136. Rotary Park, Merritt

For the last half of the Labour Day long weekend, Charlotte, Theo and I headed up to do a little camping at Lundbom Lake near Merritt.  After caching and splashing our way up the Coquihalla, we stopped at the Rotary Park in Merritt for a little playground time.  Charlotte made another friend there - a little boy who was also from Vancouver and in town to see the rodeo.  They rode the car together and chased each other all over the grassy field.  We skipped out on getting any nearby geocaches as we had already found quite a few - and I didn't want to push my luck with Charlotte!  The playground is located at N 50.07.025 W 120.47.334 and is point no. 136 on the map at the bottom of home page.

135. Evil Birds Park, Richmond

I had come across this playground while geocaching alone a couple of months ago; I chose not to go after the cache back then, preferring to wait until Charlotte was with me.  After all, there's nothing that makes me happier than a geocache and nothing that makes Charlotte happier than a playground, so if you put the two of them together...!  As far as I know, this tiny park doesn't have a name, so I have unofficially named it after the geocache, "Watch Out for Evil Birds", so named because of all the bird houses that hang from the park's trees.  We didn't see any evil birds, but we did see a little nuthatch creeping about on the tree trunks in search of food.  The playground was quite old school - wooden splinters and all.  Charlotte had fun swinging on the tire and loved going through the geocache, finally choosing a little toy squirrel to take with her and leaving behind one of her previously-treasured Easter eggs.  The playground is located at N 49.10.057 W 123.10.097 (which also happens to be the coordinates of the geocache!) and is point no. 135 on the map at the bottom of home page.

134. Memorial Park, Hope

We are going camping!!!  We set off today for the Fraser Canyon to work on our 49 degree challenge a little bit, swim in Nehatlatch Lake and spend a couple of nights under the stars.  We stopped in Hope along the way to visit a new playground.  It was a hot day and the ever-present winds of Hope were blowing, but blowing hot this time.  Charlotte had a great time in the yellow tunnel in the picture and made lots of new friends.  There was a zip line to play on - nothing like the one at Terra Nova, but she still had fun with it!  I didn't much like it - there was nothing for her to sit on like the one at Terra Nova, so I was supporting her weight the whole time because she couldn't hang on by herself!  There was an elderly couple sitting on the bench next to mine, watching the kids.  They were pointing out the antics of this one and that, commenting when a less brave kid summoned up the courage to take on the slide.  They seemed to be taking so much pleasure in watching the kids play - it was really quite sweet.  There is a little Japanese garden in the park, adjacent to the playground.  We stopped to have a look and Charlotte loved playing on the rocks around the pond.  The start of a multi-cache called "Tashme" is hidden there - but I happen to know that the final is to be found on the way to Manning Park and we were not going that way today.  The playground is located at N 49.22.817 W 121.26.499 and is point no. 134 on the map at the bottom of home page.

133. Hamilton VLA Neighbourhood Park, Richmond

We came by after work and daycare today to find an "E" cache for a challenge that Charlotte is working on.  We found "ERT06" - part of the East Richmond Trails series.  It was high up in a tree so I picked Charlotte up, hoisted her as far up as I could and she grabbed the cache, looking very proud of herself for her accomplishment.  Afterwards, we played for a bit at the nearby playground, but it was so hot that neither of us really felt much like being there and we soon headed home for dinner!  Maybe we will give this park another shot on a cooler day...  The playground is located at N 49.10.831 W 122.57.881 and is point no. 133 on the map at the bottom of home page.

132. Terra Nova, Richmond

Finally it's time to check out the amazing million-dollar playground at Terra Nova!  I have been saving this one for a long time, wanting to make a day of it rather than just a quick post-daycare trip.  Today we met up with our friends from two families: Gaby with Matias and Anna and Eva with Alex and Nika.  And what an amazing playground we found!

The main structure is about three storeys high and has all kinds of opportunities for climbing and sliding.  It was a bit too much for Charlotte, but the older kids had a great time.  There are lots of things to climb on and everything is made of wood and rope – no pre-fab playground equipment here!  After our picnic, we went to explore yet another part of the playground that I hadn't even realized existed at first and that's where Charlotte really had some fun.  There was a huge slide, much like the amazing slide at Garden City and the kids had a blast sliding down there as a "train".  And then there was the zip line!  I don't know how many times Charlotte went on that thing, but because it was a bit big for her, she really needed help staying on and so I had to run up and down along with her.

We were there for over four hours altogether and the kids all had a great time.  Definitely one of the best playgrounds we have ever visited, rivalled only by John Storvik in Anacortes and City Park in Lynden.  The playground is located at N 49.10.431 W 123.11.897 and is point no. 132 on the map at the bottom of home page.

131. Albion Park, Maple Ridge

Charlotte and I found ourselves in Maple Ridge on this very, very hot day, in search of "Sudoku Summit", a geocache with a difficulty rating of five.  There was a souvenir at stake.  Geocachers will get it...  After making our find, we returned to this playground that we had spotted from the car on the way to the cache.  We found a shady spot to spread out our picnic blanket and set to.  Before very long, a little boy named Otis came along, but he was with his security detail (i.e. his parents) and they looked at Charlotte like she had two heads when she asked their son if he wanted to play with her.  Eventually, they went on their way and another family came along, also with a little boy.  They gave off quite the unfriendly vibe too, so no playmate there.  Later on, as we were packing up to leave, a man came by with his dog and he was so unfriendly that when we were just a few feet away from him, he deliberately turned his back on us rather than exchange a "hello".  This playground gets a failing grade from us because of all its unfriendly people!  The playground is located at N 49.11.424 W 122.32.637 and is point no. 131 on the map at the bottom of home page.

130. Emery Barnes Park, Vancouver

Emery Barnes Park is a lovely little gem in downtown Vancouver.  It's a busy spot at all times, but when we were there at lunch time on a Tuesday, it was really bustling.  Charlotte really didn't spend much time on the playground itself as there is a water feature that few kids could resist.  It's meant to be decorative, but with its stepping stones, child-sized bridges and the little "river" leading from the waterfall to the spray fountain, it's hard not to resist kicking off your sandals on a hot summer day.  We had brought Charlotte's swimsuit along in anticipation of a trip to the beach later in the day, but we pulled it out here and let her loose.  She made a new friend, as you can see from the picture.  Maya was there with her mum and she did a great job of looking after Charlotte.  While Pete was keeping an eye on Charlotte, I went off to find the geocache hidden just a few metres from the fountain, appropriately named "Emery Barnes Park Cache".  The park is located at N 49.16.580 W 123.07.446 and is point no. 130 on the map at the bottom of home page.