outdoors
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Butterfly Trail: New Beginnings and Warmer Days Ahead
I thought that it would be nice timing to share the pictures I took of the local iron butterfly Trail. The weather has been cold and the outdoors are not always enjoyed as much as on warmer days. Butterflies are symbols of transformation, rebirth and new beginnings. They are often symbols of hope and love. Many of us have spent some time in January planning some changes for our year or wanted to start something new, so these butterflies are fitting to close out this month. The trail allows different local businesses to sponsor different artist to paint the butterflies. The project began in 2021 and connects the community through…
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Snow Day in the South
People up there probably make fun of us, but after not having any snow for 7 years, an inch or two makes us happy down here in Georgia! Now, we don’t think that this is a lot by any means, and we would have loved to have at least 6 to 8 inches, but we will take what we get! We are still hoping for a good snow this winter, but are weary as we have had snows/ice that have crippled us. We are not used to driving in this and when it ices up, then it’s scary! But the boys and I fully took advantage of this! We went…
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Banning Mills: Hike and Mushrooms
Last week, I shared a little about our overnight trip to Historic Banning Mills for our anniversary a few months ago. Today, I am sharing some more pictures, this time of our hike on the 2nd day. It was an overcast day which made it really comfortable for a hike and we were quite impressed with the number of trails there were on the property. We enjoyed this one and would pleasantly surprised with all of the mushroom varieties we encountered. I love swinging bridges: whether they are in Costa Rica or here in the states, swinging bridges are really fun to cross! When hiking in the fall, you might…
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Historic Banning Mills: Anniversary Trip
A few months ago, my husband and I took an overnight trip about an hour and a half from our house to Historic Banning Mills. It is located just a little south of I20 on the west side of Atlanta. The area offers trails to walk with swinging bridges, waterfalls, ziplines as well as a few other activities you can book. The mill has a lodge, cabins and some treehouses you can rent for just a couple or a family. In the summer, there is a pool, mini golf and camps for children. We rented a treehouse for one night: I thought is was pretty overpriced as the accommodations were…
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Ruby Falls, TN
Many friends were surprised that even though we have lived in the Atlanta for more than 20 years, this fall was the first time that we visited Ruby Falls Ruby Falls is located in Chattanooga, TN and is about 1 hour and half from our house. We have gone many times to Chattanooga for day trips and overnight trips, but we had never visited the falls. We have visited other caves and caverns in the past, and this was the most expensive one to date. We visited the Tuskaleechee Caverns, TN and I share them here, and I share caves we visited in the Republic of Georgia here. What makes…
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Rock Garden, Calhoun, GA, 2024
I wrote about this rock garden 5 years ago when we visited it for the first time. You can read more about the history of the garden in that post, here. Today, I am sharing the pictures we took this past October on our way back from Chattanooga on fall break. It is sometimes fun to revisit places when the children have grown: our youngest didn’t remember this place since he was less than two the first time we stopped at the garden. For how old some of these structures are, the gardens and its miniature buildings are in really good shape. I really would like to go on a…
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Rock City, Chattanooga, TN
Since we were not going anywhere on vacation for our week of fall break, I decided to take a couple overnight trips as I was able to get my 2 sisters in law to come over to help their mom who lives with us. The first overnight was a late anniversary trip for my husband and I, and the second was for the boys. I decided on Chattanooga as our destination for its proximity and all of the different things we can do there. We will probably return for another overnight during the Christmas break. Rock City sits atop Lookout Mountain and features many large rock formations, beautiful views and…
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Late Summer Sunrises
I do not have to travel far to enjoy pretty sunrises, I just have to time my runs just right! At the end of August, we had several runs that timed perfectly for some beautiful sunrises. It is sometimes disappointing when it is overly overcast or we pass the picturesque spots before the sun is up. So today, I am sharing 3 morning sunrises because they always bring a sense of wonder and awe to my soul. This field often has cows grazing later in the day… I always enjoy the few large majestic trees in it and the wildness of weeds and bushes not being trimmed. This was a…
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Bike Ride: A Taste of fall
We ended the month of August with a fun bike ride on the Silver Comet Trail. We had planned to rent a truck to carry all of our bikes, but it being Labor Day Weekend, they were all rented out. We were happy to manage to fit all five bikes in our 2 cars: the hubby had to empty his of all his work things, and put down his seats. My youngest had just learned how to ride his bike 2 and 1/2 weeks prior and we knew the trail was easy as it is flat and straight. Ready for a fun adventure? One of the things I like about…
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The Budweiser Clydesdales Come to Town
For the month of the July (our 2nd and last month of summer break), my goal was to have fun, but to do some more budget friendly things after our 2 weeks vacation to Europe and a weekend tubing in the Ellijay. So when I saw that the Budweiser Clydesdales were going to be downtown in our little town for a couple of hours, we made sure to stop by to admire them before going to the movies (we signed up for AMC rewards which gives us 25% of our tickets and $5 Tuesday movies). My youngest was at first unimpressed about going to see some horses. If he wasn’t…