Going to the dog park

We've discovered Shawnee Mission Park, a mere 10 minutes away from us. It's huge and quite diverse, containing an off-leash area and beach for dogs:

(see the cute doggy drinking fountain?), an observation tower with a nice view of the area - wow, it was windy up there:

a couple of pine trees (I never thought I'd miss pine trees, but especially in autumn, I kind of pine for the scent (Worst. Pun. Ever.). Having grown up in northern Germany, going on autumn early morning mushroom hunts in huge coniferous forests was kind of a family tradition. Here? The most you can see here in parks are usually a couple of pine trees that have obviously been planted there. The rest is brown and dry and leafy, especially around this time of year. Blah.

AND quite a sizeable lake! Wow, even with a swimming beach *closed for the season, of course.* We'll definitely return to check out the 3-mile hiking paths.