The Choctawhatchee River and Blue Springs!

 

We sure enjoyed our camping trip to Blue Springs State Park in Alabama!

One day we spent the afternoon hiking around the Springs and down by the river.

Clear blue natural underground springs pump 3,600 gallons of water per minute into two concrete ringed swimming pools and then out into the Choctawhatchee River.

The pool is a constant 68 degrees year round and clear enough to see the sandy bottom.

Here it is flowing down to the river.

Don't you love this pretty pond and it's stocked for fishing!

 

I loved seeing the ducks in the pond!

They added to the fun of taking photos!

This playground equipment looked like something from my childhood! (maybe it IS!) 

Some of the old picnic tables are pretty ancient too but it still looks beautiful in every direction!

How about these two trees that have grown together?

We are enjoying seeing so many interesting things when we travel and camp at the State Parks.

We have a big trip planned for this month too so I'll visit when I can get online! 

🎄 Have a festive holiday season! 🎄

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

  and Mosaic Monday HERE !

Fun experiences in NC!

 

It's always so nice when you get treated in a special way when you are on a trip.

I try to be kind in the way I live my life, but I also appreciate kindnesses shown to me.

It makes me very thankful.

So here are a few kindnesses along the way!

I had a few nice 'antique' items I was ready to get rid of so I drove over to The Garage to ask the owner if she would want them. (a couple of big bowls, old cookbooks and a small child's chair) She was very happy. And I told her I didn't want to sell them, I wanted to donate them. 

She looked around the store and said for me to pick out a Garage T shirt!

 I liked the blue color, don't you? What a nice surprise!

Maybe next time we'll eat next door!

We drove down the hill to the Library so I took a few photos there too. 

I can't go to NC without visiting my favorite library.

Another day, a neighbor gave me some ripe local peaches that she had bought from a farm stand.

Thanks to everyone that made our trip even more special!

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

Also I like Thursdays HERE.   

The S & S Greenway Trail

 We hiked in Georgia on our trip! It made it more fun to have a hike planned at the end of the first day of traveling. And even though it was hot and humid, we hiked the S & S Rails to Trails Greenway.

 It was a Sunday afternoon and we only saw 2 other people and no bikes, which was a surprise. 

The trail has swamp on both sides so you couldn't stand still long to take photos are the 'skeeters' would carry you off. 

But it felt good to be walking after driving all day.

One of the funny parts was getting to a tunnel and deciding it was a good place to turn around. 

Lo and behold, when you looked up the grassy slope, there was an Olive Garden! 

Cracker Barrel and a Mexican restaurant were in full view too. If we hadn't been tired and sweaty, we could have walked right up there and eaten dinner. (we stopped and got KFC chicken on our way to the Hampton Inn instead and enjoyed eating in our room though... a girl needs a refreshing shower before dressing for dinner in her pjs! lol)

Taking a hike was definitely a fun part of the trip.

Have you ever walked on the Rails to Trails paths? They sure are nice!

This flower was blooming like crazy in big shrubs along the trail. 

Does anyone know what it is?

Thanks Angie for the ID on this beautiful flower!

Its St. John's Wort! 

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

Also I like Thursdays HERE.   

Remember me? We've been traveling!

 

It sure felt great to load the Jeep and travel to the mountains of North Carolina.

And we had lots of fun on the way!

A trip through Georgia deserves a stop at the Piggly Wiggly!

It's a Southern thing! Taking a detour because of a train on the tracks is common too! 

And we saw fields of sunflowers in full bloom.

Doesn't hurt to stop for a few photos, does it?

It was nice to have the cooler temps in the mountains and lower humidity!

And then there are the Blue Ridge Mountains!

We never get tired of seeing those!

Lots of photos to share and I can't wait to start visitin' again! Can you believe I didn't even take my computer on this trip? (I took an IPAD but didn't spend much time on it!)

What have I missed? What's new with you? Tell me in the comments what's happening where you live! I'm anxious to hear from all of my blog buddies!

Enjoy your day! I love the mountains but I'm also thankful to be back in Florida!

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays and

I like Thursdays HERE too!

Special sightings this week!

 

You can look up in the sky and see that more people are traveling now! Lots of contrails from the airplanes high in the sky flying to Florida destinations. That was one thing we noticed during the pandemic, how few planes were in the sky.

My hubby and I are not 'free to travel' yet but we did get to meet a traveler at the trailhead of my favorite section of the Florida Trails, Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. 

My youngest son traveled through and we hiked together! (and yes I have a mask in my hand for hugging! Moms have to hug, it's just who we are!!!)

That sure lifted our spirits to get to spend time with him. 

And he had a chance to ride his mountain bike on some of the trails here too.

This Pileated Woodpecker was in the tree behind our house this week.

He found something good in that big Live Oak tree!

He sure is photogenic, don't you think?

This guy is too!!!

I hope your week has been a good one. 

It was a GREAT one for me!!!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’. 

If you had a choice....

 How would you choose to travel? And where would you go?

We drove over to Ross Prairie Trailhead on our way to hike at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve.

There's a campground nearby and we saw this nice Motorhome. It's not the biggest one made but a great size and very luxurious.

But we also saw this little home made camper.

Isn't it adorable?

What do you think? Which would you choose? 

It was a beautiful day! And we were so happy to see several Florida Scrub-Jays at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve. I hope this is a mating pair! 

There's some great info on these beautiful birds HERE. And we noticed they are featured on the cover page of the Audubon magazine this month with an interesting article inside!

Enjoy your day! Get out there and drive around! 

You may discover something interesting where you live, too!

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE . 

I'm linking with All Seasons at the Jesh Studio,

AND my Monday post HERE.