Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday!


During our one night two day visit to the New River Gorge Bridge and National Park we visited the Sandstone Falls and the visitor center. They were working on the road back to the Sandstone Falls so it took a while to drive there. It was worth putting up with the road work to see this pretty spot of the park. Sandstone Falls is 1500 feet wide and is made up of a network of boardwalks and little islands.

Early morning fog was hanging around the mountains near the New River.

The Sandstone Falls at the New River Gorge Park. It was a pretty day for a hike at the park and waterfalls.

Sitting in the car waiting our turn for the road to open back up, I noticed a few Baltimore Orioles in the trees in from the car.

Some of the birds seen on the Sandstone Falls island walk. Great-crested Flycatcher, Chickadee, Cardinal and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

I watched two Yellow-billed Cuckoos in a tree top. I was only able to capture one in my photos. 

The beautiful Indigo Bunting. 

The boardwalk trail leads to several islands at the Sandstone Falls. 

Swallowtail butterflies were hanging about.

The Great-crested Flycatcher posed for a photo. 

Sandstone Falls is part of the New River Gorge National Park, we stopped at the visitor center for a quick visit. There was this pretty Trumpet Honeysuckle outside the visitor center. I like the display of stones with the message:

"Our Parks, our watersheds, they belong to us all. Each one of us must help to protect the watershed we live in."

I am thankful to all the people who keep their parks, towns and neighborhood clean. 

I am thankful to visit our National Parks, our country is beautiful. 

I am thankful for the road crews, they have a hard job. 

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 




Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday


Happy Monday, enjoy your day and new week!

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Mammoth Cave National Park, Frozen Niagara

Hello and happy Monday everyone.

These are photos from our road trip and visit to Mammoth Cave National Park on May 4-7. On May 5th hubby and I had reserved a cave tour called the Frozen Niagara. The tour lasted 1 hour 15 minutes, we were taken by bus to the cave entrance.

Mammoth Caves are known for their big rooms, this Frozen Niagara tour took us into an area that has some pretty cave decorations.

This was the wettest day on our trip, Kentucky received 3 inches of rain and it was the day of the Kentucky Derby. A rainy day was a good day to be inside the caves, no rain there!

 Not too many steps on this tour, we picked this tour because it described as one of the more decorated sections of the cave. 

A Cave Cricket, important for the cave's ecosystem.

Outside the cave at the Sloan's Crossing Pond, we took a short loop walk around this pond in the park. I did see a couple of Wood Ducks with ducklings. They hid quickly in the reeds.

Rain drops keep falling on my head, lol. Are you familiar with the BJ Thomas song?

Honeysuckle

 The following day hubby took the Historic Tour which was two hours, during that time I went on an easy hike and did some birding. 

I hope you enjoyed my post and photos. I wish everyone a great new week ahead.

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

I hope to see you there. Thanks to the host today. 

As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

Mammoth Cave National Park

Happy Monday everyone! I wish all a great day and new week!

These photos were taken May 4th & 5th.
The Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky was one of the highlights of our road trip. Mammoth Cave NP is located at the Cave City exit off of Route 65. We picked a hotel off of Rt 65 in Bowling Green Kentucky which was 26 miles from the park entrance.

Tours through the cave are so popular we reserved our tours a month or so before our trip. The Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world, with over 400 miles explored. We spent 2 nights and 3 days in the area, exploring the cave and went on some hikes in the park.

Images are from  our first afternoon in Mammoth Cave NP, we walked down the trail to the Green River and to see the opening for the Historic Entrance of the cave. I noticed a lot of wildflowers along the trail, wild turkeys were seen on the road into the park, birds nest , Indigo Bunting silhouette, trail sign.

This is the trail down to the Green River and to the Historic Entrance of the Mammoth Cave.

Down the steps is the Historic Cave entrance. Hubby had a reservation to take the guided tour the next morning.

The Green River, it really is green.

Not open to the public, but below is a wet entrance/exit into or out of the cave. It reminds me of a trip & cruise we took years ago, stopping in Belize we went on a river caving excursion.

We saw a few deer laying on the ground off the trail.

The wild turkeys were one of the birds we saw often, mostly along the park road.

I will share more of the Mammoth Cave tours on another post. Hubby is a spelunker, which is a person who likes to explore caves.  We have also been to Carlsbad Caves in New Mexico, you can check out my post on Carlsbad by clicking on the sidebar link.




 I hope you enjoyed my post and photos.

Thanks to the hosting team of Our World Tuesday!

I hope to see you there. Thanks to the host today. Enjoy your day.

As always I thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

Thankful Thursday

Hello, 

Happy Thankful Thursday, I try to rememmber there is always something to be thankful for.  I may be away from the internet but will catch up as soon as possible. I am sharing the second day of our Shenandoah trip, since staying the night at Skyland we were up early to watch the sunrise.

We woke up early to see the sunrise and then went back to the Skyland lodge for breakfast. 

A cloudy start to our day but we still have a great day in the park.

Deer along the Skyline Drive.

This deer looks like it has a sac it is licking , maybe a baby deer being born. 

A Downy Woodpecker

"Take a quiet walk with Mother Nature, it will nurture your mind, body and soul." unknown

Dark Hallow Falls.

A Louisiana Waterthrush at Dark Hallow Falls.

An Eastern Towhee

Some deer on the Big Meadows. 

"The wildlife and it's habitat can not speak, so we must and we will." Theodore Roosevelt

More deer along the Skyline Drive. 

I am thankful for the simple pleasures like watching the sunrise.

I am thankful to have made this trip to Shenandoah NP.

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 

Thank you Michelle for hostingHappy Monday, enjoy your day and new week! Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Assateague National Seashore

Happy Thursday,  I wish everyone a happy day!

I am sharing some photos from our visit to Delaware & Maryland shores. Ocean City and I have some photos from Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland. We made a few visits to the park during our trip to the beach. 

The first photo is the sunset from Ocean City Maryland inlet.

Ocean City Maryland

Not sure if these are Ring-billed Gulls, Ocean City, Md?

Assateague Island National Seashore

"Make peace of mind your priority."

This may be a flock of Snow Buntings, we never did see them on the ground or close up. We just watched their flight pattern. 

Assateague Island National Seashore. 

"Nothing soothes the soul like a walk on the beach."

My Saturday's critter post has more of my wild pony photos. 

A view of the park's beach.

"Find your place of peace and carry it with you always."

I am thankful for our national parks and national seashores.
I am thankful to walk on the beach, even on a cloudy day.

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park

Hello, happy Thursday,

I thought I would take you back to May and our visit to the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. We walked a few trails, one trail took us close to the Hoh River. The Hoh Rainforest is lush and green from all the rain received in this area. There is a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees, lots of mosses and ferns. 

A view of the Hoh River and a pretty sky. 

Fern and mosses growing on a downed tree.

An Elk trying to hide from us just off the trail.

Below a line of trees growing out of one old fallen tree on the ground.

Wood duck couple and some very green reflections.

Another look at the Hoh River.

Looking up at the sky thru the tall trees. 

Below is the cute Wilson's warbler, easily id from the black line on the top of it's head.

The Northern Rough-winged Swallows were seen near the Hoh River.

There were a few ducks in this pond, but the Wood Ducks were a little closer for a photo. 

Beautiful view of the Olympic Mountains and the Hoh River. 

The Hoh Rainforest and the Olympic National Park was one of my favorite places to visit in Washington State. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend a visit.  I hope you enjoyed my photos.

My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for all the national parks in our country.  
I am thankful for your visits and your comments.

"Be thankful for all the troubles you don't have." 

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday