120. Ellwood Park, Abbotsford

Today was a pretty exciting day for us - we finished our 122 Degree Challenge!  Afterwards, we went in search of Charlotte Park - I had discovered that there was such a place while doing a little pre-trip research.  But although we found Charlotte Avenue, Charlotte Park remained elusive.  However, at the end of Charlotte Avenue, we found a playground that would suit us just fine and we went in to play.  We never did find out the name of the park while we were there - we just got it off the map afterwards.  There were lots of kids playing, but unfortunately, most of them were from a birthday party that was being held there, so they all knew each other already and weren't interested in getting to know anyone else.  Charlotte still had fun while Theo and I soaked up some sun on the grass.  After the playground, Charlotte and I zipped around from tree to tree, looking for the one that held a geocache, "Getting to Know My Way Around - K".  Great, now there's another series that we need to complete since we've got one of them!  The playground is located at N 49.03.457 W 122.20.924 and is point no. 120 on the map at the bottom of home page.

117. Mt. Lehman Elementary School, Abbotsford

Continuing on with our hunt for caches that would help us qualify for the 122 Degree Challenge, we came across this elementary school playground where we stopped for a picnic lunch.  The small playground was just right for Charlotte and we also had a game of hopscotch!  Some other kids came by to play too and we chatted with them for a while.  The playground is located at N 49.07.074 W 122.23.007 and is point no. 117 on the map at the bottom of home page.

116. Bradner Community Park, Abbotsford

Somehow I have the impression that this playground is haunted!  We came across it while working on our 122 Degree Challenge.  It has clearly seen better days - the wooden structure is in some disrepair and grass and weeds are starting to take over at the base.  It was actually quite shocking since we are so used to sanitized playgrounds in tip-top condition.  We played here for a while, chased each other around the grassy field and found the two nearby geocaches, "Geo-Poker Run 2013 Cache 33" and "Geo-Poker Run 2013 Cache 34", before I finally convinced Charlotte that we could probably find a nicer playground somewhere else.  The playground is located at N49.05.832 W 122.25.608 and is point no. 116 on the map at the bottom of home page.

109. Mill Lake Park, Abbotsford

We came out to Abbotsford today to do a little geocaching for our 122 Degree Challenge.  Charlotte absolutely refused to allow me to take her picture, so I pulled up this old one taken when we were last at this park for a geocaching event in September 2013.  She has changed so much since then!

There were lots of kids there when we first arrived in the late afternoon and Charlotte ran off to join them, periodically returning to me to joyfully tell me that she had "made a new friend" or to report something funny that one of them had said.  She scaled the climbing mountain like a monkey and generally had the time of her life.

I perched on the curb around the edge of the playground and watched her run and play and make friends.  It was all exactly as it should be and I was happy to see her having so much fun.  So I was more than a little surprised when one of the other mums fixed me with an evil eye, staring at me so intently, and with no reason that I could think of, that I turned around to see if there was someone behind me.  She asked "Is that your daughter?" so coldly that I was taken by surprise.  When I simply said "yes", she turned away unsmilingly with a grunt of disapproval.  How can two mums at a playground see a situation so differently?  I truly don't know what her problem was!  Whatever to her because Charlotte had the time of her life.  The playground is located at N 49.02.549 W122.18.605 and is point no. 109 on the map at the bottom of home page.

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