Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

 Today was another day trip to explore the beauty right in our own area (within an hour's drive).
We visited this State Park and took a picnic lunch for our sustenance this time!  (we didn't think of it for the trip to Ravine Gardens and liked to starve to death...well, we were really hungry.)

 Named for these great trees and the George Washington descendants who lived her many years ago!

 There are so many trails through gardens-it was breathtakingly beautiful!

 The colors and contrasts were so relaxing!   It was a wonderful stroll.

 Bill and I posed for Mom and she took one of us for me, too!  As the photographer, I don't always include myself in the viewfinder!

(The pic of Dad and Mom is on Mom's camera-I will be adding it tomorrow since I forgot to take them with my own camera!)

 The park is nestled between the Intercoastal waterway, pictured here and the highway A1A.

 There were many benches to sit and enjoy the scenery-we took advantage of many of them!

 Bill enjoyed finding this and telling Mom it looked just like her!

 I enjoyed the pools of water-most are artesian well filled!

 Carp and Koi fish kept us entertained!

 Even the dead trees are beautiful!

 This is the ocean side of the park!  It is so different from our usual beach scene which is just a few miles north of here!

 The rocks are sandstone and their coloring has affected the whole beach!

 Lots of brown pelicans liked the beach here, too!

 They flew in perfect formation!

 The waves had a very rhythmic thunder today and we sat and just watched for a long time.

 Bill discovered a bronze plaque in one of the rocks out ahead of us!

 We couldn't get close enough to read it-another day!

 We finished our drive by heading south to Flagler Beach before turning west and heading home!  Of course, we had a bit of dessert before we did so!

Mom and I are knitting this-it is going to be a fun project-wait until you see how it turns out!

Ravine Gardens Day Trip

 When we woke up a a drier day today, we decided to take a hike to Ravine Gardens in Palatka.
Caleb was last there when he was Ella's age!!!  We had a wonderful time hiking the trails, going over the many suspension bridges...

 It was beautiful!  The trails were high, low and in between!  Several trails are even paved roads for cars to drive through!

 The Azaleas were still out!  Ella admired these from her Dad's shoulders!

 Mom and Dad were troopers over the miles of steps and rooted paths!  (It's a good thing they are still active walkers because we covered several miles today!)

 There were lots of cypress trees just beginning to get their needles again-see the knees?!

 Ella didn't like the running water too much!  lol

 She liked this a little better in her Daddy's arms....good thing she can't read!

 Just across this pond there were more Cypress trees...and knees.

 She ran across the little foot bridge to be reunited with her Mom!

 Posing with the G's!

 A group shot early in the hike when we were not panting from exertion!

 A mighty cedar!

 A better view of one of the suspension bridges!

 Now this stairway would have been a great photo for the challenge last month!

 There were still lots of flowers in bloom, even after the 2 1/2" of rain last night!

There was a new playground added since the last time we hiked here-Ella liked to explore here!

There was lots of texture in the trees that I enjoyed.....the twisting of this cedar trunk-

 the roots of this tree that I didn't recognize.

 The underside of a palmetto leaf.

 Fungi at the base of a pine.

 The paved road was a welcome respite from the steps trail!

 There were lots of recycled bricks along the hillsides to slow erosion-it was very pretty.

 The pine trees are putting out pollen-we were grateful for the rain washing most of it away!

 Another brick slope.

 The Azaleas were everywhere-this clump is about 8' high!

 This area is tiered with natural limestone-a fun place to explore!

 Another view of the limestone and stairs in the garden.

 This is the main plaza-a huge area for weddings and festivals.

At the end of our hike, we had to say goodbye until next time!

Wrapping up the Weekend

 I can't believe I finished the second sock, but I did!   It helps to have it be for a little girl with Minota-sized feet!

 Ella enjoyed the rewards of a good meal-she is suspicious of everything you put on her tray...

 it didn't take long to agree it was pretty good!

 We took a walk out back-well, I carried her most of the way so I did the walking but she did like the grass out back by the pond!

 She liked the little purple wild flowers!

 Our Maple trees are in full leaf now....it is really greening up with all the rain and warmer temperatures.  Finally.

 Nyki sat vigil by the Gopher turtle hole.......

Ella plays hard and then sleeps the same way.....just not for too long!  She was so excited to see her parents today!!!!   It was a great time together while it lasted!