July 18, Quick, be Quick!

Quick, be Quick!, originally uploaded by pictureapromise.

Spent our Sunday in Maplewood State Park in Minnesota. Beautiful place. We hiked thru the woods, thru the meadow and even along the road. So many beautiful things to see, green leaves on the trees, mushrooms along the wooded path, beautiful lakes and lovely water lilies. There were also bugs, biting bugs like skeeters and sand flies, bees and horseflies. We also saw lots of Monarch butterflies, Red Admirals and smaller yellow and white ones. There were lots of Dragonflies too. I don't usually have the patience or the quick finger to capture them but today I did, I was very pleased with my self! :D

Blessings~

June 7, 2010 Carved in Stone

We did it! Barb and I hiked up Crazy Horse Mountain and stood out on the end of his pointing arm. The trip up and back was a 10k march. We do take our time, take lots of pics, enjoy the scenery, and experience the entire journey. We saw lovely wildflowers, stands of pine and birch, and even a mountain goat up behind the face you see in the photo! And of course people, lots of people in every size, age, and physical condition. We met an interesting lady who when finished had "only" 350 10k volksmarches stamped in her book. She was mid to late 70's. She and her son walked up the mountain together. There was a girl scout troop, families with strollers ( I wouldn't recommend that) and an elderly couple that slowly shuffled up the mountain holding hands. I saw a young father carrying his tiny infant and a another family whose dad had his guitar and would play and sing for us as we hiked. The volksmarch takes place once a year, the first full weekend in June. You can hike up either Saturday or Sunday or both if you're so inclined. No entrance fee those days for marchers just some food for the food pantry. If you'd like to know more about Crazy Horse Monument, history and so forth check out the website http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/monument/

Blessings~