Sunday's walking adventure

On Sunday afternoon, in spite of the predictions of sleet and freezing rain, we decided to go for a walk. I'm beginning to appreciate the hassle involved in going out in sub-freezing temperatures. So many layers!

The park area behind our building.

The snow had a crunchy icy layer on top. David had lots of fun stomping through it.

CRACK!

It's a pretty thick layer too!

Icicles hanging from a row of garages.

I caught this one mid-drip.

Snow....

Apartment parking lot. I love the snowy wintery look of those evergreens.

It's hard to tell where the sidewalk ends and the road begins. Everything's the same color.

Walking up Millikan Way.

A train track that appears to be rarely used.

The nearby creek had a thin layer of ice on top.

We stopped on the bridge for a while, so I could take photos of the ice and snow. Then we saw (and heard) this:

Two little creatures walking/swimming their way up the creek!

We're pretty sure they're nutria. They look kind of beaverish, only with rat-like tails.

We were glad they had each other for company and warmth.

They appear to eat plants.

I've heard nutria described as looking like giant rats with huge orange teeth. Not very appealing, even for someone who likes rats, as I do. But these nutria were very cute, with their long whiskers and paddle-like feet. For more about nutria, visit The Nutria Defense Page (about nutria in Beaverton) or nutria.com (about nutria in Louisiana).

We walked on, stopping at the local 7-11 to warm up and turn around. Freezing rain started to fall, so we decided it was time to go home. I did get some nice photos of plants covered in ice: