Last summer, my sister Julie came to visit us before Olivia was born. We weren't able to do too much because I was so pregnant, but we did take her on several outings throughout upstate New York. On my due date, I decided we should go on a nature hike to try and get labor going. We went through my stack of day trip brochures and found one on Peebles Island State Park. It looked like it would be the perfect place for enjoying river views and having a picnic. It's also only about 20 minutes from Albany. The park is situated where the Mohawk River meets the Hudson and the scenery is spectacular. In July, the sun was really hot and the humidity was intense. We found a path down to the river so we could cool off. We discovered that it was actually really shallow, so Julie and Adam walked out quite a ways. Gavin and I watched, while throwing rocks into the water and soaking our feet. It was a great outing, but I had sort of forgotten about it until Adam mentioned it might be a great place for a winter hike.
Over the weekend, we got another foot of snow. This weather is starting to get depressing, but we made the most of it by getting outside. We decided to go check out Peebles Island again and invited our friend Toyin to join us. The views were even more impressive than our previous visit. The trees were heavily coated in fresh snow, which created archways to walk under. We have invited Toyin and her husband to join us out hiking many times this winter, but they have opted to enjoy the comfort of their heated home instead. I don't think Toyin expected it to be so beautiful. She said, "The next time you invite me to go hiking, and I say I'd rather stay in bed, please remind me of this day!" It was only a two hour hike, but I can say with confidence that it made all of our weekends. Sometimes you just have to leave your house to realize what all of the seasons have to offer. We now have two completely different memories of this park. I thought I'd include pictures from both hikes so you can see how much the landscape varies from season to season.
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| Peebles Island State Park, July 2010 |
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| Had to throw in a "big mama" photo- this was 5 days before Olivia was born |
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| Julie and Adam wading in the river |
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| Beautiful summer day |
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| Peebles Island State Park, February 2011 |
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| Toyin and Gavin |
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| Toyin making her way through the winter wonderland |
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| Olivia is here! So much has changed since July! |
5 comments:
What a beautiful park in any season. I bet you are so over the snow, but glad you're making the best of it. I love the marshmallow puff children in the snow too!
This is so pretty - love how drastically different it is in summer vs. winter. It's sure hard to believe Adam and Julie were wading in that water now that snow is on the ground! Good for you guys for getting outside and enjoying the winter wonderland!
Wow.. that is amazing!! So pretty! I like your friend Toyin... At least she is honest about wanting to stay in bed to be cozy..:-) But looks like she had a fantastic time!! I need SPRING!! Your kiddos crack me up! Just little balls of puff in the snow!!
great pictures and posting about your two experiences in such a beautiful place. wonderful to read about it and those marvelously adorable kiddos in the snow is so perfect!!
what a cool post! so beautiful there.
jb
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