Taking in Life Around Me: #sundaystills : National Parks

This #sundaystills challenge is hosted by Terri from Second Wind Leisure. It's a great themed photography challenge that you'll enjoy. I love seeing the other participants interpretation of the theme each week...it causes me to think outside the box. I joined in hopes of it pushing me to get out and take more photos...I have to some degree, but I also like that Terri is okay with us finding photos in our archives, which is also a lot of fun. So check out my photos and then head over to Terri's page to participate or visit other's posts. There are some awesome contributors who always inspire me. 

This weeks theme is state and local parks. There is so much beauty to be found in local community parks and also larger state and national parks. I thought more photos of our local parks but I couldn't find them and I needed to get this posted. We have always loved taking our kids to parks and now enjoy taking our grandkids. Some parks we visit are the same ones we took our girls to when they were little and of course we've found some new ones too. 

For this post, I'll share some of the bigger ones we've gone to. I'm also sharing some quotes this week to add to Marsha's #wednesdayquotes

In 2017 I took my youngest daughter and a friend of hers to NYC for a week. We visited Central Park our first day. Granted we didn't see the entire park, but because of where we live, it simply reminded us of home. We weren't overly "wow'd" by it. It was still beautiful. We just didn't see all the hype. 

Moulton Falls Regional Park is very popular and beautiful. The first photo is a bridge that is very popular for jumping off into a pool below. You aren't supposed to jump off it, but people do it anyways. A few years ago, it made the news when a girl who was scared to jump was pushed by an impatient friend and was badly injured. 

The falls themselves while not "high" are very pretty. And it's just off the road so it's ideal for those who can't really "hike".

Silver Falls State Park in Oregon is about an hour and a half drive from me, but is definitely worth visiting. If you walk the entire trail which is a 6.9 mile loop you can see 10 waterfalls. I haven't done the full loop yet. I went with a friend a few years ago and we saw a handful but not nearly all of them. I plan to go back. Spring is the best time because the falls are fuller. 

Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, Fl is where we have gone to see manatee when visiting family. I would NOT be the people on the SUP's...hello! There are alligator in those waters. 

When visiting Oahu, we visited many parks. Above is the Ala Moana Regional Park. It is a large beautiful park in the middle of the city. 

Koko Head District Park is where we hiked the Koko Head Trail. My daughter in the photo pausing to wait for one of the other girls.

I know we visited several others but I don't remember all the names, and am too lazy today to look for them. 

Mt. Rainier National Park is beautiful and I would love to go back again. There were many areas still closed because of snow when we visited but it was well worth the trip. Learning the history of parks is always interesting if you take the time to do so. We visited a little museum in the park that was small but so informative.  

Olympic National Park was also on our April trip. I did a blog post on that trip if you'd like to check it out. Another gorgeous park area, it encompasses nearly a million acres. There is so much to see and do.

As I sat here thinking, there are many parks I visit...sometimes I don't always see them as "parks", just places I might go to hike, not realizing that they are within a park. I probably could have added so many more photos. I do have a great desire to visit more national parks and just parks in general. They are so fun to explore. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin