Over the Hill Bicycles

May 27th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Today was clear and warmer which made for a nice walk.  We flung a squirrel.

Today is also Memorial Day and, like last year, traffic was very light.  This is the busiest intersection on our walk.  Today it was mostly deserted.

It’s also the day of the annual 7 Hills of Kirkland bicycle ride with the streets marked with directions for the riders. As we walked over Norway Hill we met 119 bicyclists.

As we pointed out last year, Norway Hill is not in Kirkland. But nobody seems to care.

We found another stray gas cap. This one was near the 7-Eleven.

Perhaps it was the same person who hit the Bothell City Limits sign. They also left another piece of their car.

More money!  A quarter.  Maybe we can get our money-finding streak going again.

And two separate rubber gloves. We prefer not to have this streak continue.

A Slurpee. Scope-Mouthwash flavored?

Make a donation to the VFW and get a “Buddy Poppy.” Then toss it out the window.

We found a half-full butane refill canister. Now we can refill all the dope torch lighters we’ve found.

More vaping trash. Vision Spinner II.  It causes you to see pinwheels?

Dude!  How’re they hangin’? 

Ah, the first stolen mail of the season. 

Later, another piece of stolen mail.  Packaging for Native Deodorant.  “TIPS FOR YOUR PITS.”  Try saying that three times fast.

 

May 28th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

Warm and overcast today.  Traffic was back to normal and we got a honk from Mr. Handyman and a wave from Salinas Construction.  We flung a squirrel.

We found money! A penny.  We have a two-walk streak going.

We also found this. But we won’t count it as a money find.

We picked up a moon hubcap.  It was dented and rusty, so we recycled it.

At the 7-Eleven bus stop, someone left us more food atop the bench.  Unopened pepperoni pizza.  Also uncooked.  We passed.

Under the bench, we found a pink tennis ball. 

We almost had the opportunity to fling a very fresh squirrel.  This guy ran to the center of the road, waited a split second then ran in front of the car.

The car didn’t slow down, but the squirrel escaped. 

 

May 29th, 2019 – Safeway Route.

The weather this morning was much like yesterday, mild and overcast.  We started out at a fast pace and missed greeting some of our regulars.  But due to an incident at Safeway, we were behind schedule by the end of the walk.

We now have an official streak going.  This is the third walk in a row we have found money. We got two separate dimes.  Yes, we picked up the cigarette butt too.

At the KinderCare, we tossed back two toys. Those pesky dinosaurs.

Also picked up a frisbee. There was no obvious place to return it, so it got recycled.

Another rubber glove. 

Another pet owner who shouldn’t have a pet. 

Babies of Homelessness. Someone teaching their kid to write?

We saw a decorated rock. Probably somebody’s pet that got loose.  We’ll watch for Lost Pet Rock signs.

We found half a sign. We tried to figure out what it meant.  What word starts with “ENY?”  Maybe “Hard Life Please Help Have Enya Album?”

Cracking the Credit-Scoring Algorithm. This is an article from the Seattle P.I., July 2005.  It must not have helped whoever tossed this out the window.

Buy a McDonalds hamburger, park on the other side of the Safeway parking lot to eat.  Then drop the trash.  There’s a trash can about 30 feet from this spot.

Then there was the Safeway incident.  We spotted some trash in the bushes near Safeway.  Among the trash, there was packaging for chalk-filled throwing balls. There was also one new chalk ball with the trash.  Somehow, Chuck ended up with a pink spot on his vest.  We won’t go into details.

 

May 30th, 2019 – Park-and-Ride Route.

Another mild day with a lighter overcast.  We used our flashlights very little.  We got a wave from Salinas Construction and flung most of  roadkill rabbit.

We didn’t find any money today which broke our three-day streak.  However, yesterday we had two money finds.  We asked the judges if we could apply one of the finds to today.  They disallowed the request and mumbled something about being paid with the unopened food we find.

Near the park-and-ride, we found what looked like a jump rope in the street. But the kid would need to be about ten feet tall.  It’s probably from a boat, but what’s a boat doing sailing down Juanita Woodinville Way?  We haven’t had significant rain in several days.

A sweat-jacket. This one was in such bad shape it went straight into the trash.

Another dog toy. A large ball to add to our ball collection.

Someone trying to quit smoking? Fifteen of the twenty cigarettes were in the pack.  At least we can pick up all these butts together.  We’ve probably already picked up the missing five.

Another rubber glove. We have recently found several of these behind a bus stop on Juanita Woodinville Way.  Wonder what goes on there?  Maybe we don’t want to know.

Buy your kids some vanilla ice cream! When they’re done, show them how to toss the container to make the biggest mess possible.  Another Good-Parenting tip from TrashWalking.blog

 

May 31, 2019 – Safeway Route.

Another mild morning but with a light fog.  We got a honk from Mr. Handyman and flung another rabbit.

Yesterday, we saw some major trash dumped on a side street.  Today we decided to deviate from our normal Safeway route to pick up the trash.  When we got there, we found someone had already picked it up but we did make a quick trip through the park-and-ride.  There was a lot of scattered trash and while we were picking it up, we got a very nice thank you from a lady who had just parked.  Later, as we passed Safeway on our way back, someone honked behind us.  A man in a truck exiting Safeway waved and yelled a thank you.  As we turned around to continue, the Costco truck was passing us and the driver waved.  Then two cars behind him blinked their lights at us.  Lots of thanks this morning.  Thank you.

Then, we hit the jackpot. One dollar in a parking lot at the end of Juanita Woodinville Way.  Maybe we can use it to bribe the judges to continue our money-find streak.

Scam.

A deer crossed our path this morning. We just stood there like deer in the headlights.

We found a 3/4-inch bolt that had been sheared off. Glad we weren’t around when this happened.

Another partial pack of Marlboros. Two days in a row.  This guy is having a tough time kicking the habit.

We found another rubber glove. 

Someone to gave us the boot. And a rubber boot to boot.

 

June 1st, 2019 – Riverside Drive.

Due to a family wedding, we were unable to walk this morning, so we took an abbreviated walk in the very warm afternoon.  We got a couple of driver thanks and several waves.  We only walked about three-and-a-half miles down to Riverside Drive and back up to the end of 112th Ave NE.

We discovered the City of Bothell had mowed the weeds down the hill.  Uncovering a lot of buried treasures for us to pick up.

Mower vs. Flower Pot. Score one for the mower.

And we found a penny! It was in the street and rather beat up, but it went into our money jar anyway.

Overall, this was a uneventful walk.  However, for the first time in four years we’ve been trash-walking, we saw a ferret.  Or maybe it was a weasel.  Anyway, we used Google to try to weasel it out.  Or is it ferret it out?