Six Activities to Enjoy in Johnston This Spring

It's officially spring in Johnston. And yet, we're still wearing sweaters, scarves and boots because temperatures are nearly 20 degrees where they should be.

Accuweather.com says the high temp today should be 51; it predicts the high in Johnston will be 30 degrees.

The weather service says Johnston won't break out of the cold spell until early April, when it expects the thermometer to finally pop back into the 50s.

Nevertheless, here are 7 fun ideas to try in Johnston as spring arrives:

1) Take to the trails. Explore the miles and miles of trails in Johnston. Find a map here. 

2) Zip to the Blank Park Zoo, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April. The winter hours come with reduced admission prices. Exhibits open currently include seals and sea lions, snow leopards, bald eagles, lions and penguins.

3) Dig out your wheels. Time to break out your bikes from the garage. You can get your bike a tune-up at Bike World in Urbandale.

4) Build a fort or a tree house. If your family includes kids, spring is an ideal time to build a fun place to play. A great source of inspiration is The Treehouse Book by Peter Nelson and David Larkin, available from Amazon. If you find your child has outgrown his or her old bike, try Ace Hardware. 

5) Start a garden. Now is the time to get your garden beds ready for planting by putting down compost. New to gardening? Rene's Greenhouse can help you build your garden beds and offer advice on which flowers and veggies will do well in your climate. And kids can help start the garden too by planting seeds indoors in empty egg cartons that can be transferred outside into your garden beds in just a few weeks. You can find great soil and seeds to get started at Earl May and Waukee Hardware.

6) Learn some new navigation skills by going letterboxing or geocaching. Letterboxing is an outdoor hunt for hidden treasures using navigational tools. You can find parks participating in letterboxing in your area here; find an Iowa network of geocachers here.

TELL US: How will you celebrate the arrival of spring here in town? Share your ideas for getting outside and enjoying the warmer weather in the comments section below.

— Contains reporting by Kathleen F. Miller