Enjoying October

I spend plenty of time complaining about the weather in Philadelphia (too hot in the summer, not enough snow in the winter...), but during springtime and fall it really is spectacular. Now that I am not working full time, I'm determined to get outside and enjoy this fall as much as possible. Yesterday was almost 70 degrees with bright sunshine & blue skies, so I set out for a walk with Emily by the Schuylkill ['Skoo-kul'] River. It's about a 15 minute drive from our house to the parking lot by Boathouse Row, and there is a great walking/biking trail along the river. With her still getting over a cold, I may not have done this if I knew how ridiculously windy it was going to be! There were whitecaps on the river and I was glad to have my sunglasses on to protect my eyes from the wind-whipped leaves & sticks. Luckily she is pretty protected in her tank of a stroller, and the day was just too perfect to resist. I got a good workout pushing said not-very-aerodynamic stroller into the wind. (I can't wait until Emily is sturdy enough to ride in the awesome jogging stroller that is waiting in my basement!) It was one of those days where you just want to go and go, but I finally made myself turn around after about half an hour. I sat for a few minutes near this spot (I didn't bring my camera, but this was the closest picture I could find online) and read until Emily woke up from her nap. One of these days I'm going to make a list of the things I will miss most about Philadelphia and the Schuylkill River trail/Boathouse Row area will be one of them!