we explore new places when we have a dog

Feeling excited that Penny's paws are fine now, I decided she could cope with a longer walk today. We stayed mainly on grass, at one of our favorite places, Willsmere Park in Kew.

However, it seemed a good idea to test Penny out on a hard surface, so we went in a new direction, out of the park and along the shared path towards Fairfield. We had to stay on lead. I tried to get Penny to mostly walk on the edge, on the soft soil there, but she insisted on walking on the concrete surface itself.

Penny walks along the edge of the shared path near Willsmere

When she was on the actual path, we had to keep our ears cocked for the sound of a speeding cyclist coming from behind. As the sign suggested, some warned us with a ringing of their bells, like this courteous guy who passed us so quickly I could hardly get a picture of him.

Sign for cyclists on shared path near Willsmere

But this rude fellow raced up behind us with no warning.

Discourteous cyclist on shared path near Kew

It was great to get back onto the nice soft walking path into Willsmere...

and back into the park itself.