Our Richmond Round 2

We took our first Our Richmond field trip today. It was THE most perfect beautiful fall day. We rode the city bus downtown to the river to investigate bridges in preparation for some engineering challenges. Days like these make me just fall in love-- in love with my class, with my co-teacher, with my job and with my Richmond. I found that after last year I kept wanting to take my own babies to the same places I had taken my class so that they could have the same magical experiences. It seems to work. 

On our bus ride we saw a whole school of children out walking somewhere.
We were SO curious about where they might be going. It was great to see another school out and about. 

Crossing the river. I love the bridges in the background.
This is right when these girls spotted Hollywood Cemetery across the rive on the hill.
They were SO excited to spot it. It was fun to be with children who were thinking about
"Our Richmond" for a second year. We took a trip to pretty much the same spot in town but for
 different reasons. It was so beautiful to see how they reacted to those places
and those memories. It was clear that through those common experiences those
spots in Richmond had found a way deep into their hearts and that they were falling in love with the city.

Sketching the bridge with the railroad. Luckily a train came just as we got there and it
 stopped on the bridge for at least an hour. The cars were FULL of coal so it really helped
 put into perspective how sturdy the bridge really needed to be.

Some of the children made their way out on the "Bridge to Nowhere"
 (does anyone know the official name of the bridge?') to sketch.
We counted eight bridges that we could see all at once and the remains of several more.

Sketching the Manchester Bridge. Noticing the arches.

We tried to get together to talk but realized that the rushing water of the river
was too loud to hear each other, so we sang instead. 

Trying out this pedestrian bridge from on top.

"The bridge isn't straight across. It is bent."

Suspended pedestrian bridge on our way to Belle Isle.
along the way we wondered how sturdy it was.
We tried swaying all together to see if we could get it to move. No luck.
We were impressed that we couldn't get it to move. 

Eating lunch on Belle Isle.
Who would ever know we were smack in the middle of a giant city?

We were feeling like little ants compared to the massive pillars of the Lee Bridge.

We noticed lots of Xs in the structures we saw.
 "They are supporting the supports," one child said. 

What a good playground the bike course makes!!

Playing on the bike course beneath the Lee Bridge.