Parked at the Greenway parking lot on Bennington and walked up Underhill Ave. Heard a auto auction going on and saw a car being sold for about $1200 - nice car too. Walked up lots of hills today. Never been on some of these roads in a car or walking. Had a discussion about one of the signs we saw.



Hypocrisy?

 

Take that!



Headed towards Riverdale and completed all the small roads. Saw a RV that had some profane language spray painted onto the windows. Amusing. Went by one of my friends old home but wasnt quite sure which one it was. Headed back to Golden Park and got back into my sisters van and drove back to the area we missed yesterday. Ran over a Raid Can during our parking. Got out and finished up Riverdale. Saw a very small house that is now the runner up for smallest home in the City. This beat the last one we saw. We actually walked pass the City border on some streets since they didnt have the City Signs. More hills and we were getting tired, but we finished up that area and will continue over the Bridge next time.



Smaller than the last.



What did she do?

Hot day..

Picked up from Redwood and headed towards Padbury. Walked a alleyway/road called Dundee first. Once we got the end of Dundee we split up. I walked a short trail to Padbury while John backtracked to 18th and hit Padbury. Meet up there and passed Johns old home.

Johns old residence.

From there it was getting humid and hot. The humid didnt hit me until about an hour in. I wanted to quit walking and head to a pool, but John persisted so I followed. Lots of dogs and people out in their yards. John was saying some of these dogs were here when he was living in this area and that was years ago. We hit Edgerton Ave and saw some horses!



One of the dogs.



Two horses.

Continued back to Riverdale and did the side roads. We have to go back and complete Riverdale possibly this week. On one of the roads, I believe it was 16th St., had the smallest house in Roanoke that I have seen so far. We continued onto Bennington and walked back to our car.

Small home.



Rutrough..

Alrighty, started at Catawba St. and headed up some hills towards Redwood. On the way we saw our second water tower.



Water...

  After exploring a bit we continued on towards Brookside Ln. On the way there we noticed something in the road. We thought it was a dog or something but upon closer inspection it was a deer. Got pretty close to it but then it ran into the yard on the right and just stopped. Eating grass. So we finished that section of the street and saw another deer which ran and jumped over a guardrail and headed into the woods. Coming back down the street, the same deer from earlier was still in the yard eating some grass. The road runs right past him so we got a nice picture and continued to Rutrough Rd.


Deer in the road.

 

Same deer in the yard.



Met a person wearing a Pearl shirt and asked if he was still drumming. "Nah, I use to be at one time, now Im too old". I thought to myself, well Im old and I just started drumming about 8 months ago. Its a fun hobby. Back on Rutrough we saw these two stray dogs walking the streets as we were. They looked pretty rough and decided to stay away from them. They didnt bark or anything when they passed us, but I believe they were in bad shape. They stopped and look at us for a bit then we both continued on. Got to the border of the City and turned around. As we walked back down Rutrough we didnt see the dogs again, wonder where they went? (::Camera veers into the woods. The sounds of thuds and growls grows louder. Pan to the two dogs feasting on some fresh prey::) Finally ended our journey at Mt. Pleasant Blvd.

The border.



Stray dogs.







Garden City finished..

Neat home.

The happy sign!



 

 



Tackled the last part of Yellow Mtn. Rd this eve. One car parked at Garden City Rec. center while the other parked at the Blue Ridge Parkway bridge near Morrision St. We started there and headed down Kepplewood and Fidelity roads. Never drove or walked on these roads before. Got back onto Yellow Mtn. and saw a happy sign! Continued to the wealthy area called Wellington. There are some very nice homes in this area and a very steep hill! I picked out three homes that really stood out to me as we were walking.







As we headed up the steep hill we came across a home that was under construction. On the way back we decided to head on in since the front doors were wide open, well...there wasnt any doors. Huge rooms and tons of space. Snapped a pic of John heading up one of the stairways.

John heading up.

Three floors of craziness. I believe only one room could suffice. I cant imagine the mortgage. Headed on out and back down Wellington. Not much going on as we discussed a few things. Finally got back onto Yellow Mtn. Rd and conquered Valley Pike Rd. Saw a mysterious man behind a tree in his yard on the way back. We both said our hellos and walked on. My favorite part of Yellow Mtn lies ahead of us. A creepy feel to the road with trees hanging over reminds me of a scene out of Dracula. All that was needed was a full moon and some fog. The picture doesnt do it justice. Up around the bend was a nice view of Roanoke Mtn.



Favorite street so far.



Nice view.





Coming around the bend we saw the beginning of Garden City. Just a little bit more and we have walked all the streets in this area. Saw only one deer today, no dogs or rabbits. Maybe two people and that was it. Not much going on today maybe it was the heat? Nah....Finally saw the Recreation center and my Jeep. Headed on home with sore feet and knees but Garden City was now completed!

See ya!

Heading north...

Picked up from 7-Eleven and headed to Jamestown Place. A lot of people were out in this neighborhood and we got a few stares.

Entrance



Headed on King Charles Ave. saw a few more people hanging out. It felt different walking in this area, like walking in some apartment complex parking lot - which is basically was. Headed towards Queen Ann Dr. now and headed up the hill. Decent views of Mill Mtn.

KK walking around.

 

Decent views.

 

Walked back down and hit Bennington then decided to walk a bit more so we headed to Riverside Terr. Not much going on here either. Saw only one dog today and he was old. I would say at least 14, barely walking and tons of grey. But that didnt stop him from barking at us. Continued to Redwood and back to Bennington. On the way back to the Jeep we saw a few ducks across the street on the greenway.



Not much luck at this Store.



Ducks.

 

Another short one..

Due to John already walking 3.5 miles from his home to the tennis courts on Franklin we decided not to walk too much today. So we picked up and finished the Mt. Pleasant area. Started on Shannon and headed past Fire Station 11 and stopped at 7-eleven. Passed a very tall mailbox and saw a small cemetary on the way down.

Cant reach this one.



Cemetary view.



Cemetary view 2



The end is in sight.

Late night...

Decided to walk a very short walk tonight since it would of been dangerous in the afternoon. Started at IGA and ended up at Fire Station 11. My wife joined us this time. We headed to Dairy Queen afterwards :)

Very close...

...to completing the Garden City area now. I believe we only have a bit of Yellow Mtn. Rd left to do and we will be done with that area. Today we did Bandy Rd. and I must say it was our most dangerous walk. The curves on Bandy are pretty scary driving so walking them are more nerve wrecking. We started on top of Bandy and waited until we didnt hear any cars. We then walked/ran fast around the curve. No cars came. Once we past that part we were ok and headed down to Garden City Blvd hitting Eddington road on the way. Got in my Jeep and headed to finish off the Mt. Pleasant area. Only 3 roads are left in that area: Shannon, Rosewalk and Deerfield. We knocked Shannon and Roasewalk off the list and will continue with Deerfield sometime soon. This will also be another dangerous area to walk...we will keep you posted.

The dangerous curves of Bandy.

Walking on the Blvd...

We used two cars today since we are walking Garden City Blvd to Yellow Mtn. Road and we didnt want to back track. Parked one at Sanco drugs and the other near the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass on Yellow Mtn. Rd. Started at Sanco and walked up Garden City. Came across these older ladies trying to move some furniture into their car. I asked John if we should help and he said "Do you?". I replied jokingly, "Nah" as we headed to help them. At the same time one of the ladies asked for help. All they wanted was us to move a desk, which was already in the van, further in. It was very light and only took us 30 seconds. They said thanks as we continued on. About 20 min. later we helped another lady by giving her the time: 6:20pm.


The van that housed the desk.

Todays topic of discussion was E3 which was going on in L.A. During our conversation we noticed a deer on the side of the road. Most of the cars didnt see it and if that deer dotted in the road the cars would of veered in our direction, so we walked a different path. Passed the deer and continued our discussion. Came to my old house so I snapped a pic of the front (In a earlier post we passed the back of it).


Deer #1



Daves old residence





Stopped by Garden City grocery to get a my cigars and headed left onto Yellow Mtn. Rd. Came to Ventnor again as I didnt know this road continued to Yellow Mtn. Rd. Walked this road and turned around since it was a dead end - not really it was private and the road turned to a trail. Back on Yellow Mtn. we came across this trail so we followed it for a bit. We turned around since it kept on going along side the Parkway. On the way out we noticed the trail continued on the other side of the road and John saw some more deer. So I headed in to take some pics, but as usual they ran off. Finally came to the bridge and to my Jeep. Got in and headed back to Johns car.


Deer #2



The End



Almost done..

The sun was beating on our backs as we started near Garden City Elementary school and headed down Imlay. Once we stepped on Ventnor we had shade. Today would be our toughest walk due to the hills we had to overcome. The first was Eanes Rd. Got half way up and we saw the City border sign and gladly turned back around. As we headed towards our second big hill I saw the Husky that my dog, Star, always barks at during our rides. He wasnt too friendly today.



The husky which was stalking us.



The end.



Our second big hill was Blanton Ave. We use to run up this one a couple years ago, now we are walking it and its not bad. Got to another border sign and turned back around.

Blanton Ave.

Now we were doing our loops and sideroads of Troxell, Mabry and Hillview. We saw a dog that John named Totto since it looks like the one off of Wizard of Oz. Talked to its mom and she says Totto was 13yrs old. We chatted for a few about our dogs and said our goodbyes. On the way to Mabry we saw another rabbit. Mabry would be the toughest hill of the day as it splits into two roads. Mabry was ok but was wearing us down now. On the way up our last hill, Reynolds Rd., John was fading and said we should not do it. Dont know if he was playing around with that but I encouraged him to move forward. We headed up slowly as cars passed us by. Finally got to the top and touched Bandy Rd and headed back down towards Ventnor.

Coming down Reynolds.

Another rabbit.

By this time it was cloudy and pretty nice with the breeze. Another half hour of walking and we were back at the end of Ventnor where we stopped last week. Now heading back to our car as we made a shortcut thru the Park and up some steps which needed to be cleaned and weeded. Finally got in the car and headed home.

The Area.



Side roads..

Started today by clearing off the side roads off of Garden City. Started on Findlay and went to Crown Rd. Going through this area we were discussing what to carry and use so we can protect ourselves in case of any conflicts should arise: dogs, cats, deer, bears and of course humans. We have a few obvious ideas and will start carrying protection. Continued onto Sample and saw a huge tree limb stuck on power line. At the end of the street we saw some new water bottles and we both said we should give these to my Sis (since she was so thirsty last time). On the way back I snapped a pic of an American Flag.



Patriotic street



Thats a huge Limb!



 

Headed back to Findlay where we parked and drove to Ivywood. Why did we drive you may ask? Simple, we will walk Garden City Blvd. next week thus completing the area. Today we are just doing the small short side roads. I snapped a pic of my old house (the back) during our walk in  this area.



Daves old residence.

Got back to the Jeep and headed to our last area. We only did part of this area since I had to meet someone around 7:30. So we did Glenwood Dr. and will pick up this area next week.

Glenwood Dr.