Friday, March 28, 2014

Signs of spring at Grassy Waters Preserve



I visited Grassy Waters Preserve on a beautiful February morning back in 2011. The preserve -- which lives up to its name -- is actually a part of the Florida Everglades watershed, and also serves as a water source for West Palm Beach, Florida. It is a great place for alligator watching and a spectacular birding area.



I found a well-maintained boardwalk that took me through a wooded hammock dominated by cypress (a ubiquitous wetland tree) and several varieties of palmettos. Winter had recently loosened its grip on the area, and the affects of the warmer temperatures were evident in the new, bright green growth on every tree in sight. It was interesting to traverse the boardwalk during that transitional period between seasons.


Another nice thing about this preserve is that there are rocking chairs placed in prime birding areas on the boardwalk. It was nice to sit and relax and watch the hawks soaring over the wetlands, or to indulge in a bit of pareidolia and pick out animal shapes in the clouds above.





It was a lovely way to spend the morning, and creating this post has made me want to visit again -- especially since spring is in full swing here in Florida. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend a visit to this preserve.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A morning on the Florida Trail




I went on a Sunday morning hike with my mother and my dog at a local wildlife management area. It wasn't too hot when we started out at 7:00 AM, but it was 83 degrees Fahrenheit by 11:30 AM, so it was a short and sweet hike; probably around 5 miles round-trip.





As you can see, spring was in full swing that morning. Plants were blooming, birds were singing, it was a nice hike, even though we were wading through knee-deep water half the time!











The next two photos provide excellent examples of what we were hiking through that morning. It was a great workout. The dog had a blast, galloping through the water and wading through the muck like a champ. She's a great trail dog. I think I'll make a post about her one day; her story is an interesting one.







Monday, March 24, 2014

Welcome



Hello and welcome to my blog. My interests include traveling, hiking, photography, camper vans, and natural wellness. You can be certain that this blog will provide a lot of content on all of those subjects. I will do my best to keep everything tagged and organized.

I'm going to get the proverbial ball rolling by recapping a few of my previous adventures as well as documenting my own camper van conversion. Once I become more proficient with video editing, I will include some of my own videos to the cascade of photos that will inevitably flood this blog. I hope you enjoy these posts.