Arbor Hills Nature Preserve; or, Not All of Plano is Ugly

Brian and I are trying very hard to give Plano a fair chance.  After all, it can't help it that it is ugly and flat and filled with cookie-cutter houses.  It is just difficult some days, especially when we think about where we came from:

:

And where we are:

Just to reiterate, here's where we were:

And where we are:

No doubt, we were in serious need of some nature (and not just a view of a longhorn from the tollway).  So last week, while Brian was in Alabama, Nolan and I checked out Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  And we fell in love (or I fell in love.  Nolan mostly likes pointing out the knocked-down trees.).

I took Brian there for the first time last night, and he was in agreement that it was the best part of Plano.

Arbor Hills is a 200-acre park where guests can enjoy miles of trails, including approximately three miles of cement loops (based on my GPS watch).  There is also a mountain bike course, restrooms, a huge playground, an observation tower, and a pavilion.  

But those aren't the only reasons we love it.  We love it because of this:

And because the view isn't of a freeway:

   And when we walk on the extra-wide paths, this is what we see:

 And there are dirt trails that we haven't yet explored:

Because there's an awesome bridge to the observation tower, which provides amazing views of the surrounding area:

 Because there are wild cacti growing in the woods:

 And we see signs that say this:

Because there are open fields that aren't private property:

And because Nolan loves looking for the numbered bird signs (we still aren't sure what they mean):

And Nolan loves riding in his stroller here, so I am able to get in some good exercise with my son accompanying me:

Because there's this tree with a bench underneath it, which sort of reminds me of the tree at the end of "Shawshank Redemption":

 And the trees in the woody parts remind me of my parents' place in Minnesota:

 Because there is a creek that runs through the preserve:

And because when we see views like this...:

 ... for just a few minutes, we forget we live in this:

And that makes us feel like this: