Blackberries anyone??

David has been working non stop since school started. He is definitely in the law school zone. In fact the other night I was on my way home from a friend's house and a man rode his bike out in front of my car. I was really close to hitting him. When I got home, I was telling David how I almost hit him and without pause David just replied "You wouldn't be at fault. He was being negligent in the fact that he...." I stopped him and said yeah but I would have hit a kid! Even when he is at home, supposedly “relaxing” his mind is still all law schooly.

I have been trying to find cheap or free things to do around Salem that don't take a lot time to do so when I can steal David away from the library we can do something together. My friends told me about a park in Salem where they pick blackberries. Evidently, blackberries grow like weeds around here.

We decided to check it out. Let me tell you...they really do grow like weeds!! The plants are everywhere! In alley ways, on the highway medians, along roadsides, and parking lots. I was surprised how high the bushes can grow. Many of the ripest berries were well above our heads. We got quite a few though.

Picking the high ones.

These where the big, big berries that were way out of our reach.

Don't they just look Delicious?

 We had some for dessert. I put whipped cream on a Vanilla wafer and dropped a few berries on top. They were delish! (as you can see, I couldn't help by try one before taking the picture!)

After picking, we went for a little walk along the river. The sun was quickly setting and made a lot of strange shadows that were freaking us out. Need less to say we didn't walk too far from the parking
lot. Here's a few pictures. 

The twisty path along the Willamette River.
The plants on the left are blackberry plants.

Along the river were a bunch of these little trails that led to
openings under the thick  brush. I wasn't brave enough to
go exploring though. I imagine the gnomes wouldn't
want me to just walk into their home!
(Just teasing...I'm always invited.)