Nature – Page 37 – Wandering Dawgs

First stop on our Fall Football Road Trip

September 18, 2016Posted in Alabama, Nature, RVing, State ParksTagged Birmingham, Georgia Bulldogs Football, Oak Mountain State Park, Peavine Falls Road, Pelham, Scenic Drive13 Comments

After enjoying a relaxing summer at home, we are once again on a fall road trip to watch the Georgia Bulldogs play an away football game. This year we are on our way to Oxford, Mississippi to see the Dawgs play the Ole Miss Rebels. But in true Wandering Dawgs fashion, we are not taking a direct route to get there.

We started the trip in Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama, a few miles south of Birmingham. This is Alabama’s largest state park and it has something for everyone – mountain bike trails, golf course, lake with a beach, hiking trails, a scenic drive, a beautiful campground and more.

Wandering Dawgs in Oak Mountain State Park Site A28

Every day Blondie and I walked on the trails around our campground loop.

Moccasin Nature Trail behind our campsite

One day we drove to the dead end of Peavine Falls Road on Double Oak Mountain. As we wound our way up the narrow road I was reminded of some of the drives we have made in the Great Smoky Mountains.

This sign was at the parking lot at the dead end at the top of the road

We had a picnic at the Peavine Falls Overlook

We enjoyed our stay and were even able to do a little shopping in nearby Pelham and Birmingham before continuing our journey west to our next destination.

Celebrating 100 years of the National Park Service

September 1, 2016August 14, 2017Posted in National Parks, Nature, Tourist AttractionsTagged National Park Service Centennial Celebration, photo essay19 Comments

Our wandering has taken us to many of our wonderful national parks across the United States. We loved each one of the parks that we visited.

The national parks, national monuments, national historic sites, and other national areas are managed by the National Park Service which celebrated it’s 100th anniversary in August, 2016. To celebrate this anniversary I am sharing pictures of the national parks we have visited throughout the years.

Arches National Park Landscape Arch — Arches National Park, Utah

Bryce Canyon Hoodoos — Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

Moose beside the road in Denali National Park, Alaska

Pa-Hay-Otee Overlook in Everglades National Park, Florida

Grand Canyon North Rim Cape Royal, Arizona

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Cataloochee Valley Overlook Great Smoky Mountains — Cataloochee Valley Overlook in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington

The Big Tree, Redwoods National Park, California

Lower Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)

Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California

The Tree Patriarchs in Zion National Park, Utah — The Three Patriarchs in Zion National Park, Utah

Thanks to Travel with the Slowensky’s for giving me the idea for this post.

Backyard Wildlife

August 26, 2016Posted in Birds, Butterflies, Georgia, Nature, WildlifeTagged Black Swallowtail, Diamonndback Terrapin, Gulf Fritillary, Horned Owl, Monarch, monarch caterpillar36 Comments

I never know what I might see when I walk out my back door.

One day a juvenile horned owl stopped to search for a tasty morsel in the marsh.

Another day this diamond back terrapin took a wrong turn into our back yard.

The ruby throated hummingbirds come by for a drink every day.

It’s been a constant battle keeping the aphids off my milkweed but I have had an occasional Monarch stop by.

I spotted my first caterpillar of the summer on August 24!

All the butterflies love the Mexican Sunflowers I planted this year.

And the bees love it, too.

Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch

July 20, 2016June 19, 2017Posted in Butterflies, Georgia, Nature, Photography, WildflowersTagged Butterflies, Certified Monarch Way Station, Eatonton, geo-caching, Georgia native plants, Giant Swallowtail caterpillar17 Comments

Last summer as I was browsing through some blogs I stumbled upon a post on Winged Beauty Butterflies that mentioned Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch, a butterfly habitat in Eatonton, Georgia. The next time we were visiting near there I stopped by the habitat and fell in love with it. I posted about my first visit to the habitat at Wandering in the Briar Patch.

My latest visit to the habitat was this past weekend in July, 2016. While I was wandering through the garden I had the pleasure of meeting Virginia Linch, the woman with the vision to create this magnificent butterfly habitat. Her enthusiasm was contagious as she gave me a tour and introduced me to many of the native Georgia nectar plants that I wasn’t familiar with. She also knew where to look for caterpillars and showed me some so tiny I would have never seen them if she hadn’t pointed them out.

The blooms were vibrant throughout the garden.

I could see swallowtails, monarchs and other butterflies landing on the blooms but none would stay around long enough for me to get a picture. A Viceroy landed on the ground in front of me and paid no attention to me at all.

This Gulf Fritillary wasn’t shy.

I would never have spotted this Giant Swallowtail caterpillar if Virginia hadn’t pointed it out to me.

You can see how small it is compared to Virginia’s hand.

There are benches for resting and even a new porch for sitting.

Thank you Virginia for giving me a tour and for all of your hard work!

Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch is Certified Monarch Way Station No. 9045 and is also an official site for geo-caching.

Beautiful Planet Earth

May 10, 2016August 11, 2017Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Denali, earth, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Weekly Photo Challenge, Yellowstone, Yosemite21 Comments

America’s National Parks are some of the most beautiful places on earth. Our wandering has taken us to many of them over the years. These are a few of our favorite national parks.

The Grand Canyon, Arizona