outdoors
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The Rain Brings out the Mushrooms
Last week, my brother and I visited the nearby Indian Mounds and I couldn’t believe the number and variety of mushrooms we saw. I started taking pictures and then decided it would be fun to share those pictures. I used my google feature to identify the mushrooms so hopefully it is fairly accurate. These are Lepiota, a gilled ground dwelling saprotrophs that enjoy rich, calcareous soils. Here is another shot of them. It was interesting to me to see where the mushrooms chose to propagate as there were some species at the base of trees, some in piles of mulch. and of course in the middle of decomposing piles of…
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McDowell Sonoran Preserve Gateway Trail
While on a walk in the condo’s neighborhood, a lady who saw me taking pictures of the cacti suggested going to the nearby Gateway Trail. We would then get a taste of the desert without seeing all the neighborhood houses and without having to go on a long drive since it was only 5 minutes away. When we arrived at the the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Gateway Trail, we saw right away that we would enjoy this walk despite our late start. I didn’t realize how close the hills were from the neighborhood. I really wished we had left earlier though as the sun was already high in the sky! We…
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Scottsdale, AZ: Cactus Walk in the Suburbs
One of the things I loved the most from our visit to Arizona (apart from spending time with my brother and family) was how we were able to take some walks and enjoy the beautiful scenery that is particular to that part of the US. We took a total of 4 walks, each about 2 miles long and this one was introduced by my brother. It was a paved trail that took us from his neighborhood, through a community center area and bordered another couple of neighborhoods. The key to a walk in Arizona in summer is to choose the right time of the day to go: right around 5…
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Scottsdale, Arizona: the Flora at the Meridian Condo Resort
On our weekend trip to Scottsdale, AZ, we found that it was cheaper and more comfortable to rent a 3 bedroom condo at this condo complex instead of staying at a hotel especially that we were out of hotel points and our family of 6 needs two rooms. The condos at the Meridian Condo Resort have access to several pools and the landscape is very pretty and for someone from the south, very appealing and exciting: cacti everywhere, pretty bushes and flowers and an abundance of rabbits! We also saw quails daily as well as some desert iguanas. We really enjoyed our stay there. The views of the sunrise were…
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Downtown Bike Ride
Our activities this summer have consisted of a lot free outdoors activities apart from two weekend trips. One of the new to us activities and riding our bikes downtown. We park at a nearby park as the hill to our neigborhood is not fun at all especially after biking and we typically pack some water and snacks or lunch. After doing it with just our oldest, we took all of the kids on our last expedition. From where we park, there are side walks the whole way as well as crosswalks which makes us feel safe. A large part of the ride is also in the shade so a late…
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Oatland Island Wildlife Center
After visiting Little Tybee Island, we stopped for lunch at the Crab Shack which I recommend before heading to our next adventure: Oatland Island Wildlife Center. Our meal at the Crab Shack was definitely a splurge as we ordered the Captain Seafood Platter for 3, an appetizer and some kids meals. However that seafood platter was delicious. We also spent some time looking that the alligators (which have been mostly born in captivity and listening to them roar)! It was pretty cool. All of the alligators were small in size. This adventure is very budget friendly at $3 per person (we had to buy our tickets online to reserve a…
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Little Tybee Island Tour with Sundial Charters
One of the reasons that I like to sometimes find very budget friendly or free lodging when we travel is so that we may enjoy a more expensive excursion that we would usually not budget in. This past weekend, our family had a very short mini vacation in Savannah/Tybee Island and we used the last of our hotel points to book two rooms for two nights. Since we were limited on points, we ended up booking our rooms at the Double Tree by Hilton by the Savannah airport. The rooms were spacious with a little living room area and the complimentary breakfast (for Diamond Members) was perfect to start the…
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Picketts Mill Historic Site
Last Friday brought us to a new historic site 30 minutes from the house. I sure am loving finding these places nearby. I took the 3 younger boys and my neighbor/friend and her daughter and we packed a lunch to enjoy on our hike. “Pickett’s Mill is one of the best preserved Civil War battlefields in the nation. Visitors can travel roads used by Federal and Confederate troops, see earthworks constructed by these men, and walk through the same ravine where hundreds died. An authentic 1800s pioneer cabin is furnished and open for tours during certain events. On May 27, 1864, the Federal Army, having been stopped in its advance…
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New Echota Cherokee Capital State Historic Site
A couple of months ago, I decided to get the annual pass for the Historic Sites in Georgia as there are many we haven’t visited yet and quite a few within an hour drive. So this past Sunday after church, we stopped by the New Echota Cherokee Captital Historic site. The land and town was the site of the Cherokee National capital from 1825 to 1838 (all my information is from the flyer for the self guided tour). After the removal of the Cherokee tribes the town disappeared and the land was turned into farmland. In the early 1950s the land was purchased by some local citizens and deeded to…
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Rock Bridge and Angel Wings Trails, Daniel Boone Forest, KY
Welcome back to my synopis of our spring break to Kentucky. On our second day, we planned two hikes. We were pleased with the 3 short ones we had done the first day so we choose a slighty longer one and decided to add another one before heading back to our rental. I chose the hikes by searching them on the internet, looking a distance and features such as arches. Once again, I packed lunch but we left it in the car to eat at a picnic table since we knew the hikes were not especially long. Rock Bridge Arch I chose this trail because it was a longer ones…