Noccalula Falls

Last Saturday, Cary and I headed to Gadsden to Noccalula Falls. We were just planning on viewing the falls and coming home. Boy, were we in for a treat!

After eating at a really good barbecue place, we headed to the falls. We went to what we thought was the entrance and discovered it would be $6 to get in. Well, that included lots of great things--train ride, petting zoo, exotic animals, pioneer village and access to the base of the falls. It was well worth the money!

We rode the train to the falls where we discovered that you could still park by the road and just view the falls for free.

Noccalula was an Indian Princess who, just like many others, jumped to her death at the falls when she could not marry the one that she loved. This seems to be to preferred method of suicide for Indian Princesses.

We were able to walk right up to the falls. There is also a longer path that you can take. We hope to do that one when it cools off a little bit.

There was even a very miniature Rock City complete with Fat Man's Squeeze!

They had a little petting zoo/exotic animal area that had their pride and joy--a lioness.

They also had a barn that had guinea pigs, rabbits, birds and other friendly animals. You weren't supposed to pick them up, but we couldn't resist the baby bunny.

Guinea Pigs

This deer thought Cary's hand tasted good. He had the softest antlers!

Since he was so sweet, I decided to reward him with some fresh grass.

It was so hot that this llama was standing in the water bucket cooling off!

They also had the sweetest, tiniest little fawns. Their cries sounded like little kittens. They could not have been but a few days old. So sweet!


It was an adventure that we were not expecting!

Bryson's Day At The Aquarium

Last week I went to the TN Aquarium with my Mom and Dad, Bryson and Cary. We had a great time looking at all the fish. Bryson said his favorite part was the sharks!

Bryson's arms were not quite long enough to reach the rays.

Bryson was excited when someone shared a butterfly with him.

After he had a turn, he passed on to Pop.

The penguins are my favorite part of the aquarium.

Bryson liked watching them swim under the water.

Finally, the scary sharks!

Bryson was really afraid of these crabs. I had to crawl on the floor with him to look at the tunnel in the middle of the tank. It was a tight squeeze!

There was a snake out in Ranger Rick's Backyard that Bryson got to pet. The snake even tried to give Bryson a kiss!

Bryson's arms were long enough to touch the sturgeons. They were slimy!



It was a fun day!

Last Day In China

Since we had a very late flight out of China on July 12th, we were able to spend the day doing some extra activities in Hong Kong. We got to sleep in and I took a few pictures of the area from my hotel room.



We headed to the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden and a Flower Market. They would have been lovely if it had not been pouring down rain. They were both outdoor markets so it wasn't much fun in the rain. There were some great birds to choose from along with lots of pretty cages and all the seeds and bugs that birds like to eat.

These are bags of grasshoppers and crickets for the birds. They also had tiny frogs for sale to feed the birds.

The flower market had many beautiful flowers and they were so cheap! I wish that we had a flower market in Huntsville with orchids for $3.

We visited the largest mall in Asia called Harbour City. It was a little too pricey for me. They even had a Versace store and I have never seen one of those in all my travels. I think the whole store only had about three dresses it in. The fewer the clothes, the pricier the items!

So Cary and I bailed on the mall and walked around the streets until it was time to meet back up with the group. We even found an underground secret market for just Chinese people. It looked like something straight off of Law and Order where someone ends up dead!

This is what you call carrot juice!

We went to the art museum for a few hours. It only provided a great view of the harbor. There was an interesting section about the history of Hing Kong, but the rest I could have lived my life without seeing.

We had a dinner of Peking duck before we headed to the airport.

After a little drama in security with students at the airport, we were on the plane headed home. I was exhausted and slept for the first five or six hours of the flight. That was not even half way through the flight. The next evening, we arrived in Los Angeles and after a red eye flight we finally arrived back at home. I was happy to be home in my own bed, walking around my house with no shoes on and getting to sleep with my dog.

I hope the next time that I am in China, it involves a trip to Tibet!