Exploring the World Around Us

One of the most exciting things about living where we do is the fact that there are untold numbers of places to explore here, and the more we explore, the more we find.  It seems that we never cease to be amazed at the number of possibilities for adventure.  

In fact... even a trip to a local library sometimes serves up some great "moose" adventures!  On our most recent adventure, we began the day by visiting a town with a pretty amazing park (of which I had never visited).  We found a place to park the car, which was by the library, and which is how we found this great "moose" adventure!

Well, it certainly seemed that moose were taking over the town! We found them everywhere we looked - even on top of the buildings!

And all through the park!  I just love moose .... mooses (I know that is not the correct plural form of moose, but isn't it just strange that moose is both singular and plural lol! )   Can you spot the mouse hiding out with the moose? 

Two cute moose and mouse! (now that's a mouthful!) 

The park that we were visiting had an exciting playground for kids.  It was early in the day on a Saturday morning, and a bit cool outside, but already there were plenty of kids taking advantage of this delightful playground area.

The day was overcast, and cool, with a brisk wind blowing, but we had gotten out early because the weatherman had promised temps up in the 50s, and sunny skies.  Well... you can never trust those weathermen!

We never did see any sunny skies, although the sun tried to peek through a few times throughout the day.  Even still, looking out over the lake with the foggy overhanging clouds, there was a certain beauty about it still that made the view enjoyable.

Our outing to the park was a two-fold adventure.  Our friends and I wanted to explore this beautiful park, but I had also brought my camera along to take some pictures of the two of them as they were expecting their first child any day now, and we thought it would be a fun way to capture just the two of them together before little Abigail arrives.

The park area wound through a heavily wooded and hilly area with stony rock outcroppings, with a beautiful trail to follow.

Since this is the middle of February, usually there would still be snow everywhere!  However, an early spring has arrived this year, along with more green than one would normally see this time of year!  I can only imagine how beautiful this hillside will look in a month or two covered in lovely spring flowers!

As we finished our climb to the top of the hill, my friend's husband captured this photo with an app on his phone that was able to turn the picture into a 3-dimensional photo!  Isn't this cool!  My friend has a blog here that you can visit to see more of their adventures.  :) 

A photo taken with my zoom lens of the downtown area.

Cute picture of my two friends as they walked up the hill together!

There were quaint views of the lake around every bend and turn of the trail.  Even though the clouds were hiding the distant horizon, you can still see the outline of the mountains in the distance.

There were many hills, and outcroppings of rocks where you could stand and see for miles.... well, on a sunny day perhaps!  Today our horizons were close because of the overhanging fog, but still... the sight was lovely to see.

Another 3-dimensional picture taken with my friends phone app - pretty amazing the depth of field that you can see with this picture! 

There were so many trails leading off to more adventure, but since it was close to lunch time, and we had been walking for over an hour or more, we decided to circle back and find a nice spot for lunch!

I love being out in God's gymnasium - no better workout than climbing hills, rocks and mountains for an exercise routine second to none!

We find a cozy bakery to have lunch.  The place was packed out, and for good reason - their food was amazing! I started off with a hot cup of tea - a perfect way to refresh my body after an hour or two of intensive hiking!

Each table had one of these lovely roses gracing it...

While we were waiting for our food - I had fun taking a few pictures of the rose, and my hot tea...

The rose had a lovely fragrance to it...

A lovely way to enjoy our lunch!

I was delighted with the choice of my sandwich. It was incredible.  It was a Greek Feta Chicken Panini sandwich, served with a crunchy dill pickle... perfect!

My friends ordered the Reuben sandwich - again a delightful tasty choice, along with a bowl of Chicken Rice Soup, served with garlic bread.

We enjoyed the lovely lunch together, and enjoyed the blessings of wonderful friendship and a fun day exploring.  Adventure is always close by in this beautiful area we live in, and even more blessed when you get to share the adventure with special friends!  :)