48 hours ago I was getting off a plane after spending a long weekend in Sonoma County with a group of ladies (I have pictures and stories to tell, just haven’t had time).  36 hours ago I started a fancy new job.  Same employer, significant promotion, significant increase in responsibilities.  Tonight I am sitting in a hotel room in Kennewick, Washington.  Tomorrow morning I attend the kick-off of a two-day conference for the new job.  Nothing like jumping into the deep end.  On Friday afternoon I drive home.  Saturday afternoon a girlfriend and I head to Seattle for the Color Run on Sunday morning.  It’s all a bit mind-boggling.

The drive today was uneventful.  Long (4+ hrs), but uneventful.  I can honestly say that I’ve never been to Kennewick before.  I think you have to have a reason.  Wine is a good reason.  Lots of wineries in the area.  But, I wined a lot last weekend and am not really in the mood.

Kennewick, if you don’t know, sits on the Columbia River.  The mighty, might Columbia.  I needed to stretch my legs a bit after arriving into town, so I followed signs to, aptly named, Columbia Park.  Looking at a map, it appears this park spans the waterfront through much of the town.  Got out of the car and saw these little guys:

Yes, those of fuffy, fuzzy baby geese.  Goslings.  I had to give them a bit of a wide berth because the guards kept giving me the furry (feathery?) eyeball.

At first I thought the focus was off.  But, no, they truly are that fluffy.  So adorable.

The weather couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to do, and the wind was blowing, but I still got to see skies like these:

I headed down the path to Bateman Island.  Looks like it’s a favorite of birders and fisherman.  A gravel path circles the island.  With deviations it was a couple of miles.  It was beautiful.  The first thing I saw was wild roses.  Lots and lots of fragrant wild roses.

The terrain was beautiful.  But…you tell me…African savanna or Kennewick? Okay, I’ve not been to Africa, but I’ve seen pictures.

On down the path I went, hearing only the wind and the birds.

After a couple of false trails that led to small fishing pockets I finally hit a nice beach and was rewarded with beautiful views:

I took it all in for a few minutes, then headed back.  And saw a bird that I chased after the entire time we were in New Mexico.  Really?!  Yes.  I thought it was, perhaps, a bird unique to the Southwest.  Nope.  Lives in Kennewick, too.  Don’t know what it is and didn’t get a picture.  Here’s as good as I got in NM.  Tell me if you know what it is:  Update!  Thanks to Joe over at Short and Tweet I now know that this is a black billed magpie.

I passed fragrant honeysuckle trees, came around the corner and saw quail bobbing around.  I love quail.  So fun to watch.  The first couple of years at our house we had quail, including babies in the spring, but we’ve not seen any for a number of years, to our disappointment.

This was him posturing.  Check out that wingspan.  🙂

It was a good walk.  Just what I needed.  I stopped by a Thai restaurant on the way back to the hotel and picked up a fresh summer roll and panang curry.  Of course, when I got back to the room I realized they had failed to give me a fork.  No utensils in the room and I was too lazy to go downstairs to find something.  So, I unwrapped the two wooden stir sticks they provided for coffee and used them as mini chop sticks.  It got the job done.  A good night’s sleep and I’ll be ready for tomorrow!  I leave you with this: