On Sunday, We Walked To Pluto

And yesterday, Snoopy and I went farther – all the way around the lake. It was about a 5 1/2 mile trek.

The park by our house has a display on the solar system.  It begins with the sun – at the downtown end of the park.

The 9 planets (yes, they have Pluto included, but do say that it is no longer considered a planet) are distributed along the walkway to and partway around the lake, Stokkelandsvanet – and the distance between the stations is proportional to the actual distance between the orbits.

Here is Mercury – they give a write-up about the planet, and also show it’s symbol and how big it is compared to the sun. Also included, at the bottom, is it’s mass compared to that of the earth.  And they tell you how far it is to the next planet.

This is what the sun looks like from Mercury –

It’s only 1/2 minute walk from mercury to Venus… and the same from Venus to Earth……

We have Mars;

And Jupiter –

And then a longer walk to Saturn.  Our house is about level with Saturn, but up on the hill.

It seems like a long way to Uranus.

And that you are NEVER going to reach Neptune.  By now, you are along the lake – they say 15 minutes, but it’s almost a mile.  I’m not sure how long it would take if you just walked there – both times I stopped often to take photos, and Snoopy had to make his stops as well. Look at these gnarly old oak trees.

Pluto – finally.   It sure is tiny!

And just before I got here, the sun almost broke through the clouds. I think it was March 4th the last time it really shone.

On Sunday, I was feeling really tired, and so we just returned home again.  Yesterday, Snoopy and I carried on all the way around the lake – what a lot of incredible views.

Clearly, this trek will remain one of our favourites while we are living here in Sandnes – what a treat to have a park like this at our doorstep!