A Canoe and a Refuge plus a Car and a Geo-cache equals BIG Adventures

A while back DH and I enjoyed a weekend filled with our kind of adventures.  We loaded up the Rav4 with our canoe, the dogs, the GPS and the Geo-caching bag and escaped the monotony of every day life for a few hours.  First stop was the Waffle House for breakfast, followed by a trip to the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge where we hopped in the canoe for a trip around the river.

Here are a few  bunch of photos of our trip....

These are Buzzards

They are BIG

I have never seen buzzards (live) before I moved to Texas

It was a very pretty day

The gorgeous views along the river

The water was like glass... a mirror

This little guy was on a branch that was hanging way out over the river

Thank goodness he didn't fall in!

Peaceful

Tranquil

Relaxing

 

More buzzards

Ah... it's almost like I am there again

We saw all kinds of birds and animals in the wild 

It is a refuge after all!

What a great way to spend the first half of the day.  

Did I mention how relaxing and peaceful it was?  

The next part of the day included a road trip about an hour or so west of Fort Worth out near Mineral Wells, Texas; where we included Geo-caching into seeing some new places. 

We searched and found several Geo-caches, more than I have photos of.  

One of the Geo-caches took us to Mineral Wells Fossil Park

We had no idea this place existed so we weren't prepared for digging. We will be going back sometime though!

Another Geo-cache took us to a really nice, old, cemetery where the bluebonnet's were in full bloom

Daisy enjoying the view

Every Geo-cache we go on  takes us to places we would not have known about otherwise, usually with history or interesting artifacts.  We have been on so many fun adventures since we have taken up Geo-caching as our fun hobby.  You have to try it sometime.  

Go here for more information

I should tell you about my getting lost adventure now.  Yes... we did get lost for a time!  One of our Geo-caches we wanted to find included a short hike through a wooded area that gained an elevation of about 900 ft.  With Geo-caching you need a GPS to find the coordinates, and you learn that it is often a very good idea to mark on your GPS where your car is located before venturing out so that you can find your way back.  

Well..... I had my handy GPS, and knowing how important it is to mark where we park, somehow it slipped my mind to do so on this one.  So we venture off into the woods.  We enjoy our hike and find the cache and start heading back before I realize nothing looks familiar and we are beginning to follow a path that is taking us in the wrong direction.  We start back tracking a bit but still end up taking another wrong path.  DH suggests I pull up the coordinates where our car is parked and I have to tell him I didn't mark it.  That didn't go over so well! 

Now it is a pretty hot and humid day and we had set out on this adventure during the hottest part of the day and didn't bring a lot of water with us knowing it wouldn't take us very long.   So.. after quite sometime of seemingly walking in circles and becoming hotter and thirstier (water was gone at this point), DH suggests we go back to the Geo-cache find which is plugged into the GPS, and start all over again.  I was becoming frightened we would never get out this wooded hillside!  We located the cache and started out again only paying more attention to our surroundings and what looked familiar and what didn't, when we realized we had earlier missed a path that we had come in on which lead us finally in the right direction toward the right path that lead us to our car.  Whew!  Lesson learned!  We would have been OK even if we hadn't been able to get out of there because we did have the GPS and could have told rescuers our coordinates... However, ALWAYS mark your car's location!  I probably won't ever make that mistake again! 

I look forward to the next time we can get out and enjoy all the fun adventures just waiting for us.  

More July Adventures..... And.....

Still playing catch up... Yes I am!

But first..... I just wanted to throw on the table the fact that in 4 more days we will be on our way to Texas.   I have been busily finishing up all my homework for school so that I can begin my two week break, and now I am busy spending the last few days packing and cleaning.

Now..... just a shout out reminding you of my blog giveaway.  October 8th is the big day so get your suggestions in if you haven't already. Read HERE for more details.  Oh... and I have exciting news about the book I am giving away.  I will be giving away an AUTOGRAPHED copy!  Plus I will have two more surprise gifts that will include something from Montana and something from Texas.  Should be FUN FUN FUN!!!  I have received some excellent ideas but would like some more so get your ideas in before the deadline.

Now onto the adventure part....

Mid July we planned a weekend getaway to Great Falls, MT.  I wanted to see what the Great Falls were all about.  So away we went.... It is about 3-1/2 hour drive from where we live.  First stop was the hotel.  And as soon as we walked in our little Abby dog made herself right at home.  This is her style of camping!  She is not really the outdoorsy type like Daisy is.  This is more her style as you can see by this picture.

Princess Abby making herself right at home

A storm blew in as soon as we arrived in town.  It was quite the rain storm too!  So we just hung out at the hotel the rest of that day.  The next morning we started out with a Geo-cache.  Here is DH (Dear Hubby) finding it!  

DH Geo-Cache Find 

The stash is in the plastic container

The plastic container was found inside of this!  

It was a pretty cool way to hide a Geo-Cache.  

The location was pretty great too.  

It was at a park overlooking the Missouri River

The next stop was what I was there for.  The next few pictures are of Giant Springs State Park.  This is the most beautiful place I have seen!  This next picture is of the Giant Spring.  It is a natural spring that was discovered by Lewis & Clark.  It's awesome!  What makes it even more special is that this natural spring flows into the shortest river in the world... the Roe River which is 201 feet long and runs directly into the Missouri River.   It seriously is a really gorgeous place and I recommend everyone go see it!   There are several pictures of Giant Springs State Park because the scenery is so beautiful and I just couldn't choose any to leave out.

Giant Springs

Giant Springs

Missouri River in background

The water is SO clear!

Giant Springs

Look how clear that water is!

Giant Springs State Park

More Scenery 

Another one...

There is also a fish hatchery at the Giant Springs State Park

This is a pond of fish....They are HUGE!

Pretty Bird 

Missouri River

This is one of five falls on the Missouri River

These falls are how Great Falls got it's name

This is another one of the falls on the Missouri

We are making our way to the Great Falls on the Missouri 

But first we stopped to find another Geo-Cache.

Here is the family!

This is the Great Falls and namesake of the city.  

I wish the pictures did it justice!

Another shot of Great Falls

On the way home we spotted these......  SPEED GOATS!!

And then we found this pretty lake at Gates of the Mountains...  We had no idea about this place and wished we had more time to check it out.  It is an area that DH and I wish we had time to explore.  It is another one of the Lewis & Clark expeditions.  Check out the links and make it part of your next vacation to Montana.  I wish I had time!

As we arrived back home the sunset was really awesome.  These pictures don't even do it justice but it will give you some idea of what the sky was like.  

Sunset over Belgrade, MT

The sky is on fire

So pretty!

Well that wraps up our Great Falls Adventure.  We had a wonderful weekend and really do recommend it to everyone.  I love road trips and all the amazing adventures that take place while on one!  

So... most likely the next time you see another update, I will be in Texas.  I still have several Montana adventures to catch up on.  I am hoping to do that once I get settled somewhat.  

Don't forget about the Blog Giveaway!  See you soon my friends!

Fairly recent Montana Adventures..... July is recent right?

I mentioned previously that I needed to update my blog with our latest adventures.  The unfortunate thing is that it dates back to July.  The other thing is that we went on MANY adventures and I took a lot of photos, so I will have to break up this post into two or three different parts.  Please bear with me.

As you know we are moving away from Montana.  We created a bucket list of things we wanted to do and places we wanted to visit before we leave.  Our bucket list included hikes, Geo-caching, road trips, and canoe trips to name a few.  Each weekend we try to spend a little time doing something towards completing our list.

Over the July 4th weekend we chose to do many of the items on our list.  We went hiking, located and found several Geo-caches, as well as spent time in the canoe.  Here are few pictures of some places we visited and sights we saw.

Palisade Falls

This is a hike we went on.  These falls are located above Hyalite Reservoir in the Hyalite Canyon of the Gallatin National Forest.  As you can see the falls are gorgeous!  

History Rock

This is another hike we went on.  It is also located in Hyalite Canyon.  This is an impressive rock formation with names etched into it dating back to the early 1800's.  

A closer view

Daisy and I in front of History Rock

Our adventurous Dog

Scenery on the History Rock trail

An Eocene Dike - A Natural Wall

As we were traveling down through the Paradise Valley towards Yellowstone N.P., we decided to stop at this Geo-cache which is actually an Earth-Cache (look it up on Geo-caching.com).  Now this is something to see and learn about!  This is why we enjoy Geo-caching.  

This Eocene dike was created about 30 million years ago. This wall of black basalt rock was injected as molten magma into a crack in horizontally bedded volcanic conglomerates.  Conglomerate is like cement.  

I loved learning about this!!

Petrified Forest

This is another hike we went on.  It is a petrified forest located in the Paradise Valley heading towards Yellowstone N.P.  

Scenery along the trail to the Petrified Forest

More scenery

Billy & the girls found a comfy spot to rest

Me near the top of the mountain

Me Again!

The Petrified Forest trail is an interpretive trail that informs you of what you will see each step of the way.  

In these alcoves you can find parts of petrified trees

Daisy found the shade

Here is a petrified tree stump

A better view

We didn't get to finish the hike as a storm was coming in and we needed to get off the mountain.  

It was a great hike though, with really beautiful scenery. 

The Paradise Valley is just that... Paradise!  It is a gorgeous area.  If you ever get up this way, I recommend taking this drive as you head towards Yellowstone.  

This post covers the adventures we had over the July 4th weekend.  

Watch for post number two coming soon, for more exciting adventures brought to you by ME!!