Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Outdoor Wednesday

Another Outdoor Wednesday.
Another trip to Guntersville.
I had told my friend, "High Mae" about the fun we had in Guntersville, as well as the bird presentation..."Lets take the kids and picnic!" She always has great ideas.
So Saturday....off we went.
We found a great place to picnic, right beside Lake Guntersville.

















Where the sunlight playfully danced on the lapping water.
















After our lunch, we hit the trails for a day of hiking.























It was a trail I had hiked before, but I made the mistake of parking at the wrong end of the trail. This way today, was a hike straight up the mountain. Oh, joy!

We did do some investigating along the way.....
















Hmmm? Wonder what the story was there??
More hill.....
















And yet the kids wanted to climb the rocks on hills.
There is not a game on Wii Fit to simulate this experience. :)
Even Sister Sledge needed a break.



After our hike, we went to the Raptor presentation. Each week (through the second weekend of Feb.) there is a new presenter with different birds of prey. Check the Park website for more info.

All of our children were excited to be able to hold this little screech owl.



























Isn't that little owl just the cutest? So tiny....but what a big spooky voice!!!!
We also saw up close and personal....
The Red Tail Hawk.

















The Barred Owl.























But the piece dela resistance was .......our nations symbol.
The Bald Eagle.
 A very regal eagle. Check out those talons! As big as a man's hands!

















Fierce! Nobel. Way cool.

Just....WOW!

















After the presentation, we decided to allow the kids to explore around the lodge a bit...

















The view is unbelievable. The lodge sits on top of the mountain.
















Me and High Mae even got a picture together for posterity!



















After the kids had explored to their hearts content, I had a surprise.
"Let's go "Deer Hunting"", where we are certain to see deer.
I don't think they believed me, until.....


 We allowed the children to call in the deer....




Deer Whisperers, wouldn't you say?  Keep in mind, these are wild deer, not caged or fenced in, wild!








It was a WON-DEER-FUL day, the kids...both big and small had a blast!


Click here to read Courtney's version of our adventure.
Also, Do not forget! TOMORROW is #100 of Thrifty Thursday!
And it comes with a giveaway! Hope to see you there!

For more OW participants click here.

4 comments:

Mari said...

What a beautiful place! I love the pictures of the birds, and how neat to get up close to the deer.

Pam Kessler said...

Amazing that they could get that close to them. Great photos. i Had no idea an eagle was that huge!

Pamela Gordon said...

It looks like you had a fun day of hiking and nature. Your deer pictures are amazing. Check out my blog today as I also wrote about deer! Blessings, Pam

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Thanks for sharing your day trip. I would have never made it up the hill. :D I bet the deer love it when the hikers come thru, knowing they will be a treat.
I am really behind visiting around blogland. We are suppose to get snow 2 times this week and bitter cold again, so maybe I can play catch up.
Have a great week.