Arenal Volcano & more

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

August 31, 2013

Happy Labor Day weekend!

I thought I would do a post on one of my favorite places,  it has been awhile since I have done a travel and Scenic Weekend post. Working full time it has been hard to keep up two blogs so my Travel blog has been ignored. I hope to do more posts in the future.

Some of my other post on Costa Rica

These photos are from my archives and from our trip to Costa Rica. I have to say Costa Rica was my favorite country to visit. I would go back in a NewYork minute. Above is a beautiful scene showing the Arenal Volcano.

We had a great view of the Arenal Volcano from the overlook.It is an active young volcano. It is located about 55 miles from San Jose, Costa Rica.

We had a great tour at the Arenal Hanging Bridge reserve. A beautiful place to visit and I enjoyed the hanging bridges. Along our swinging bridge walk we saw a small python, heard a lot of birds and saw some critters called Coati. I would love to go back to the Hanging Bridges just to take their bird tour and wildlife walk.

I am also sharing some of the scenery from our travels along the roads in Costa Rica. I believe in the distance is Lake Arenal which is a reservoir for hydroelectric power.

Beautiful green rolling hills with the turbines at the top. There was so much to see in Costa Rica, I especially love the lush green rainforest areas.

I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Ricketts Glen State Park

June 21, 2013

 I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

Last weekend we visited Ricketts Glen State Park in Benton Pennsylvania. This is the third time we visited this park.The first two times hubby and I hiked the loop trail that passes the 22 named waterfalls. The 13,050 acres is known for its old growth forest. This time we started the trail from another direction and saw only some waterfalls. I am sharing the waterfalls that I was able to see on this trip.

This waterfall above is called Murray Reynolds. This park is named after R. Bruce Ricketts a hotel proprietor. Mr. Ricketts also built the trail along the waterfalls from 1873 to 1903.

This waterfall is called Sheldon Reynolds.

These are some cascades that were close to the area called "The Waters Meet". Actually two parts of Kitchen creek  follow the loop trail and meet at this spot. I read that the trees in this area have never been cut.

This waterfall is called Harrison Wright.

 The tallest waterfall Ganoga Falls is 94 ft. The park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals. It is also named an Important Bird Area by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society. The Waterfalls loop trail is very popular and is considered one of the best hikes in the Eastern United States.

 These are some links to my previous post on our visits to Ricketts Glen :  Ricketts Glen falls trail and Ricketts Glen State Park

I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Grand Caverns, Grottoes Virginia

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

A few weekends ago hubby and I took a tour of the Grand Caverns in Grottoes, Virginia. The Grand Caverns were discovered in 1804 by trapper Bernard Weyer. The Caverns were declared a National Natural landmark in 1973. It is the oldest opened show cave in North America.

These photos are much nicer to see on a larger image, so please click on the photo to see the scene enlarged.  I have to say I am sorry for posting so many photos, but I took so many and it was hard choosing which ones to use.

 

The colored light were pretty, I was not able to capture the reflection in the little pond in front.

I believe some of the shapes like above are called draperies.

The various shapes and colors are kind of neat. My hubby is the spleunker in the family, he is a member of the Baltimore Grotto Club. I do not mind going into the commercial caves but I have some awful experiences going into the private caves with my hubby.  

It is hard to believe but these caverns were opened to the public in the 1800's and one room in the cavern is called the Grand Ballroom. They actually held dances with bands and refreshments by candlelight back in the early 1800's . Electric lighting was not added until 1889.

The tour is approximately 1 mile of walking and around 70 minutes long.

This round disc shape was really cool. This cavern has over 200 rare shield formations.

The shapes were amazing, it was a shame to see some pieces were broken off.

It is hard to photograph some of these shapes...but they are thin and disc like in shape. These were the shield formations.

This shot shows just how big some of the shapes were compared to the people on the tour. I would highly recommend visiting the Grand Caverns if you are in the area. It is not too far off from the Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park.

Some of the other posts I did from our cave visits in other areas: this was in Curacao More scenes from Curacao and another cave visit in Bermuda here Bermuda's Crystal cave


I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Backyard Blooms

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

For this week's Scenic Weekend  I am sharing my backyard blooms. Hubby has the green thumb and the flowers are looking beautiful this spring. You will see that purple is the theme of our gardens and yard. Purple irises, purple clematis, purple rhododendrons.

You can click on the photos for larger viewing images.  

 In my yard these irises look purple but when taking their photo they show up more blueish?

I hope you enjoyed my bloom. 

I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Delaware shore scenes

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

It is Memorial Day weekend, I want to say thank you to our Veterans and our soldiers who risk their lives for us to be safe. Have a happy holiday weekend!

These are some scenes from our visit to the Delaware shore last weekend. You can click on the images for larger viewing.

Slaughter Beach, Delaware

Prime Hook NWR, Delaware

A pretty Pink lady Slipper, a rare sighting for us. This spot along the trail had a lot of blooms.

A view of the Prime Hook wetlands.

Dover, Delaware is home to the AFB and sadly known as the largest military mortuary. Those soldiers killed overseas are brought to Dover before being transferred to family.  If you like old military airplanes there is also a Air Mobility Command museum for the public to enjoy.

It was a great weekend getaway. We visited various beaches and wildlife refuges on the Delaware coast.

I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Key West

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 


These are some of the pretty scenes from our Florida vacation. This post is mostly showing our time in Key West.

Scene from the Fort Zachary park, it was close to sunset.

Custom House life size statues are the work of Seward Johnson.

The statues can be found all around Key West.

 

One of the stars of the Catman show in Key West

Key West sunset

Key West was a fun time, with lots to do if you like to shop, eat and people watch. The sunsets are fabulous. I hope you enjoyed my scenic weekend.  I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.  

 Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

Scenes from Corkscrew

  I am linking up with Gemma's  Scenic Weekend 

 These are all scenes from our visit to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples, Florida. It is a beautiful place to visit, so lush and a beautiful habitat for the birds and critters.

You can see more of the birds from Corkscrew here:
 http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2013/04/corkscrew-swamp-sanctuary-part-1.html

They have 2.25 mile boardwalk perfect for seeing all the beautiful plants, trees and birds.

The plants growing out of the trees were pretty, some hard to photograph were rare orchids.

A grassy field, such a pretty bright green.

I love the spanish moss growing on the trees.

The swamp is a perfect habitat for all the different species of birds. If you are ever in the area I would highly recommend a visit to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by to see my post and thanks to Gemma for hosting Scenic Weekends.

I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.