Let’s take a walk on the wild side with Egidio’s challenge “Going Wild”. I love being in wilderness areas and photographing the landscapes, wildlife, wildflowers, and birds I see there. For this challenge I chose images from my three favorite wilderness areas.
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia
The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is closer to my home than any of my other favorite wilderness areas. We have been there many times and always enjoy the wildlife and birds we see there. The butterflies on wild thistle in the header image was taken in the Okefenokee.
Young alligator in the Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeGreat Egret in the Okefenokee Swamp
Everglades National Park, Florida
We have visited Everglades National Park in Florida many times through the years. There are several entrances to the park with Flamingo being the most remote area. The Everglades is a bird lovers dream with many varieties all throughout the park. No matter where you go in the Everglades you are likely to see alligators.
Egrets and Spoonbills gathering in a pond near the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National ParkThis alligator ignores the human invaders of his territory at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park
Denali National Park, Alaska
Denali National Park is the most remote wilderness area I have ever visited. I loved the feeling of being miles away from civilization while we were there. The scenery is breathtaking and the wildlife abundant. Most of the wildlife we saw was too far away for a good photo even with my telephoto lens.
Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park, AlaskaMoose in the Denali Wilderness
Celebrating 12 Years of Wandering Dawgs
I started the Wandering Dawgs blog in March, 2013 as a way to document our 4 month RV journey from Georgia to Alaska and back. In the beginning, the only people who read my posts were friends and family. Today, I have blogging friends from all around the world! I recently celebrated the 12th anniversary of Wandering Dawgs! Many thanks to everyone who reads my posts and leaves me comments.
We started the month of June at home. The above image was taken one afternoon just before one of the frequent thunderstorms.
June 1 marked the beginning of my summer water aerobics classes at a pool near our house. It was nice getting into the routine of working out in the pool with friends. At home, the birds and other critters in our yard kept us entertained.
Father’s Day and Birthday Road Trip
Our recent trip to Florida started on Father’s Day weekend. We stayed off the Interstates and headed south on back roads of Georgia and Florida. On our way south we stopped in Folkston, Georgia to visit the Okefenokee National Wildlife before continuing to Florida the next day. The Swamp Island Drive and walk on the Chessar Island Boardwalk were a great way to start our trip.
A Week in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
The next day we drove on back roads to our destination in Lake Buena vista near Orlando and Disney World. The weather was typical June Florida weather – pleasant mornings, hot the rest of the day, and daily thunderstorms. Our condo with a screened in porch was a fun place to relax and do nothing. There were several pools and restaurants to enjoy at the resort. Most days we stayed around the resort and the farthest we drove was about 16 miles to one of our destinations.
I celebrated my birthday a few days early with lunch at the Sanaa restaurant at Kadani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. The restaurant serves delicious food and overlooks a savanna with giraffes, zebras, impalas, wildebeest, East African Crowned Crane and other animals.
Our original plan for the week was to hang out at the resort, go out to eat a few times, and enjoy the pools. We’ve been to Disney World many times over the years but had never been to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. On the spur of the moment we decided to spend a day there.
The first thing we saw when we walked through the gates was the Tree of Life which features carvings of more than 300 animals.
We wandered around the park and went on two trails to view some of the animals. Gorillas, a Komodo Dragon, colorful birds, tigers (we saw them sleeping but I couldn’t get a picture), hippos, and water buffalo were a few of the animals we saw.
There wasn’t enough time to see everything but it was a fun day.
A Night on the St. John’s River
On our way home we spent a night next the the St. John’s River in Palatka. We enjoyed a great seafood lunch beside the river, walked along the river walk in front of our hotel, and I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the river before we started north to our home in Georgia.
On our way home we stopped in Darien for some fresh Georgia seafood at Mud Cat Charlie’s at Two Way Fish camp on the Altamaha River.
Books
I loved “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingslayer. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a page turner that takes place in Appalachia in southwest Virginia. I also read two more of the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny.
If I had a visitor from another country who wanted to see my home country in a week or a month, where would I take them? This is the challenge Tina has given us.
I live in the United States. Many visitors from other countries are surprised by how huge it is. It would take more than a lifetime to see it all.
Instead, I will take the time we have to see the many beautiful sites in my home state of Georgia. There are mountains, farmland, friendly small towns, the Okefenokee Swamp, historic cities, barrier islands, salt marsh, beaches, lakes, and the city of Atlanta.
I’m not sure we could even cover the entire state in one month but we could give it a good try. We’ll start our tour in coastal Georgia where I live. We would visit at least one of the three inhabited barrier islands that can be reached by road, go on a dolphin tour to look for Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, walk on an uninhabited island that can only be reached by boat, and take a ferry ride to explore Sapelo Island or Cumberland Island National Seashore. We would catch blue crabs from the local waters and steam them for a delicious meal, snack on boiled peanuts, and feast on low country boil with shrimp fresh from the sea.
Dunes and pier on Tybee Island, GeorgiaSunrise at Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, GASt. Simons Lighthouse, GAAtlantic Bottlenose Dolphin near Tybee Island, GeorgiaWe often are the only people on one of the uninhabited barrier islandsNanny Goat Beach, Sapelo Island, GeorgiaFresh Georgia Blue Crabs straight from the creek to the pot.Boiled PeanutsLow Country BoilExploring coastal Georgia
We would visit historic Savannah and enjoy a family style lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.
Mercer House, Savannah, GeorgiaWaving Girl Statue and Olympic Cauldron on River Street on the Savannah RiverHistoric stone steps leading to River StreetForsyth Park Fountain, SavannahMrs Wilkes Dining Room
We could take a ride to Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge to see nesting egrets, herons, and woodstorks in the spring. We could continue farther south for a boat ride through the Okefenoke National Wildlife Refuge.
Nesting Wood StorksCypress Trees in the Okefenokee Swamp, GeorgiaAlligator in the Okefenokee SwampGreat Egret with chicks, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
We would take a road trip on back country roads to north Georgia. We would stop to explore Athens, the home of the University of Georgia, go to the top of Brasstown Bald, and look for waterfalls. We would pass by fields of cotton, corn, and pecan orchards along the way.
University of Georgia Arch, AthensView from top of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in GeorgiaOne of the waterfalls of Tallulah Gorge
We would take another road trip to see the western part of the state and stop to explore Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain and President F. D. Roosevelt’s Little White House in Warm Springs. We would drive by peach orchards and watch the sunset at one of the many lakes in Georgia.
Callaway Gardens Azalea TrailFDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GAPeach County, GeorgiaGeorgia PeachesSunset over Lake Seminole at Eastbank Campground
There is so much more to see in Georgia. Sadly, I don’t have photos of some them. In Atlanta we could see the World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, Stone Mountain, the President Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. We could visit the Providence Canyon, also called the grand canyon of Georgia in Lumpkin and beautiful Rome in northwest Georgia, and too many more places to name.
I can’t end a post about Georgia without including the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team. Go Dawgs!
Georgia Football Barn Sign, Tennille, GA Dooley Field at Sandford Stadium
Our host Karina asks us to show us the places that are or were special to you and tell us why. I’ve chosen to feature two National Wildlife Refuges located in Southeast Georgia.
Working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mission
The National Wildlife Refuge System is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These public lands and waters across the United states are set aside to protect many species. They are special places to experience nature and to view wildlife. There are over 560 National Wildlife Refuges in the United States.
The Okefenokee Swamp is one of North America’s most unspoiled natural wilderness areas. According to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge web page, “the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has 353,981 acres of National Wilderness Area within the refuge boundaries. In addition, the refuge is a Wetland of International Importance (RAMSAR Convention – 1971) because it is one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems.”
The refuge headquarters are located in Folkston, Georgia. There is also access to the refuge in Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo and the Okefenokee Swamp Park in Waycross.
Alligators in the Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeTurtle in Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeSwallowtail Butterflies in the Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeWild Turkey in the Okefenokee National Wildlife RefugeSnowy Egret in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Located just a few miles east of I-95 in Townsend, Georgia, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge provides habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including nearly 350 species of birds. In the spring, hundreds of wood storks, egrets, and other birds can be seen building their nests in the trees on Woody Pond.
Great Blue Heron in Flight at Harris NeckPair of Wood Storks building a nest at Harris Neck National Wildlife RefugeNesting Wood Storks and Great Egrets at Woody PondBaby Alligators at Woody Pond
For this challenge Ann-Christine has asked us “where or what is our hideaway”. Her description of hideaway says “A Hideaway, is a place to which a person can retreat for safety, privacy, relaxation, to seek seclusion or refuge.”
When I am at home I can hideaway for a few moments by getting out in nature or by reading a book. But for me, a true hideaway is a wilderness area far away from civilization, somewhere with no robo calls, internet, or other interruptions.
Three of my favorite destinations immediately came to mind – the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in south Georgia, Denali National Park in Alaska, and Everglades National Park in Florida. Although these are three unique protected wilderness areas, what they have in common is that they are miles away from civilization and the wildlife is free to roam.
Okefenokee Landscape
Of these three areas, the closest to my home is the Okefenokee Swamp. When we get to the end of the 17 mile road from the main highway and arrive at Stephen C. Foster State Park I feel like I am in another world. This image and the one at the top were both taken in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Fargo, Georgia.
Mount Denali in Denali National Park, Alaska
To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.
John Muir
Sunrise in Everglades National Park in Flamingo, Florida
There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth; remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them.
Wandering Dawgs 