Explore the Great Outdoors

This Earth Day, why not make plans to visit a park near you?  It’s a wonderful way to reconnect with friends and family and commune with nature!

Pack a picnic, grab some kids (yours or a friend’s), and do some exploring in the great outdoors.

Right before the Holidays, Bill and I took our nieces to Myakka River State Park for the day.

We had a blast.

Myakka River, one of Florida’s oldest and largest state parks, protects one of the state’s most diverse natural areas ~ wetlands, hammocks, prairies, and pinelands.

We viewed wildlife from a boardwalk stretching over Upper Myakka Lake.

We climbed a tower and took to the treetops, “swinging”  through the tree canopy on the Myakka Canopy Walkway.

We had a picnic lunch next to a secluded stream.

We burned off a few calories on the jungle gym.

We stopped to watched alligators lurking about in the water and on the shoreline.

We inhaled a big dose of Mother Nature.

We even scoped out some bargains in the Gift Store ~ a fun way to support our public places instead of blowing our entire shopping budget at the local mall.

Aah . . . that’s better!

Happy Earth Day 2010!

Remember:  Take only photographs, leave only footprints.