I love our state parks. We've got a bunch of different ones around here. $3.00 to get in, annual pass is $27. I keep meaning to buy an annual pass, but haven't yet.

I went to one of the bigger ones, with woods/fields surrounding a large man-made lake. There's fishing, camping, hiking, boating, picnic areas, tennis, volleyball and frisbee golf.

I walked one of the larger trails and only planned to go part way then turn around becuase it was 7.1 miles. I ended up deciding to just keep going at what I thought was the halfway point, but it wasn't. Then I got mixed up on another trail it intersects with and ended up walking a total of 8+ miles.

I'm tired, but it was sooo worth it.

-The sky was clear
-There was a breeze
-The lake was pretty
-It was fun to see canoes on the lake
-I saw lots of neat foliage
-There were benches along the way to stop & enjoy the different scenary
-I encountered groundhogs, frogs, bright lime green toads, what I think was an opossum, bunnies and bunny babies, butterflies, dragonflies, and a snake.
-I got a chance to listen to the sounds of the woods AND some great music on my mp3 player.

And the result of the hike was that I was tired, relaxed and just downright happy. Definitely worth $3.00!

Tomorrow, I am meeting a friend and we are walking along the water in a different park. This is a county-run park, so its free.