City Saunter Fail

The plan was this. I would drive the almost 12 miles into town and park somewhere near the intersection of Forrest and Aurelius; one of my non-traversed sections of Lansing. I would connect back to the section of Aurelius I hadn’t walked and then continue south on Aurelius until I made it to Cavanaugh. From there I would walk west on Cavanaugh to Hawk Island Park; not to avoid the $5 parking fee (they weren’t collecting anyway) but rather to walk the section of Cavanaugh I hadn’t walked yet. The title of today’s post was going to be, “In Lansing, if it doesn’t snow, we make our own”; or something like that. I was planning to walk through Hawk Island to the new outdoor adventure hill and take photos (perfect photos) of snow machines blanketing the man-made hill in complete and perfect uniformity. Then I would continue through the dog park path and end up on one of the back roads between Aurelius and the park. As time allowed, I would walk as many of those as I could before returning to my parked car. My first hitch was not being able to find a place to park at my desired spot. I often take into consideration where I leave my car for the time I am away. I like to make sure it remains safe, un-ticketed, un-towed and un-vandalized. I also don’t want to leave it in a place that might be cumbersome to a business or home owner. All the streets that butt into the dog park have street parking prohibited. There is also no parking along Aurelius on any side. I continued my way down Aurelius and only found businesses and homes. Turning onto Cavanaugh, I found much of the same. Finally I pulled into the Dollar Store parking spot and made my way to the park; same walking plan as mentioned, just rotated around the block a bit. This park is still one of my favorite parks, even in the winter. I continued along the trail, passing a few winter exercisers. As I came closer to the new hill jutting into the sky, I noticed a lot of grass on it. Funny, I thought I just saw a news clip with snow machines gunning and lift chairs moving folks up and down the hill. The closer I got the more I realized that this hill wasn’t offering any fun times. Well, shoot. There goes the perfect photo. Still optimistic that I could at least get a few streets walked, I continued around the base of the hill to the Soldan Dog park entrance. This is where I watched in frustration as a man with a dog slid his entry card through a reader on a large wrought iron fence. He and his dog walked through the gate and continued their walk along the path while I stood trapped on the wrong side of the fence. At this point my choices were walk around to the Scott Wood’s side and see if I can get around to my desired road; knowing full well it will be pass-coded on the other end as well, or walk back to my car, defeated. This time, despite checking the fence line all the way back to my car, hoping to find a hole; I chose defeat. Next time will be better, I know it!