Weekend Wanderings

Sometimes it’s those unplanned adventures that we enjoy the most.  This often seems to be the case for me, anyway.

My weekend wanderings began with heading out to my sister’s place so we could run errands together, but we ended up running a few adventures as well.  One of the things I really appreciate about my sister is her willingness to go with the flow.   Or as we like to say…  “Sometimes you just gotta follow the force, Luke.”  So we followed the force to William O’Brien State Park.

The fall colors are at their peak in my area right now, and everywhere you look is alive with autumn’s splendor, my eyes are in paradise!  ❤

The weather wasn’t on our side, it was cold, raining at times, and the skies were overcast and dreary, but we didn’t let that stop us, we enjoyed every minute of it.

Here’s a few of the photos I snapped…

 

I bet fairies live here…

I didn’t see any though, they must not have been at home.  😉

Right before I snapped this one, there were children frolicking here, it was a beautiful, heartwarming little scene…

I’m a bit disappointed I couldn’t have gotten a better capture of this path, it was so lovely, and smelled of pine and dried leaves.  I wish I could bottle that scent.  We spent a considerable amount of time sniffing around here.  😀

After we left the park, we pulled over to the side of the road because there was a pretty area I had noticed on the way in that had some beautiful fall colors and I wanted to try to take a photo of it.  But then when I looked on the opposite side of the road, I spotted a bald eagle in the branches of some bare trees.  Although I was too far away to really capture it (can you even see it?), I love the feel and the mood of this photo.  Maybe partly because the moment was so special ~ seeing a bald eagle is always exciting, even if it’s only from very far away…

The sun tried to come out, but the cloud cover was just too thick…

But even without it, the autumn colors still glowed…

~

 The following day though, the sun was shinning brightly, and on a whim my daughter and I headed over to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary.  We had tried to go there earlier in the week, but it was closed.  Those of you who have been here with me for a while may recall me posting about this place before when I spent some time there on one of my birthdays.  It’s a lovely place and we had the most wonderful time hiking through the trails.

Here are a few of the photos I snapped while we were there…

I can’t even tell you how unbelievably gorgeous it was, the colors were absolutely dazzling, and the smell… amazing! ❤

Each path had its own ambiance and feel to it depending on the various twists and turns and the plantings along the way…

And the colors… oh the brilliant colors.

But the more subtle tones were equally as beautiful…

There were tiny little colorful treasures everywhere, if ones walks slow enough to notice them…

Even the dead things were alive.  Alive with interest and with their own special, unique beauty…

And then there’s this unique beauty…

My beautiful daughter.  ❤

Right after I snapped that shot of her, a park worker came over to us and told us we weren’t allowed to take portrait type of photos in the park.  What?!  Apparently it’s because when doing so, many people go off the designated trails and trample the tender plantings that are along the sides of the path.  I told her I wouldn’t dream of doing anything that would harm the living things in the park, they’re the reason we were there, and I’m thankful to have such a gorgeous place nearby to visit, it was just that as we happened upon a lovely sitting area, I thought it would be perfect for a portrait.  And it was, look how nice it turned out.  😉

Lastly, let me share this photo I snapped of a cute, friendly little kitty named Lily, who lives next door to my sister, as she was out on a few of her own ‘weekend wanderings’ through some brightly colored leaves…

🙂

 

I know this post was a bit long, so thank you for taking the time and for letting me share with you some of the beautiful moments I had during my weekend wanderings.  I hope you experience some beautiful moments of your own today, and that you have a wonderful week ahead!

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿