A nice 68 minute run/walk with my grandson

My wife and I have two grandsons visiting with us for a few days. On Thursday and Friday I did about 2 miles of walking with the oldest grandson (age 4). He drove our electric Jeep, and I walked behind him. He drove much faster than I walked, and he stopped and waited for me several times.

Today, we took our grandsons down to the Jordan River Parkway. The oldest grandson rode his bicycle and I did my usual running and walking. The one rule that we had was that as long as the grandson could see me, he could go ahead, but if he came to a curve that would block his view of me, he would stop and wait for me or would return to meet me and then go ahead again. In 68 minutes I did 3.2 miles, and my grandson did about 1/4 mile more than that due to his returning to meet me. My wife took the youngest grandson (age 2). He walked for a while, and then she pushed him in a stroller. They did 1.5 miles. The parkway is a great place for youngsters to ride bicycles. No vehicular traffic. Smooth path. Not a lot of walkers, runners, cyclists, skate boarders, etc.

My grandson and I saw a garter snake. It was on the path, and then it slithered off the path and through some grass and dirt. The snake was about the diameter of my little finger and maybe 2-3 feet long. Watching the snake gave me the opportunity to explain to my grandson that some snakes are dangerous and some are harmless. My grandson asked what garter snakes ate, and I said, "insects". However, Wikipedia says, "Their diet consists of almost any creature that they are capable of overpowering: slugs, earthworms, leeches, lizards, amphibians, birds, fish, toads and rodents". I forgot that snakes can open their mouths very wide and eat animals larger in diameter than they are. The following picture is from the web.

We had great Spring weather today. A 5 mph or so wind, sunny skies, clear air, and temperatures in the mid to high 60s (F).