I do not come from a camping family. The only "roughing it" we had growing up, was spending weekends at my grandmothers house on the farm. Which was actually more adventurous then it sounds. It was common to come across all sorts of snakes, insects and rodents in her house. There was even a wild raccoon that lived inside her couch, for a while. When I was 18, I finally went camping at the Grand Canyon. I will never forget when a giant elk came into our campsite. It was so beautiful and majestic. Most everyone was out hiking and that elk walked right up and was standing less than 10 feet from me. It was breathtaking. I have been to plenty of zoos growing up but there is something so much more magical about seeing wildlife in their own environment.
A few years ago Taylor and I went camping at Yosemite. The morning we left, we were driving out of the park and on the road was a mama bear walking with her two cubs. As soon as she saw our car, she stood up on her hind legs, gave us quite a scare and then ran off. We saw several bears that morning, another experience I will never forget.
This past Thanksgiving, when we were in New Orleans, I was very excited to take a tour of a swamp. We saw some gators, birds, turtles, snakes and it was really a beautiful place.
We went up the Pearl river and along some of the bayous.
Did you know alligators love marshmallows?!
Can you see the turtle perched on the tree stump?
A blue heron and an egret.
