Well . . . All I hoped for and more!

Well, loading up the van was well worth it. We took a ride north to Bear Mountain. The 45 minute ride was pleasant, Colleen read her Harry Potter book the entire ride and R.J. just watched the world pass by.

This was unchartered territory and we didn't really know what to expect. We packed bathing suits and snacks, got to the parking lot and headed out to see what the park had to offer. The first thing we did was ride the carousel. What an incredible work of art. All of the animals and murals on the carousel are animals that are native to the Hudson Valley. I'm not sure who had more fun, the little kids or the "big" kids.

After the ride on the carousel, the Bear Mountain facilities offer a zoo. It was quite a walk . . . the paths are paved and the place is clean. In my opinion, the most beautiful animal we saw was the Bald Eagle . . . 24 years old. She was beautiful. Colleen fell in love with the two coyotes and R.J. was taken with the bears who managed to put on a show for the on-lookers via a wrestling match.

Next time we plan to actually put our bathing suits on and take a dip in the extremely LARGE pool. If we plan the day we can rent paddle boats or row-boats and get on the lake.

Here are a few more pictures from the day . . . it truly was everything I hoped for and more.