has kept us away from the playgrounds - and some weather so good that we made the most of it by going out caching and exploring Reifel with our friends.  It was high time that we hit another playground, and this Thursday evening, we headed out after supper to check out Old Schoolhouse Park.  We were actually scouting it as a location for Charlotte's birthday party, but it was a little bit disappointing as it doesn't offer much for the smaller kids, other than the swings.  As you can see, Charlotte quite enjoyed the bike rack!

Before we played, we walked along the perimeter of the park, collecting information from five signs on five pieces of exercise equipment - there is a multi cache hidden in this park that neither of us had yet!  The next day, I did the calculations necessary to work out the final coordinates and after work and daycare, we took advantage of a little break in the weather to go and find the cache.  The calculations were correct and we easily found "More Fun Than School".  The park takes its name from the fact that there used to be a school on this site - this must have been quite some time ago as I only ever remember it being a wasteland.  It actually used to be quite an eyesore, so this is a big improvement.  The playground may be a little big for Charlotte for now, but we look forward to coming back on a hot day in the summer to try out the little mini waterpark!  The cache is located at N 49.11.482 W 122.56.012: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

17. Riverfront Park, Vancouver

It wasn't a very nice afternoon for a playground visit - in fact, it almost didn't happen at all.  But we had a bit of a break in the weather and we stopped off at Riverfront Park - we scored both a playground and a geocache in one go!  The playground was pretty small with just two swings, one for little kids and one for big ones.  Charlotte loved it when I was in the swing next to her - we got ourselves in sync and held hands as we swung back and forth, much to her amusement.  She had fun climbing too - the aluminium slide was pretty cool because it was VERY NOISY!

 

It was all I could do to convince her to come with me to look for a geocache just 50 metres or so away, though she got into it once we started looking for the cache.  It was called Serving It Up - a reference to the nearby tennis court and Charlotte was happy to help find it.  The coordinates for a puzzle cache are also just a few metres away - but where the final cache can be found is another story!

Charlotte enjoyed watching the tugboats go by and there were lots of puppies to pat too.  There is a picnic shelter and bathrooms close by - it's a nice little park, or it would have been for us if it hadn't been so very cold!  The park is located at N 49.12.339 W 123.03.067:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

16. Connaught Heights Park, New Westminster

Today we had another beautiful spring evening - I figured we'd better make the most of it before the rain sets in again for the weekend.  We discovered a little park in the northwest corner of New Westminster that we probably would never have discovered if it weren't for this challenge - even though we've passed within 100 metres of it hundreds of times before.  The park and Southridge Drive are that close to each other - but you'd never know it.  And though they are that close as the crow flies, the park takes a little bit of effort to get to, guarded by one-way and traffic-calmed residential streets.

Great swings at this park, as you can see!  Charlotte went as high as the laws of physics would allow, loving every minute of it.  We had fun on the triple slide and we explored the giant tires.  The park is quite pretty with its lush vegetation - it would be a very nice place to visit in the summer.  No geocaches around though as the park neighbours an elementary school.  The playground is located at N 49.12.192 W 122.57.301: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

15. South Arm Park, Richmond

The weather just keeps on getting better and better!  It was sunny and warm for this afternoon's post-daycare adventure in South Arm Park.  These are my old stomping grounds; I used to live in an apartment complex on the far side of the park and have ridden my bike through here many a time.  Back then, I had no reason to pay much attention to the playground, but it's a really good one - one of the best we've visited so far.  We didn't even have chance to explore everything, despite staying for over an hour.  We were so busy driving the train and playing on the swings that we didn't even have time to explore the old castle!

Charlotte did lots of climbing here - she became really good at pulling herself up on the "block steps".  The last step ws pretty tricky as it was not directly aligned with the opening onto the landing, so she had to pull herself up and around to get where she was going.  She couldn't manage it at first, but after a few tries, she was negotiating the steps like a pro.

There have been geocaches in this park in the past, but there are no active caches at the moment.  It's not a very cache-friendly park with its many muggles and wide-open spaces - but surely a cache could survive somewhere here?!?  I think Charlotte and I will have to plant a cache of our own when we come back to explore that old castle!

The park is located at N 49.08.382 W 123.07.413: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

14. DeLair Park, Abbotsford

The first day of Daylight Savings was also the first spring-like day of the year.  How could we not go out and have an adventure?!?  We headed east to Abbotsford to collect a few caches for our "122 Degrees Challenge"; I completed the requirements today and Blackford Girl got a few caches under her belt too!  And when we were finished caching, we went in search of a playground...  We were heading to a different park originally, knowing it held a geocache, but not knowing if it actually had playground equipment.  As we drove, we came across DeLair Park, spotted the playground and decided to stop.



Of course the swings were up first!  But Charlotte really had fun on the slides here - and Owlie did too.  His trips down the slide outnumbered Charlotte's by a considerable margin, but she seemed to like it that way.  She enjoyed making her way across the bouncy bridge too.  There were quite a few kids in the park, which made a nice change from what we're used to - sometimes I feel like we're the only people who use these playgrounds!  Some big kids were climbing trees and climbing the rock wall - it looked pretty challenging to me!

But we had a little misadventure too.  I took Charlotte back to the car for a diaper change and as I got back, I noticed a guy a short way off with his camera lens pointed right at us.  I thought it was very strange, but thought he was taking a picture of the whole park.  I had my hands quite full with Charlotte, but when I next glanced up, he had moved towards the front of the car and once again, his camera lens was trained right on us.  By now, I was feeling pretty uncomfortable and I hurried to get Charlotte dressed.  Every time I glanced up, the camera lens was directly upon me.  It was completely disconcerting.  Once Charlotte was dressed, I confronted the photographer and asked him what he was doing.  He said he was taking pictures of my dog for a photography project.  I asked him if he had any idea how creepy it was for him to be taking my picture while I was changing my daughter and he apologized - though in a way that seemed to suggest that he didn't quite get it.  I told him he should ask permission next time and I didn't appreciate what he was doing.  I wish I had asked to see his pictures; I can't imagine that he had anything of great quality from the distance he was at - and Theo may be very photogenic, but he was doing nothing more than hanging out by my side, waiting to be allowed back into the car once I was finished changing Charlotte.  The only good thing was that I knew he hadn't been able to photograph Charlotte while I was changing her - he would have had the police on him if he had.  Even as it was, I broke my promise to Charlotte to take her back to the swings after her diaper change - I was just too creeped out to continue.


Apart from that, the park was quite nice, though there was a steady hum of traffic noise at all times as Highway 1 is not too far away.  There is a geocache hidden right at the park; we must have been within several metres of it, but we didn't have it in the GPS!  "Hey Boo Boo" it's called - in deference to the many pic-a-nic tables from which a hungry bear might be tempted to steal a pic-a-nic basket.  We will be sure to go look for it next time!  The covered shelter that is right next to the playground can be reserved by calling 604 859 3134.  The park is located at N49.02.276 W 122.14.213:  https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

13. Terra Nova Neighbourhood Park, Richmond

We made plans to meet up with auntie Eva, Alex and Nika at their local park after daycare today.  I took lots of photos of the three kids - only to later realize that there was no memory card in the camera.  The photos lurk within the internal memory of the camera, but I don't have the right cable to retrieve them.  Maybe one day!

This is a great park for kids of all ages - we've been here several times before.  There is an elementary school right next to the playground, so there are structures for big kids as well as for little ones.  One of the slides here is not just a double slide, but a triple!  The kids played for ages while Eva and I chatted and caught up with each other.

There are no geocaches in the park due to the proximity of the elementary school, but there are lots nearby in the Terra Nova Rural Park and along the dyke.  Today, there was a huge flock of Snow Geese in residence - they are often here for a few days in the spring and fall.  The park is located at N 49.10.225 W 123.11.180: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI

12. Settlers Park, Port Coquitlam

Brrrr!  It was a cold day to be out and about - in fact, it snowed on us a little bit as we played in Settlers Park.  We discovered this park last year and made a repeat visit today to check out the swings, a very Charlotte-friendly slide and the spinning cups.  This playground even has a seesaw - that's pretty old school!  There is one little kids' swing and one for big kids - Charlotte thought it was super-fun for me to take the big one and swing right along with her.  Theo got a little over-excited by this though!  There is a little duck pond in the park too, though we were too cold to check it out today.  And maybe we will save the skateboard park for when Charlotte's a little older.

The geocache in this park is what led us to discover it in the first place.  It's called "Settle Down" and is just steps from the playground equipment, hidden amongst the picnic tables.  The park is located at N 49.14.246 W 122.47.004: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?hl=en&authuser=0&mid=z7IAXiVD2wGY.ke14vi-3MYtI