You Never Know What You’ll Find on the Greenway

February 22, 2012 | Filed under: Family | Posted by: Becky Elms

Do you know what a Greenway is?

I didn’t until about 8 years ago, when I stumbled upon one that bisects most of the Wakefield Plantation Community between Falls of the Neuse and (roughly) NewFallsof theNeuse. Greenways are what Planning Commissions around here call bike/walking/jogging paths or trails and recently the area has exploded with new ones and improvements upon the existing ones. This is great news for area residents!

Have you been on any of the new Greenways yet in the area? My family and I have tried out a few of them, and are hooked. We pack up as many bikes as we can until we run out of room in the truck (one of these days this family of 6 will invest in a bike trailer…), then we throw in a couple of scooters and a jog stroller to make sure everyone is covered and head out.

For kicks and giggles we throw in the four kids and puppy as well. Sometimes my husband is brave enough to join in on the fun, too.

Weekends tend to be busy on the Greenways, naturally. It’s wise to instruct the kids to be mindful of the “rules of the road” and stay on the right side of the path. It’s good manners, particularly with all of the runners and two wheeled traffic, but it’s also a safety issue as you don’t want your little ones being plowed over by a cyclist. Cyclists, be mindful as well, that children can get distracted and forget the rules no matter how many times we parents remind them, so be forgiving with the families that are sharing the path.

If you are looking for wildlife, we have encountered heron, deer (females and tiny fawns as well as a nice sized buck), and enormous flocks of migrating birds perched in trees that made me shiver momentarily as I thought of the old Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Birds.” We have stumbled upon tumbling little creeks with natural “waterfalls” (with about a 4 foot drop), found swimming holes along the Neuse River, caught tadpoles, and crayfish, all to our delight.

Once we were stopped by a family who swore that we had their dog. Apparently there are two 8 month old tricolor English Setter pups in the Greater Wake Forest area that have black and brown patches over one eye. Thankfully, the patches are on opposite eyes, and we were no longer under suspicion of dog snatching!

My 5 year old daughter laughed as they walked away, remarking at the fact that even our puppy, Briar, has a “doppelganger.” Thank you, Phinneus and Ferb for expanding her volcabulary…

You just never know what you’ll run across when you are on the Greenways. Check them out!

http://www.wakeforestnc.gov/residents/parksrecreation_greenways.aspx

http://www.raleighnc.gov/arts/content/PRecDesignDevelop/Articles/CapitalAreaGreenwayTrailSystem.html

Image courtesy of Becky Elms | Destination Wake Forest

Becky Elms

We moved to the Wake Forest area in 1999 from Pennsylvania. Subsequently, I hung up my corporate cleats to become a stay-at-home Mom of 2 boys and 2 girls, now ranging in age from 3 - 11. My aim is to provide DWF readers the same type of local "what's happening" tidbits and nuggets of information that I would share amongst my friends and neighbors, from a moms perspective.