Last Monday, I decided it would be fun to drag Jacob and my boyfriend up to Promised Land State Park. I grew up in that area, and I really wanted to get some good nature pictures to practice my skills. I’ve decided it’s time to stop blaming my “crappy” camera for my lack of photography skills and start working on making do with what I have.  Well, Promised Land was pretty much a bust. It was like 15 degrees colder there than it was in my town a mere 45 minutes away. Jacob couldn’t even take his hands out of his coat to eat lunch, and although I kept saying “it’s not that cold!” even I eventually had to admit that I could barely feel my fingers. Still, I managed to get a few pretty pictures of the lake, including this one:

That’s snow in the distance, covering part of the lake. They must have gotten a lot more than we did this year, because you won’t find snow anywhere now. After leaving Promised Land, we headed to a nearby town, where I lived as a child. Around this time, Jacob started begging to go home. I told him, “we’re on an adventure!” His response: “You know what’s a great adventure? Home!” I said “let’s look for treasure!” He again replied: “Do you know what’s a great treasure? Home!” Hey, that part could have been really deep and philosophical, if he was actually referring to home and his family as a treasure, rather than the contents of said home. He’s truly a 21st Century Digital Boy.

We stopped at Callie’s Pretzel Factory on the way home, and I spotted random chickens. Yes, random chickens. They were just kind of hanging out by the parking lot. The rooster below actually got pretty close to me! A little too close, in fact. I don’t trust most birds. I’ve been bitten by parrots, chased by ducks, and mugged by geese, so when they start advancing, I get a little freaked out! Still, he was kind of cute for a random rooster.

 Next stop, after taking Jake to the park and letting him burn off some energy, was the Delaware Water Gap. If you drive on the Pennsylvania side and look up at the right time, you can see the face of a Native American in the rock formation. I don’t think you can see it in this picture though, it’s easier to see in person. Still, it’s very pretty there!

By this point, Jake was pretty bored with nature, but I still wanted more pictures. Sal took us to a waterfall right near Shawnee, and that actually turned out to be the best idea all day. Jacob loved it, and I got some really cool pictures.

What did I learn from all of this adventuring in nature? Well, I think I can take decent pictures if I don’t use my flash, and we don’t have to go far from home to find awesome places to explore. Oh, and nature is free, so I didn’t go broke on my adventure!