George's Birthday - March 9, 2013

On March 8-10, 2013,  George and I spent his Birthday Weekend near Fort Payne, Alabama.  On Friday,  we visited the Little River Canyon area.  Click HERE for more information on the area.  Then, on Saturday and Sunday,  we visited DeSoto State Park.  Click HERE for information about this wonderful state park.

Our goal (other than to just have fun) was to see lots of waterfalls (we saw 12 total during the entire weekend) and do some good hiking.  We hiked about 2.8 miles on Friday,  5 miles on Saturday, and 3.5 miles on Sunday.

Saturday was George's 71st birthday---so today's blog is all about Saturday.  I'll blog at other times about our Friday and Sunday experiences..  All in all,  we had a fabulous weekend.

The picture above was taken on our hike to find Lost and Laurel Falls.  There were so many interesting rock formations along our trail. Be sure to click on the photos (especially the collages) to see them larger.

Here is a collage of George at 5 of the waterfalls we saw that Saturday.  All of the waterfalls were pretty,  but DeSoto was definitely the largest one.  Sometimes I enjoy the smaller ones better because of the rustic area around them.  But DeSoto is a marvelous waterfall.

When we got to DeSoto Falls (note photo above),  we could only see it from the SIDE---so we couldn't get a good shot of the entire falls.   Therefore---we hiked/bushwhacked around the ridge of the mountain to see if we could get a good photo of this waterfall... AND-we DID!!!! Hope you like it.  (Click HERE for more information about DeSoto Falls.)

This collage shows my photographer at work on his birthday.   These were taken on the trail to Lost and Laurel Falls.

I do anything I can to get my man on his KNEES.  Maybe he was trying to get away from me by crawling under that big rock!!!!!!!   NAH---doubt it.  No telling what is sleeping under there!!!! Yipes!

I love this collage of George bushwhacking through the brambles --just to get a better photo of the waterfall.   I was sitting on a rock watching him---so why not take some pictures of my MAN working hard!  ha ha

George is following the path around some very big rocks..  This was a gorgeous area --and the trail was in good shape, although not marked as well as it should have been.

Here is a picture of MY HERO..  He was holding that big rock up so that his "Bride" could walk under it!!!!!!  Wonder where the red carpet was????? ha ha....  What a GUY...  (See how much fun we have!!!!!)

That evening,  we had a delicious Catfish Dinner at the restaurant at DeSoto State Park and then went back to our motel (Holiday Inn Express in Fort Payne) to open his cards and enjoy some birthday cake.

The collage above shows you his delicious  German Chocolate Birthday Cake,  complete with 71 (7 + 1) candles that he had to blow out---after making a wish of course.  Then he opened his cards  (bottom left was from his bride,  and the ones on the right are a funny card from our friends, Judy and Charlie)..   After that we both had a piece of that German Chocolate cake..... (Even I had a small piece.  YUM)

Finally,  here is a photo of the two of us taken at Lost Falls. We had such a fabulous day together ---and highly recommend this area to anyone who enjoys being out in nature.

If you missed my Wednesday blog  (my new Photo Blog),  be sure and check it out.  Click HERE.   And be sure to sign up to follow that blog.  Thanks!

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

Hugs,

Emoticons

Desoto State Park, Fort Payne, AL

On February 14, 2010, George took me on a surprise Valentine's trip to the Little River Canyon and Desoto State Park in Alabama. Desoto State Park is the place to go IF you like waterfalls. Besides all of the waterfalls in the Little River Canyon area, there are SIX waterfalls in or around the State Park. We have seen them all --but this trip, we only saw four of them. The other two (Laurel Falls and Lost Falls) were seen on previous trips to the state park.

Today I will share with you the other four waterfalls in and around Desoto State Park --which we saw on Feb. 14 or 15. Above is the main falls, DESOTO FALLS --which we have featured on several blog posts. In order to see more pictures of this gorgeous waterfall, you can check my sidebar and look under the label ALABAMA. Below are more from our Valentine's trip.

I liked this picture of the top of DESOTO FALLS--showing the snow and icicles.

This is LODGE FALLS, which is not far from the lodge where we spent the night on Valentine's night.

This is INDIAN FALLS. There is a bridge which crosses the brink of this waterfall.

We climbed down the side---toward the bottom of INDIAN FALLS --in order to get more pictures. This is a pretty waterfall, isn't it? You can see some of the bridge above.

We woke up on February 15 to some snow on the ground at Desoto State Park. We took a short hike down the boardwalk to see the AZALEA CASCADES, before heading home to find TONS of snow that day.

This was a pretty area of the park---with beautiful rock formations around...

This little waterfall (AZALEA CASCADES) is not as large as the others, but the area around the cascade is serene and relaxing. There are places where you can sit and just enjoy hearing the sound of the water.

Several of you have asked about Desoto State Park, and we highly recommend it. This 3,502-acre park provides mountain chalets, log and rustic cabins, motel rooms, meeting rooms, and also has both improved and primitive campgrounds. They also have a picnic area with playground, olympic-sized swimming pool, a nature center, and over 19 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Hugs,

Our Wonderful Weekend

As you probably know (if you have read previous posts), George surprised me by taking me to Desoto State Park near Mentone, AL to celebrate Valentine's Day this past weekend. We have been there before --but have never stayed in their lodge. We had a cute little room -with our own balcony and little stream and cascades right behind the room. We had a delicious Rib Eye Steak dinner on Valentine's evening. AND--while we were there, we visited the Little River Canyon nearby and took in several nearby waterfalls. It was a fabulous couple of days!!!!

We both enjoyed using our new cameras (George has a new Canon Rebel T1i and I have a Canon Rebel Xsi) --and as you can imagine, we took a million pictures (well--not quite!!! ha)... Here are a few --with many more to come!!!! The picture above is one of our favorite waterfalls (Little River Falls). Below are more!!!





Here's a picture of Desoto Falls --showing the icicles along the side. We have showed you pictures of both of these waterfalls before, but there was MUCH more water coming over the falls this time. It was awesome!






Here's the happy couple standing by the fireplace before enjoying a delicious dinner on Valentine's evening at the state park restaurant.





I took this picture of George at the dinner table on Valentine's evening. At that point, we were enjoying some salad from the salad bar. Dinner was delicious --and the atmosphere was super!





We didn't have much snow (just a dusting) in Alabama---but look what we found when we got home! We have about 5 inches of just the type of snow I love (the kind that clings to everything). I was so excited --and had to get outside when we got home, so that I could take even more pictures. It is SO pretty---so I'm a happy camper today just enjoying it!! George doesn't like it for some reason --but he's the one who has to shovel the driveway!!!!! Oh Well!!!! ha






I love to see the snow clinging to all of the evergreens. (You can tell that by looking at my header picture.)






My sweet little backyard birds are THRILLED that I am home. I had to refill the feeders when we got home. Don't you love this little female Cardinal at the house feeder?? Look at the snow on top!!!!!! Mercy Me!

I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend. I will try to catch up with your blogs this week (I hope).

Hugs,

DeSoto Falls, Mentone, Alabama (Part II)

Yesterday I showed Part I of our DeSoto Falls pictures, taken in January of 2007. Be sure and check it out FIRST --if you missed it. Today, I am showing you more from this area. As I mentioned yesterday, we KNEW that there had to be a way to see the entire waterfall from a distance. BUT--no trails were listed in any of our books or information. We finally talked to a ranger and found out there was a 'back' way (on a bushwhacking type of a so-called trail).

Well--you know that George and I will do most anything to get BETTER photos, so we took off and hiked around the bluffs --trying to work our way back and around in those woods, searching for a good view... I will say that one reason that trail is not publicized is because I'm sure that winter would be the only time one could work their way back into that area.

We however did fine---and you can only imagine how excited we were when we got to a place where we could see that beautiful waterfall. Here are the remainder of our pictures from that day. Above was our FIRST view of DESOTO FALLS --from a distance. Below are more.




We wandered around along the bluffs until we finally got to a wonderful place to VIEW the waterfall. You can tell just how happy I was---after the bushwhacking!!!






Here it is, DeSoto Falls---taken from the bluffs, using our zoom lens.




George was thrilled to find this vantage point. Seeing that waterfall from above (yesterday's post) was nice---but hiking around to see ALL of it was truly awesome.






We just couldn't take enough pictures of this 'beauty'.






I was thrilled that we found this way to view the falls.






Look to the left side of this picture, near the top... You may want to enlarge the picture. That is where we walked down to get the pictures in yesterday's post.. Can you see why the warning signs are there along that railing?





Here's one last photo from our view of DeSoto Falls. You can see now just how far away we had to go in order to get these pictures. But--it was worth it!!!!! It was a great day in Alabama!!!!


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Some of you may know that George and I were supposed to leave today for a hiking trip to North Georgia. The weather is perfect and we were looking forward to this trip. But I have been having trouble with my left foot for over a week now, and have had trouble walking. I thought that this pain would just go away, but it hasn't. And if I can't walk, then it's obvious that I cannot hike. Darn!.

SO-- after much disappointment and lots of tears, we canceled this trip. I don't know what is wrong with my foot (pain is on the TOP of the foot and hurts worse when I'm wearing a shoe)--but if it doesn't get better soon, I'll get myself to a doctor. George is taking me on a Surprise Trip on Valentine's Day---and he wants me all healed by then.... Say a prayer for my poor little foot to heal, please.

Hugs,

DeSoto Falls, Mentone, Alabama (Part I)

Are you tired of all of my waterfall pictures???? We have so many---and I have really showed so few of them (even though for you who don't care that much about one waterfall when compared to another, it may seem as if I post waterfalls constantly-- ha ha). But--the bird lovers know better since I post birds alot too!!!!! Oh Well---I apologize and just ask you to wait 'til spring when our flowers come in including our beautiful roses... THEN, I will post alot of those too!!!!

Today I am sharing a special waterfall found in the DeSoto State Park area in northeast Alabama (between Mentone and Fort Payne). Nestled atop of beautiful scenic Lookout Mountain, this 3,502-acre park provides chalets, log and rustic cabins, motel rooms, meeting rooms, campgrounds, swimming pool, nature center, and over 19 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.. George and I have visited this area on two different occasions --and I'd go back there in a heartbeat.

Today's pictures were taken on January 11, 2007. This is only one of several waterfalls in that area which we visited at that time. I will divide the pictures into two different blog posts. The first set was taken from the side of the upper part of the falls, and the second set was taken from farther away where we could get photos of the ENTIRE waterfall after we hiked (and bushwhacked) to get to a place where we could see ALL of it. The picture above is DESOTO FALLS, and below are more.





We are at the overlook near the top of the massive waterfall.





There was alot of water coming over the waterfall this time.





George 'poses' for the camera now... (Oh how he hates that --especially when I say "Smile, Honey"-- but he is a good sport!!!!)





Another beautiful picture from the top/side of the waterfall




Now--I 'have' to pose for the camera ---just to prove that I walked down there!!!! ha




This is a side view of the bottom of the waterfall... Isn't it pretty--and BIG????

OKAY..... Now, scroll back up and look at the first picture again. That is a picture of the ENTIRE waterfall.. We had seen pictures of this waterfall in its entirety on their website---so we knew there had to be a way to hike around and find out how to get a picture of the entire waterfall. Tune in tomorrow for these pictures...

Hugs,