Early Morning in Riverside Park

I have discovered
today when early is just
too early - oh, my! 

~ carliewired

I was awake before 4 AM and not by choice. After squandering an hour I decided I should head out with my camera. It was 17 C and the air quality was 4 (moderate risk). As I was driving away from my house, my first view this morning was of a helicopter with a bucket heading from the airport to the fire near our ski hill northeast of my house.

I drove up to the lookout at the top of Columbia Street which normally gives a grand view over the downtown and to the North Thompson Valley. With all this smoke the visibility was so poor it wasn't worth a photo. I drove back downtown to Riverside Park on the South Thompson River with hopes to catch the sun coming over my mountains. I was in luck!

The park is eerily quiet before 6 AM. Everything is soaked, even the benches. I suspect it is the city's way of keeping people out of the park overnight. It seems to be working. 

A little squirrel popped up to greet me. I walked along to the peer just in time to catch the red sun rising and its reflection in the river. The gulls were busy along the shoreline. I attached my quilted heart to a bench facing the river. 

I walked back to my car taking a loop through the Princess Diana Rose Garden. It is very well tended but I was hard-pressed to find a quality bloom. I'm sure this hot weather has taken its toll on the roses. Most looked very battered and worn. 

I picked up my breakfast at the drive-thru and headed across the bridge to home. I was running on the bottom of my gas tank so I pulled into my usual gas station for a fill to discover it didn't open until 7 AM. I sat in my car eating my breakfast in the 15 minutes before the pumps were available. Lesson learned! 

We have a sunny day if the skies were clear enough to appreciate it. We're going for a high of 35 C with no threat of thunderstorms. I will be indoors again today.