outdoors

  • hikes,  outdoors,  travel

    Daniel Boone National Forest: Day 1 Hikes

    One of my favorite things about our hikes at the Daniel Boone National Forest was that many were very short (less than a mile) and very scenic. The forest is renown for its many arches and on our first day there, we were able to see some pretty fantastic ones. These first two pictures were taken off the main road where a trail started. We did not take the trail but had to stop because the view of the ridge was amazing. Sky Bridge Trail Now this trail is 0.8 miles long and was special due to the crossing of the sky bridge which is wide but does not have…

  • historic,  outdoors,  travel

    Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, Tennessee

    I always try to take advantage of a road trip to visit a historic location. We have loved visiting forts on the coast and when I looked up the town where we were headed for a wedding, I looked up points of interest in the area. I came across Fort Watauga at the Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area. The visitor center hosts a gift shop, a museum and the fort is built by the Watauga River. It is a reconstruction of the original one. There is a one mile loop trail that follows the river as well as an arboretum, a butterfly garden and an amphitheater where they would usually…

  • outdoors,  travel

    Finding Beauty in Small Things in Nature

    While we do not have the cold and ice from up North, it has gotten fairly cold here for us in Georgia with most day temps averaging between 30 and 45 degrees. Lows do get in the 20s and high sometimes get in the 50s but add some wind to the weather and it can get downright cold. After a January with very inconsistent walking, I vowed last week to do better with getting out there and walking and hopefully back to running regularly. I did have some issue with my right shin after my first run last week so I am going to be careful and watch it with…