Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park: Our backyard National Park. We went camping in Long Pine Key camp area and  then hiked the Anhinga Trail. There are so many birds and alligators around now. The ones on the Anhinga trail don't seem to be too afraid of humans either.

Double Crested Cormorant

Turkey Vulture

Alligators

Female Anhinga

Ocmulgee National Monument

Ocmulgee National Monument: I didn't do any prior research on this park and was very pleasantly surprised to see something totally different from all the other parks we've been to on the east coast. This is a prehistorical site with artifacts from 9000BC... And the main building is pretty cool architecturally too. It was another hot day in GA though. 

There is an entrance to the mound on the left.

One of the old type signs in the NPS system

More Atlanta area National Parks

We went to two outdoor parks today : Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. It was a very hot day , over 100, and we mostly stayed in the visitor center at Kennesaw and did the JR program inside. At Chattahoochee we went in the deliciously cool water.

Canadian Geese rarely make it to S. Florida

Martin Luther King jr. National Historic Site

Martin Luther King jr. National Historic Site: We really haven't discussed his significance yet, so she got what she got from the Junior Ranger program. I think segregation and racism aren't a real part of her world, so some of the exhibits probably didn't make much of an impact.

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site: I had been to Plains, GA once before as a teen on a road trip with my parents I think. I remember the peanut obsession. Anyway, I'm not sure how much Cowgirl got out of this side trip, other than that someone can come from practically nothing to become President of the US with a lot of hard work and a little luck. Maybe that's a good enough lesson. He's definitely done a lot since he's been President.

One room schoolhouse - working on her Junior Ranger book

Sweeping the yard.

Checking on the animals

Getting an animal interested

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Castillo de San Marcos: I love this place. It's so old, compared to the rest of Florida. This trip included another family, and the menfolk went to Daytona for a car show, so we took the kids to St. Augustine. I managed to get Cowgirl to finish her Junior Ranger book, but the two boys thought it was too much like school and kind of quit. Although once they saw the cool little badge she got, they wanted to do the program, but we only just finished by closing time so they were out of luck. It also happened to be Girl Scout day, there were local Girl Scouts that were in period costumes doing period things. I thought it sounded like a very cool program.

Loud noises coming up next!

Meditating in the chapel

Biscayne National Park Family Fun Day

Biscayne National Park has a series of Family Fun days with different themes. Today's theme was invasive exotic animals. They had different activities such as iguana catching, a Lionfish dissection table to see what they're eating, and a plant identification table. Plus there was a cute little show with the Swedish Chef cooking Lionfish. And a big dead python. Do you think Lionfish is a big deal here? The majority of the park is underwater, so an invasive fish like the Lionfish that eats everything is a big deal!

Iguana Catching

Caught one!

Swearing in as a Junior Ranger

New York City National Parks, Day 2

Today involved a boat trip to Governors Island National Park. We didn't get a chance to do the Statue of Liberty because I didn't plan enough in advance to get tickets. I want to go into the crown again.

Map inside the departure point.

The View

History

Inside the fort

New York City National Parks

We went to some National Parks in the city of New York and did the Junior Ranger program for the ones we could. Today we visited 3 parks:

African Burial Ground:

She's got the world at her feet!

Federal Hall:

Washington was our main man for this trip.

Found a friend

Castle Clinton: By the time we got here it was closed. So we toured around the outside a bit.

Trying to attract a bird