Swallow Falls State Park, Maryland...

is now a favorite of mine. I wasn't going to post more photos of this, but I saw my Mom's pics and felt compelled...
This is the start of the trail, at least 250 stairs leading down to this growing sound of roaring water...See the ice? The air was so oxygenated, I swear it gave me a lift! There was mist all over the area from the falling water, so fresh!These naturaly occuring stairs we too cool! It made me imagine a scene from Lord of the Rings or something, justbeautiful. The trees are what really makes this place though. The old Spruce and Hemlock trees are keeping a million secrets, you can feel it in the air!My Mom took this pic as fast as she could, I was really close to the edge... I can't wait till it's camping season! We will be hitting this place to camp ASAP! The kids will love all the ancient rocks to climb on, and Jamie and I have already mentaly communicated the serious intention of kayaking this place! Why can't I live here?

Mother-Daughter Deep Creek Weekend...

This past weekend Jamie, her Mom, Lorraine, my Mother, MaryJane and I went away for the weekend to Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. Lorraine's friend owns a beautiful condo right across the street from the lake and we were able to stay the weekend there!We had planned on going cross country skiing, but the conditions were too icey.This is the nice snowy view we woke up to!

Here are the girls together getting ready to go see some sights! On Sat. we headed into Oakland, MD to check out the antique shops. The locals were grumpy about out-of-towners, but we had a good time regardless. Later we went back to the condo and chilled out for a bit, rested, ate, and relaxed!This town is the home of the B & O railroad, like the railroad in Monopoly! This was painted on a brick wall, pretty eye catching isn't it?On Sunday we were dying for a "nature fix" as I call it! We HAD to get outside to play! So Jamie drove us to an absolutely gorgeous place calleed "Swallow Falls". It was a really nice hike, even with the ice! The falls were amazingly beautiful and it was awesome to see my Mothers face light up like it did! She is definitely where I get my desire to commune with nature! After the first trail, my Mother and I continued on to Tolliver Falls, another trail. It was so beautiful, I wish I could post all the pics, but that's a no-go. There was a waterfall there that took your breath away~! Pure therepy! In the pic below, those are icecles behind my Mom. On the way to the falls we ran into (not litterally) about 15 dear. Here is one of the best shots I got of them! They didn't want to be friends for long though, and they don't respond to BeeDlieDeep like my dog. but they are pretty!

Over all we had a really nice weekend! A great place to stay, good food, time to relax, an amazing hike, a LOT of laughs and time with the people we love, what more can you ask for?

A plan to camp here in the spring is in the works...as always, I'll keep you posted!