Sunday morning, though, after a lumberjack breakfast of cinnamon French toast and bacon, the weather was cool and thunderstorms loomed. Undaunted, Kelly, her husband Andy and I set off. We had consulted our electronics, and concluded the storms would track north of the City. Wrong. Leaving home in far south Lincoln, by the time we hit the Rock Island trail at Highway 2, it was clear we were in for a downpour and some lightning. We hotfooted it a couple miles north, and made it to the 1937 picnic shelter at Antelope Park just before the lid blew off. We settled in for a one hour rain delay, punctuated by a lighting strike on a cell tower a hundred yards away that sent me to the floor.
When the great flood subsided, we continued down the Billy Wolf into the brand new Antelope Valley channel. At ground level, the trails, channel, and Union Plaza are even more impressive. Y
ou just marvel at how planners, architects, and engineers were able to visualize this. We went the length, all the way to Memorial Stadium, before turning for home. The tour made me think about the implications of the Antelope Valley project for the police. I can guarantee you that this will be a primo location for special events, where we will be called upon for traffic control and crowd management. We’ll also have a role in making sure that the area is safe and free from illegal activity. Finally, we will have to be watchful of safety risks, chief among which would be someone enjoying the aftermath of a thunderstorm, unaware of the dangers lurking in stormwater drainage ways.
By the way, our one-way trip from the ‘burbs through the heart of the city was just over eight miles, during which we had to cross only three arterial streets at grade. At every other major street, we either had an underpass or a bridge. Lincoln has a great trails network.
10 comments:
Glad you too had a great fathers day. My step children are really great kids. My own son is doing great, and I got to tell him how proud I am of him and his accomplishments. My daughter has decided her boy friend is more important than family and she never comes to visit.
It is too late when parents are gone to tell them thank you. But some kids have character and some not.
Thats all.
Chief,
I also dive for cover when a bolt of lightning hits anywhere close. Although back in 2005 after a rough night on duty and a bolt of lightning hit about 75 feet from me, my cell phone reception has been awesome for the past couple of years. I don't know if its the metal plate in my head or just a good provider ;). The twins turn 7 on July 3rd and when they get a little older I hope to be able to try out the great biking trails of Lincoln and continue to have that same relationship with them as you do with your daughter.
Chief,
One of my pet peeves is do gooders always wanting to pass legislation to mandate the behavior of other citizens. Examples are helmet laws (although I would wear one 99% of the time even without a law); seat belts (again I almost always buckle up); No Smoking in private businesses (although I don't smoke)etc.
There is an ongoing movement to regulate fat and salt levels in food. I wonder if instead of passing laws regulating the food industry it might make more sense to pass a law requiring all ABLE BODIED students to ride a bicycle to school/college? Taxpayers could save million$ by not providing expensive parking lots for student parking.
Gun Nut
I like to cruise the trails on my bike too.
Who cares??
11:14-
Thank you, thank you. That's what I meant to do. Copy 'n paste was a bad idea. Lesson learned!
4:58 -
No one, but me. It's my blog.
Chief, I apologize for the unrelated note, but I was hoping you could point me in the right direction... I live right at 17th & south and given our recent activity (double drug shooting in April) I'm a little sensitive to illegal-ish stuff. I've noticed 3 vehicles appear in our little clump of townhomes that do not have license plates or in-transit notices. I'm trying to decide if it's worth calling in (I probably will make the call if they don't have a status change or i see another one). If there was some email address for LPD where I can send miscellaneous stuff like this I'd be glad to make a note of it and get this misc junk at least on the radar of LPD or the department's crime analysts.
Thanks!
Peter,
Actually, a phone call to our non-emergency dispatch number is the most effective way of handling this: 441-6000. Thanks for looking out for your neighborhood!
Droid for the Win!
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