Inky Marina!

I love living in New York City! Still, sometimes it is very important to get away from all the hustle and bustle. I spent last weekend in Ulster County with family friends. We went to Lake Minnewaska State Park Preserve to swim and hike around the lake. It was so much fun!


I loved hiking in the Shawangunk mountains. It's so green, especially compared to the city. 


We hiked along the carriage road around Lake Minnewaska, but I loved climbing on the rocks that surround the trail. We hiked along the trail until we reached a little turn off to go to the beach!


The lake was so cold and refreshing! I sat on a big rock and tried very hard to skip pebbles on the surface of the water. I was not very good at it and just made lots of splashes! It was so nice to sit by the water. We ate peaches, cherries, and almonds.  We also had cold water in our bottles.  Hurrah!


Lake Minnewaska had a lot of little salamanders- or maybe newts? They swam around looking adorable, but every time I tried to take a picture, they'd swim away! I saw some minnows too. Lake Minnewaska is a sky lake- it's up in the mountains. Apparently it is very deep.


After lots of swimming, we got dressed again and decided to hike the loop around the lake. I was surprised at how high the little cliffs above the lake feel! From the lake, they look high up, but when you're actually up there, looking down to the water is a little bit intimidating. I took out my binoculars so I could look at the people swimming below in the cold blue lake.


There was an SCA volunteer who had an information table about Emerald Ash Borers, a type of beetle that is destroying the ash trees in the area.  SCA is the Student Conservation Association.  Students can join and do cool jobs in different parks. Maybe I'll do it someday! After I had thoroughly scared myself with information on ash borers, we continued along the path until I found these ferns. Don't I look like I'm in Jurassic Park?


Mama's friend, our host, told me lots of cool stories about scuba diving and caves. I decided to play in the rocks and pretend to be caving for a little bit. Maybe I'll try that someday too!


The last thing I did, after completing the hike around the lake, was climb a tree! It was really nice to stretch my limbs and smell the sticky sap.  Someday, it would be really fun to spend the night in a treehouse, don't you think?

I'm glad that Mama and I got to visit our friends in Ulster County! Apparently, our family has roots in Ulster County going back a very, very long time.  Isn't that cool? I love having connections to people all over the world.

Have you every gone on a weekend trip? Where did you go? What did you do?