Day of Hope Charity Car Show

I am always looking for activities that welcome wheelchair users. Saturday, August 10, was the 8th Annual Charity Car Show at Veteran's Memorial Park in West Jordan, Utah. The charity benefits child victims of crime in Salt Lake County. Our District Attorney, Sim Gill, was there to greet us!

Two members of Sim's staff were also greeting people as they came into the show. They had on spiffy T-shirts. 

I worried that the grass would be too muddy. We had to dodge a few wet spots but it was good overall.

We saw some very cool cars. Can you tell that whitewall tires were a big deal in the old days? Some more great cars:

Bill knows the names and years of most of the cars. Some have special memories for him. This 1947 Ford is the same make and model as the car he drove in high school. But, imagine, instead of yellow his car was candy apple red. 

Also imagine that it had 1957 Oldsmobile Fiesta flicker hubcaps.  

Flickers were hubcaps that were inspired by the Ben Hur movie where Masala had swords sticking out of his chariot's wheels. He used the swords to take out his opponents in the big race. Bill and his brother thought these flickers would take out their rivals so they could get the girls!

Bill got the car from his older brother when his brother bought a 1957 Oldsmobile like the one above but his car was gold. Notice anything about the hubcaps? They are the same gladiator hubcaps!

Back to Bill's car. On the night of his high school graduation, he was driving the '47 Ford past the school when he saw his older brother. Bill stopped to say hello and his brother asked him to swap cars! His brother was out and about driving his new car but he wanted to show his girlfriend the car he used to drive in high school. 

Bill was suddenly driving a high powered Oldsmobile and so he romped through the hills of San Mateo just for fun. When he gave the car back to his brother, the overheated brakes could be smelled from half a mile away. His brother was not happy. 

As for Bill's ability to get girls with his '47 Ford, it didn't work very well. He doesn't remember what happened to the car.

Bill's father had a Karman Ghia like this one except that his was red. This is the car that his younger brother ended up driving. He thinks his brother wrecked it when he was 16.

The Chevy Impala above has special memories for me. I had a fiance in 1966-67 before I met Bill in 1968. My fiance was stationed near my home in California. I met him at Travis Air Force Base. I was in the USO and it was against the rules to date the men we met at dances. But I did it anyway. He found out where I lived, bought a car and drove to see me on a Sunday.

When he was released from the military, he moved home to Maryland and went to work for Chevrolet. He wanted to buy a new car and asked me what color I liked. I said "Red." He bought a red Chevy Impala. It must have been a '67 which this one is not. But, still, it reminds me of those days.

About the same time, I was going to Diablo Valley College when the car I was using broke down. I had no way to get back and forth. A friend said she would take me home if I was willing to wait four hours in the back of her VW bug. It was very kind of her and I finished out the term but those four hours in that tiny car were grueling!

Speaking of the old days, I met a woman at the car show wearing a psychedelic pants outfit with bell bottoms! She made the outfit herself to go with her car. 

This is a '57 Chevy like the one my uncle drove for years. He loved that car!

There were many Ford model T's and model A's. 

Before we left, Bill had to go over to the library and check out the book sale.

On our way out, I took a picture of the new playground that is being constructed in Veteran's Park. 

It was fun! I can see us doing it again next year. 

Tracy Aviary Guided Walk on the Jordan River

We took a walk along the Jordan River with two guides from the Tracy Aviary. They lead this same walk every week in the summer. We met at Roi Hardy Park in Riverton on Thursday at 10 a.m. The temperature was in the '80's but there was a light breeze. 

There is a pavilion with restrooms.

There is a nice playground for the kids. 

Our guides, Ann and Kate, handed out red binoculars to everyone and explained how to use them. 

I had my own binoculars but Bill borrowed a pair from the guides.

This particular walk is far enough from the river that we never actually saw any water. We were in a marshy area but the trail was paved all the way. There was no problem with insects. 

We stopped and listened to a bird singing in the trees. The guide said it was a Cedar Waxwing, named because the wings look like they are dipped in wax. I didn't see it but Bill did.   

The guide said that many birds were probably attracted to the area by the berries at the top of this tree. 

There were barn swallows flying overhead. Their name derives from their insect swallowing capabilities. They fly so fast that I couldn't make out much except that their tails were forked. 

We saw plenty of bindweed which is known as Utah's most hated weed although I have others that I also hate. Many people mistake bindweed for Morning Glory. It has a superficial resemblance. 

The guides gave the children small clipboards with paper and pen so they could draw a picture of an interesting plant. Later, they were supposed to trade pictures so they could guess which plant they each drew. 

We saw mourning doves which are frequent visitors to our yard. We also saw a red headed finch. I have taken many pictures of them in the past when I had a bird feeder. The guide said the males get red coloring from the food they eat. The redder the coloring, the more attractive they are to females. Females don't get the same effect possibly because it would be dangerous to be too visible when sitting on a nest. 

We heard another bird in the bush that the guide identified as a Bullock's Oriole. This picture is from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Neither of us actually saw it. 

There was ample evidence of beaver activities. 

I expressed my surprise because I thought beavers were always transported away from the river. I know they can't get away with building a dam in the river. The guide said they still overwinter there. The newly planted cottonwood trees are protected from them using wire fencing. 

We ended our walk at an overlook that is built out over the marshy area. 

We looked over the edge at evidence of raccoon and deer prints. Any three pointed paw print is a raccoon print. 

There was a swallow nest under the eaves of the gazebo. 

I thought it was a wasp nest but the guide said it was a swallow nest built out of mud and bird poop.

We had a wonderful time and can recommend this activity to anyone using a power chair, wheelchair, scooter or stroller.

Murray Park Arboretum

We used to live in Murray so I have been to Murray City Park dozens of times in my life. I never knew about the arboretum on the north side of the park. When our kids were young we came to play on the playground equipment or to swim. By the way, the playground has changed completely since I last took children there decades ago. These two girls were playing on outdoor musical instruments.

This is not my picture but you can see it's the same set of drums.

We were more interested in visiting the arboretum this time. It's on the north side of the park and was established on Arbor Day 1961. It's named after the woman who first suggested it, Joan M. Hardle.

This sign is located directly west of the public swimming pool. Once you walk past it, the arboretum section of the park is directly ahead. The word arboretum means trees but there are also other woody shrubs in the collection. There is an online guide to the plants which mentions the following:

Unique and interesting spring, summer, autumn and winter displays are always observable within the Arboretum. These include a cacti garden, hybrid iris bed, water ponds, shrubbery beds, seasonal flower plantings and many varieties of trees with unusual foliage and flowers.

The online site has an index to the plants and a map to guide you. 

As usual, my husband took my picture and I took a few of him. 

I accidentally took this picture of him along with showing my own hand on my power chair controls. I liked it so much that I kept it. I could not do this on purpose if I tried. 

The park was beautiful as usual. Since it was a Sunday morning, there were only a few people around. Two men were filling sand bags in preparation for the flooding that is expected in the next few weeks. The creek is already running full. There are signs highlighting the danger of the fast water.

There is a lake near the south parking area that was new to us. It's probably meant to help with flooding but it provides a home for ducks, also. 

The original arboretum was planted on property previously owned by an immigrant family from Italy.

Unfortunately, the initial design incorporated some small concrete bridges over the rivulets. It's unfortunate because the bridges come to a point at the top. We couldn't cross over them safely. What constitutes only a few steps for an able bodied person can form a barrier to us. 

If the above picture were a video, you could see that the drive wheels on my husband's chair were spinning. That's because the bridge lifted the drive wheels away from the sidewalk.

I considered getting a run on the little bridge in my chair but I was afraid it would pitch me forward sharply on the down side. I can walk a short distance so I got out of my chair and took a few pictures. 

They take Arbor Day seriously here. There is a list of children who won contests in the past.

As we were leaving the area, I noticed one of those miniature neighborhood libraries. This one faces the park so I'm not sure who is supposed to be trading books there. 

It's always fun to discover a new place that we can explore on our chairs. My only wish is that we could look around inside the restricted area.