I told you earlier in my posting that Harper Lake not too far from my sons house, that my wife and I went several times during our stay. The lake is a loop with a 0.9-mile-long gravel path, which is not long enough for me for daily walking. My son then told me that next to the lake, there is a larger area called Davison Mesa Open Space with much longer gravel paths that I could try. I did yesterday.

The open space is a flat, raised terrace, higher than the residential houses and the adjacent highways below. It is an undeveloped land open to the public for recreational activities like walking, jogging, and cycling. But human beings are not the major players on the land, so who are? The black-tailed prairie dogs (黑尾土撥鼠) and grazing cattle are. The legends on the map board at the entrance say there are also coyotes in the open space; fortunately, I didnt see any.

I tried hard to walk along the perimeter of the open space. According to the steps indicated on my watch, I had walked over six miles in total for a single attempt.