Riverbend Park in Conover, NC

The Catawba County government has decided that to save money, our use of the parks will be sacrificed.  Several parks and library hours have been cut.  This affects the Riverbend Park…Home of several geocaches.

OPERATING HOURS TO CHANGE AT CATAWBA COUNTY LIBRARIES, PARKS AS OF JULY 1, 2010 
Due to budget cuts as revenues have declined, especially from sales tax and fee collection, operating hours at Catawba County Libraries and Parks will be changing as of July 1, 2010.
Baker's Mountain, St. Stephens and Riverbend Parks will be open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, and closed Tuesdays through Thursdays beginning on July 1.
The parks will continue operating during the same seasonal hours as are now in place, opening at 8 a.m. and closing at dusk (varying from a 6 p.m. close from November through February to an 8 p.m. close from April through September).

It’s a shame that in the middle of summer when school age children are out of school don’t have these parks to visit during weekdays. 

I did a little geocaching today in Riverbend Park.  I was there early in the morning, but, it was still hot and muggy.  The humidity was high enough to fog my camera lens.  During my geocaching, I took a few pictures.

 (One of the trails in Riverbend Park)

(I came across a patch of very small orange mushrooms)

(These mushrooms were about the size of a dime)

 (Don’t eat them!  They are surely poisonous)

My Canon PowerShot S1 IS finally gave out after many years of service.  I decided to go with a cheaper “point-n-shoot” type camera.  The Canon PowerShot A490 is a fantastic camera for the price.  Here are a few more pictures.

 (It could be easy to get turned around on the myriad of trails)

(An example of the wildlife in Riverbend Park)

I had a good morning geocaching.  I only found one, but, as you can see by the pictures, there is more to Riverbend Park than geocaching.