Beautiful sunset...

Stop... and enjoy this lovely sunset from last week. It was beautiful!

Eastern Box Turtle...

We moved this cute fellow off the road a few weeks ago. He's an eastern box turtle (or tortoise), and is classified as vulnerable. He withdrew into his shell as I picked him up and moved him off the road. I wish he'd kept his head out. :)

Lovely patterns and colours on the shell.

Turkey Run State Park...

After visiting Shades State Park, we drove across to Turkey Run State Park. Here we enjoyed a picnic lunch before going for a lovely hike along Sugar Creek and through the winding canyons and ravines. It was a really great visit to beautiful Parke County!

 Entrance to Turkey Run State Park.

 Picnic for lunch.

 Downy Woodpecker and Red-headed Woodpecker.

 Blue Jay.

 Approaching the pedestrian suspension bridge over Sugar Creek.

 Sugar Creek.

 The suspension bridge.

 Candace (and Riaan) holding up the overhanging cliff.

 Walking along a muddy road.

 Signs of woodpeckers.

 Fungi growing on the trees.

 Cute little chipmunk.

 Walking through pretty scenery.

 Wedge Rock in the canyon.

The other side of Wedge Rock. It's split open like a flower.

Family photo at Turkey Run.

Shades State Park...

We visited Shades State Park before driving across to Turkey Run State Park during our visit to Parke County. Shades is a much more secluded place with dense forests that cover the canyons and cliffs above Sugar Creek. We had a lovely hike down to the river bed. It was a lovely morning!

 Entrance to Shades State Park.

 Candace and Riaan enjoying our hike.

 Walking through dense forest on both sides.

 A tree split down the middle.

 Interesting growth on this tree.

 Sugar Creek.

 Candace and Riaan walk along the water's edge.

 Walking through Kintz Ravine.

 It was rather rugged at times.

 Riaan and Candace on top of a small waterfall.

 Almost at the top of the ravine.

Looking back from at Trail 5.

Parke County Covered Bridges...

Here are a few of the covered bridges that we saw up in Parke County. We only saw six of the county's 31 covered bridges.

 Deer's Mill Covered Bridge.

 Another view of Deer's Mill Covered Bridge.

 It's a long bridge.

 Narrows Covered Bridge.

 Driving inside Cox Ford Covered Bridge.

Wilkins Mill Covered Bridge.

Parke County, Indiana...

We recently spent a day in beautiful Parke County, two hours north of our home. We visited a number of attractions during our visit, and I will be blogging about these in the next few posts. Our primary reason for visiting Parke County was Turkey Run State Park - but we also spent time in Shades State Park and saw a few of the county's 31 covered bridges.

Our first stop in Parke County was Mansfield. This is the location of the Mansfield Roller Mill, a large water-powered mill, and the Mansfield Covered Bridge. Mansfield is also where the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival is held every October.

 Mansfield Roller Mill.

 The large water-wheel.

 The dam on Big Racoon Creek.

Mansfield Covered Bridge as seen from the mill.

Rabbit Nest...

Our landlady found this rabbit nest in her front lawn several weeks ago. Initially, it was just a few tufts of grass and fur covering the six baby rabbits. The mother would come and nurse the babies on the bare patch of grass in front of the nest. These photos were taken last week, just a couple of days before they all left the nest.

 The bare patch of grass in front of the nest.

 A closer view of the nest.

Small bunny rabbits inside!